What causes hard stools in a 9-month-old baby?

Question

Hello doctor,

My daughter is nine months old and weighs 17.6 pounds. She has been passing a hard stool for several days. She feels pain when passing stool. I gave her enzyme syrup, but it did not work.

Kindly help.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

As a child specialist, I can understand your concern.

Hard stools and pain during bowel movements are common in infants and are usually due to constipation. For a nine-month-old baby weighing 17.6 pounds, I would suggest the following things:

Ensure she is getting adequate fluids throughout the day.
If she has started complementary foods, offer high-fiber foods such as mashed papaya, pear, prunes, peaches, plums, or oatmeal.
Reduce constipating foods such as excessive rice cereal, bananas (if taken in large amounts), and processed foods.
Gentle tummy massage and bicycling movements of the legs may help stimulate bowel movements.
Continue breastfeeding, or formula feeds as usual.

Enzyme drops generally do not help with constipation, so it is not surprising that there has been little improvement. If the stools remain hard despite dietary measures, your pediatrician may recommend a stool softener such as Lactulose, but this should be prescribed after assessing your child.

Please seek medical evaluation sooner if you find:

There is blood in the stool.
The abdomen becomes swollen or distended.
She has persistent vomiting.
Poor feeding or weight loss develops.
She goes several days without passing stool despite discomfort.

I hope this helps.

Revert in case of more queries.

Thank you.