Constipation is mainly caused by a poor diet, irregular bowel movements and lack of fluids. However the cause of constipation in babies, adults and women during pregnancy are different.
The cause of constipation in babies and
When babies start to eat solid food, the colour and texture of stools become different. When they are breastfed, the stools smell sweet and soft. Since being fed by solid foods, the stools become harder and contain undigested food. Sometimes a baby doesn't have a bowel movement for a couple of days; the parents might be concerned that their baby is constipated. Afterwards the stools appear and are still soft and smooth, it indicates everything is fine.
Baby constipation is very painful, because they are too small, they don't know how to force the stools out of their body, they cry and don't want to eat. This bout of constipation normally occurs once a baby starts to eat solid food. The digestion system is not fully developed to cope with the solid foods, the baby hold the stools back in the anus, which leads to light constipation. In this case, the parents can feed the baby with more soft and well-cooked food with sufficient fluid as well as fruit juice, such as carrot and orange juices to naturally help the baby's intestines to get used to the new texture of nutrition.
