baby food allergy constipation

The essence of constipation induced by food allergy in infants is that allergens trigger an immune stress response in the intestinal mucosa, resulting in decreased intestinal motility and over-absorption of fecal water to form retention. More than 90% of mild cases of children can be relieved within 1-2 weeks after identifying and avoiding allergens and adjusting feeding methods. There is no need to use laxatives. Children with severe cases accompanied by abdominal pain, blood in the stool, and delayed growth and development need to be treated with anti-allergic drugs or hypoallergenic preparations under the guidance of a doctor. They should not use folk prescriptions on their own.

Last week, I received a 6-month-old baby boy from the outpatient clinic. He was fed with high-speed rice and rice noodles for a week. He didn’t have a bowel movement for three days. His parents thought it was because of “belly accumulation” and didn’t take it seriously. When he had a bowel movement on the fourth day, he cried heartbreakingly. All he pooped out were goat poop eggs with some bloodshot eyes. My grandma secretly fed him two meals of Seven Star Tea at home. Not only did he not have a bowel movement, the baby also had stomach pains all night long.

Don't tell me, this situation has happened a lot recently. Ten babies with constipation came to the doctor, and at least three of them were caused by food allergy. Many parents still think that "allergy means rash, vomiting, and sneezing." They have no idea that constipation is also a typical manifestation of delayed food allergy, especially for babies who are 6-12 months old and have just started to eat complementary foods. , the intestinal barrier is not yet fully developed, and common allergens such as milk protein, eggs, wheat, nuts, and shellfish can easily cause slight edema in the intestinal wall and directly slow down the peristalsis. The feces will stay in the intestine for more than ten hours, and the water will be sucked dry.

When it comes to the investigation of allergies and constipation, there are actually different treatment ideas in the industry.

Many evidence-based doctors will recommend doing a food avoidance provocation test first. That is, if you suspect which food you are allergic to, you should stop it for 2-4 weeks. If the constipation is relieved, add it again. If constipation occurs again after adding it, it is basically confirmed. Then avoid it for 3-6 months until the intestinal tolerance is restored. Just add it slowly. It is not recommended to do a food allergen test right away, especially the food IgG test now promoted by many institutions. Most evidence-based studies believe that it has no correlation with food allergies. The detection of a lot of "intolerance" will make parents overly anxious and afraid to give anything to their children.

There are also doctors from another school of allergy prevention who suggest that if the parents themselves have allergic rhinitis, asthma, or the first-born high-risk baby has a history of severe allergies, they can appropriately delay the addition of highly allergic foods when adding complementary foods, or directly choose hypoallergenic complementary foods, deeply hydrolyzed/amino acid formula powder feeding, to reduce the possibility of allergic triggers from the source. However, there are also objections to this view - excessive avoidance of allergens too early will delay the establishment of immune tolerance in the baby, and subsequent exposure to allergens will more easily trigger allergic reactions.

In fact, there is nothing wrong with both ideas. It depends on the situation of your baby. If there has been repeated constipation and no other triggers can be found, then avoid provoking honestly. If the baby has not yet developed allergy-related symptoms, just add complementary foods in order. There is no need to exclude all high-allergenic foods in advance.

If you really encounter constipation that is suspected to be caused by allergies, don't rush to use Kaiselu or feed laxatives first, especially for children under 1 year old. If you use Kaiselu too much, it is easy to become dependent, and then you will not be able to have bowel movements on your own.

Observe the baby's condition first. If he has not had diarrhea for 2-3 days, is in good spirits, is eating milk and complementary foods normally, and has a normal belly, rub the baby's belly clockwise for two more minutes, and feed a small amount of warm boiled water with two mouthfuls. If the baby is supplemented with complementary foods, give him two spoons of prune puree or dragon juice. In many cases, the baby will have diarrhea the next day. Don't stick to the dogma of "don't give water before adding complementary food". Giving a small amount of water really doesn't have any effect when you are constipated. It is better than having an anal fissure and crying.

If there is still no change after adjusting for two or three days, follow the newly added complementary foods in the past 1-2 weeks and check them one by one. First, stop the most likely high-allergenic foods, such as newly added eggs, wheat flour, and dairy products. Try slowly, and you can always find the reason.

If you really need to take medication, I generally only recommend two strains of probiotics: Lactobacillus rhamnosus LGG or Lactobacillus reuteri DSM17938, and be sure to choose a non-allergenic formula. Don’t buy the kind with milk protein and white sugar added. On the contrary, the more you eat, the more allergic you will become. Osmotic laxatives such as lactulose can also be used, but they must be taken according to the dosage under the guidance of a doctor, and do not give them randomly.

There is another common pitfall that I must mention. Many old people say that their babies are "sick" when they see constipation. They feed them Seven Star Tea, Qinghuobao, and Honeysuckle Water. These things either add a lot of sugar or contain cold traditional Chinese medicine ingredients. Drinking too much will not only hurt the baby's spleen and stomach, but also disrupt the intestinal flora environment, making constipation more and more serious. Don't feed them randomly anymore.

I have also seen parents stop all complementary foods and only give milk to their babies as soon as they discover constipation. This is not right. As long as there are no clear allergens, dietary fiber-rich complementary foods such as green leafy vegetables, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes can be given to the baby normally and chopped into small pieces. The dietary fiber itself can help promote intestinal peristalsis. If it is stopped, the recovery will be slower.

In fact, raising a baby is not always smooth sailing. Intestinal development is a bumpy process. If you occasionally have constipation, you don’t have to worry about it. Check it slowly and don’t follow the trend and use folk remedies. If you are not sure, go to the pediatric gastroenterology or allergy department. It is better than torturing the baby at home.