What kinds of baby constipation are there?

Baby constipation can be divided into organic and functional.

Organic constipation associated with developmental disabilities (anatomical defects) any department of the large intestine. Most organic constipation is manifested at birth by the lack of an independent defecation. Among the organic causes of constipation are most often found Hirschsprung’s disease and dolichosigmoid.

Hirschsprung’s disease – congenital hypoplasia of the nerve endings in the intestinal wall, at the result of which in lower regions of the colon occurs narrowing, and in the overlying sections – an extension that creates conditions for the delay defecation. Hirschsprung’s disease can be suspected in cases where a child has no independent defecation at all practically from birth. This disease is rare – 1 case per 5000 children.

Dolichosigmoid is a lengthening of one of the divisions of the colon – the sigmoid colon. This gut has often an increased mobility, which creates conditions for violations of the formation and lifting of defecation. Dolichosigmoid occurs very often, it is believed that among children aged 3-4 years who suffer from constipation, 40% are children with dolichosigmoid.

There may also be acquired constipation associated with anatomic defects of the intestine, caused by the effects of surgical interventions in the rectal area or in the abdominal cavity – the development of adhesions.

If you exclude organic causes then your constipation has a functional character.

The causes of functional constipation in infants are:

• Improper diet of feeding mother.
• Lack of water schedule in the child when artificial feeding.
• Inadequate water schedule of breastfeeding child with the introduction of complementary foods (enter “thick” lure, but did not give the baby water).
• An early child beginning with the artificial feeding.
• Fast changing of the baby’s food – from one mixture to another (less than 7 days).
• Irrational diet of the child (a child for a long time gets a high content of protein, fats, which are poorly digested).
• The presence of infant rickets, in which there is decreased muscle tone, including the muscles of the intestinal wall. In some cases, 2-3 weeks after the appointment of vitamin D constipation in child is disappeared.
• Consequences of the central nervous system damage that evolved wrong during pregnancy and childbirth.
• Thyroid gland (hypothyroidism). One of the clinical manifestations of hypothyroidism is constipation.
• Iron deficiency anemia – iron deficiency occurs when there is insufficient oxygen supply muscle gut, and therefore the notes of his muscle weakness.
• Intestinal dysbiosis – a violation of intestinal microflora, which leads to increased decay processes, reduction of motor activity of intestine.
• Food allergies (to the protein of cow’s milk, eggs, fish, soy, cereals containing gluten (gliadin)), which leads to inflammatory changes in allergic nature of the gut wall.
• A significant role in the development of functional infant constipation plays violation of the act of defecation as a result of oppression or lack of elaboration on the defecation reflex (conditioned reflex, psychogenic constipation). This type of constipation is often observed in children in the oppressive period of adaptation to new conditions (nursery, kindergarten). The suppression of the reflex to defecation leads to compaction of the fecal, rectal mucosa injury, the development of inflammation, pain during defecation, there is “fear of Pot”, compounded by the neurotic disorders.
• Constipation may develop on the background of long-term use of medicines: antispasmodics – resources, reduce spasms of smooth muscles, for example, the intestines, anticonvulsants, diuretics (diuretics), psychotropic drugs, antibiotics, etc.

As a result of different, the above pointed reasons, changes the muscle tone of intestines. When the tone of any segment of the intestine increased there occurs spasm thus fecal can not pass quickly this place.

This is the mechanism of spastic constipation, the outward manifestation of which is the presence of dense, fragmented, “sheep” faeces. Another kind of functional constipation is a hypotonic constipation, which is characterized by delay defecation, highlighting it in the form of fecal cylinder.

Children may experience temporary delays in the defecation – “transient constipation”. This may be due to errors in diet, with dehydration stool during the acute febrile states (if the child has high fever, marked sweating, loss of fluid from vomit, etc.).

Babies who are breastfed may develop so-called “false constipation”. It arises due to the fact that infants receive a small amount of breast milk, as well as the presence of congenital defects of the oral cavity (for instance, hard and soft cleft palate), flaccid sucking, regurgitation.

In these cases, is not worth talking about baby constipation, and to take emergency measures. With the elimination of the reasons that caused defecation delay, its normalization occurs independently. Sometimes, to solve this problem, it is enough to correct the diet and water schedule.