Children who are constipated may be cranky or listless. Your child may also be afraid of using the toilet, since passing stool can be painful with constipation.
Other symptoms include:
- Infrequent bowel movements: Fewer than three bowel movements per week
- Hard, dry, or lumpy stools: Stools that are difficult or painful to pass
- Straining: Excessive effort during bowel movements
- Abdominal pain: Cramping or pain in the stomach area
- Rectal bleeding: Blood on the surface of hard stools
- Withholding behavior: Child may avoid going to the toilet due to pain or fear, leading to stool retention
- Soiling: Stool stains in the child’s underwear due to leakage of liquid stool around hard, retained stools
If constipation continues, it can lead to a condition called fecal impaction, which is when stool is packed so tightly that the normal pushing action of the colon can’t move it out of the body. Ongoing constipation can also lead to hemorrhoids or small tears in the anus called anal fissures. In addition, pressure from stool in the colon can push on the urinary tract and block the flow of urine, causing a urinary tract infection.
Call your child’s doctor right away if he or she has bloody stools, vomiting or abdominal pain that doesn’t go away.
