✅ Method 1: Avoid Allergens

🤔 How to do it:

• Check recent foods to identify potential allergens
  • ⭕️ Mother’s diet (if breastfeeding)
  • ⭕️ Formuli
  • ⭕️ Solid foods
• If formula allergy is suspected, consider switching
  • Partially hydrolyzed, extensively hydrolyzed, or amino acid-based

📚 Principle:

Allergies can cause intestinal inflammation and dysfunction, leading to poor digestion and constipation.
Removing the allergen “root cause” allows the gut to recover and alleviates constipation.

✅ Method 2: Apples/Dragon Fruit/Prunes

Increase dietary fiber intake; combine with ✅Method 3.

🤔 How to do it:

📚 Principle:

Fiber: Absorbs water, softens stool, and stimulates bowel movements.
Sorbitol: A natural mild laxative.

✅ Method 3: Hydration/Water

💦

🤔 How to do it:

• Offer extra warm water between meals.
• Older babies: Small amounts of diluted juice
  • E.g., prune juice, pear juice
  • Avoid excessive amounts to prevent reduced milk intake.

📚 Principle:

Fiber needs water to work effectively.
Otherwise, it may worsen constipation.

✅ Method 4: Abdominal Massage (Physical Method)

🤔 How to do it:

• Technique:
  • Lay the baby on their back; warm your hands.
  • Use fingertips to gently massage in a clockwise direction around the navel.
• Duration: 5-10 minutes, 2-3 times daily.
• Clockwise direction aligns with the colon’s natural movement.

📚 Principle:

Physical stimulation promotes bowel movements safely and without side effects.

✅ Method 5: Bicycle Legs (Physical Method)

🚴

🤔 How to do it:

• Technique:
  • Lay the baby on their back; hold their legs.
  • Gently alternate bending and extending, mimicking cycling.
• Duration: 5-10 minutes, several times daily.

📚 Principle:

Passive exercise stimulates abdominal muscles and intestines indirectly.

✅ Method 6: Warm Bath (Physical Method)

🛀

🤔 How to do it:

• Soak the baby in warm water (37°C) for 5-10 minutes.
• Dry and keep warm afterward.

📚 Principle:

Warm water relaxes muscles, including the anal sphincter, easing discomfort.

✅ Method 7: Probiotics (Microbiome Balance)

Can combine with ✅Method 8 (Prebiotics).

🤔 How to do it:

• Use allergy-friendly probiotics like:
  • LGG (Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG)
  • BB-12 (Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis).

📚 Principle:

Allergies and constipation are linked to gut microbiome imbalance.
Specific strains like LGG and BB-12 are clinically proven to help.

✅ Method 8: Prebiotics

Common prebiotics: 1️⃣ FOS, 2️⃣ GOS, 3️⃣ HMO.

🤔 How to do it:

• Breastfeed or switch to HMO formula.
• Use probiotics with prebiotics.
• Eat prebiotic-rich foods like:
  • 🍌 Bananas, asparagus
  • Oats, onions.

📚 Principle:

Prebiotics feed beneficial gut bacteria and are a type of fiber.

✅ Method 9: Lactulose

🍬

🤔 How to do it:

• Administer lactulose syrup (prescribed by a doctor).

📚 Principle:

A gentle osmotic laxative that softens stool by retaining water.

✅ Method 10: PEG (Polyethylene Glycol)

💊

• Used as an osmotic laxative (e.g., Miralax).
• Requires a doctor’s prescription; age restrictions apply:
  • 🇺🇸 FDA-approved for ≥6 months ⚠️
  • Typically prescribed for ≥1 year in some regions ⚠️

📚 Principle:

A first-line treatment for pediatric constipation per guidelines.

✅ Method 11: Glycerin Suppositories (Emergency)

💊

🤔 How to do it:

• Use glycerin suppositories for severe cases (e.g., before medical tests).

📚 Principle:

Provides immediate relief but avoid frequent use to prevent dependency.

💩 Summary: 11 Methods for Constipation