Constipation in Children Symptoms

Generally, if a child has fewer than three bowel movements per week and they are hard and difficult to pass, he or she may have constipation.

• Children often exhibit characteristic behaviors while trying to keep from having a bowel movement.
  
  
  • Infants having painful bowel movements may extend their legs and squeeze their anal and buttock muscles to prevent passage of stool.
    
    
  • Toddlers often rise up on their toes, rock back and forth, and hold their legs and buttocks stiffly.
  
  
• Some medications can make children more likely to be constipated. Common contributors include over-the-counter cold medications and antacids. Antidepressants, anticonvulsants, chemotherapy medications, or narcotic pain medications (such as codeine) can also constipate.
  
  
• Other signs that children are constipated are these:
  
  
  • Vague abdominal pain around the navel (belly button) or even severe attacks of abdominal pain
    
    
  • Decreased appetite, nausea, or vomiting
    
    
  • Urinary incontinence, frequent urination, or bedwetting
    
    
  • Reappearing urinary tract infections