What to Do About Infants’ Difficulty in Defecating?

Question

The infant has been on mixed feeding, now being fed eight times a day, with each feeding about 100ml of formula. Recently, the infant has started defecating every two days, and the stool has turned green. Today, the stool is a bit less and hard, looking like there might be difficulty in defecating. Do I need to go to the hospital?

Answer

Parents should clearly understand that dealing with infants’ dry stool should be based on preventing its occurrence. Therefore, it is important to advocate for reasonable feeding of infants, cultivate good living habits in them (not being picky or biased in eating, having a regular defecation schedule), strengthen physical exercise for infants with dry stool, and increase their intake of vegetables, fruits, and water. Eating more fatty foods and engaging in more physical activity can help improve dry stool. If the infant frequently experiences constipation, some traditional Chinese medicine can be taken under a doctor’s guidance for adjustment.