As soon as the child is brought from the hospital, caring parents, as well as grandparents, begin to closely monitor the condition and behavior of the baby. How many eats, how much sleeps, whether the tummy hurts ... There are a lot of questions. And one of them is regular bowel movement. If the child does not stain diapers for a long period, the mother begins to worry. Friends and grandmothers are advised to put an enema.
Does an infant need an enema if he has not emptied his intestines for more than 24 hours? The answer to this question should be given by the mother herself, carefully observing the child. Enema does not need a newborn in all cases. If the baby is breastfed and behaves well, the tummy is soft, then there is nothing to worry about. In this case, no enema is needed for the newborn - mother’s breast milk suits him, and the body assimilates it well. For such children to cope with the "great" need once every few days is the norm.
If the child often cries, bends the legs, palpation of the abdomen is hard and painful - in this case, the enema will relieve the condition of the newborn and help get rid of hardened feces. In this case, we can talk about constipation.
If this condition is repeated several times, you must consult a doctor who will tell you the correct algorithm of actions. Maybe the mother who is breastfeeding needs to adjust her diet, and the baby will feel better. If you are “artificial”, you may have to change the milk mixture. If the cause of frequent constipation is a disease or immaturity of the gastrointestinal tract, the doctor will prescribe safe and used in childhood medicines that will alleviate the condition of the baby.
In any case, it is often impossible to give an enema to a small child, since the beneficial bacteria that colonize the intestines are washed out with feces. Enema for a newborn is a necessary measure, which is used in emergency cases.
It happens that an enema is necessary not only for constipation, but also for food poisoning or for the introduction of medicines. Therefore, each mother should own the technique and know the correct algorithm for carrying out this procedure.
First you need to boil a syringe with a soft tip in a container of water for 5 minutes. An enema is placed in a small syringe with a volume of 50 ml.
Prepare the necessary solution for rectal administration. With constipation, you can use boiled water, a decoction of chamomile, for medical reasons - medicines. The desired solution must be cooled to a temperature of 30 degrees.
Wash your hands and spread a disposable waterproof diaper before performing the procedure.
An enema is placed in the baby’s position on the back or left side with bent legs.
Remove the remaining water and air from the syringe, fill it with prepared solution or water. The syringe nose should be lubricated with cream or petroleum jelly, which will provide an easy and painless introduction into the anus.
Insert the nose of the syringe into the rectum to a depth of 2-4 cm and slowly release the liquid, squeezing the buttocks of the baby with the other hand. Without opening the enema, carefully remove it from the anus. Keep your baby's buttocks squeezed for a while so that the liquid acts and softens the stool.
In most cases, an enema gives a positive effect and the child defecates. With the right enema technique, the newborn does not cause unpleasant sensations or pain, and after its implementation relief comes, and the child calms down.
To avoid the frequent use of enemas, it is necessary to take care of the microflora of the intestines of the newborn. Try to breast-feed your baby (if there are no contraindications), exclude from your diet foods that provoke constipation in the baby. If these methods do not help, contact your pediatrician.