What Are the Symptoms of Idiopathic Constipation?
Symptoms may start soon after birth or when your child starts eating baby food or solid food. You may also notice symptoms when you start to potty train your child.
Your child may have these symptoms:
- Not having a bowel movement each day
- Bowel movements are hard and small
- May struggle with bowel movements
- Bowel movements may be painful
- May soil their underwear
- Bloating
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea or vomiting
Sometimes the anus may tear when your child is passing a large, hard piece of stool. This cut may reopen each time the child passes more stool. The child then learns that passing stool is painful and tries to avoid it. Over time, they start to hold the stool in, making the problem worse and harder to treat the constipation.
When stool stays inside the intestine longer than 24 hours, the intestine stretches to hold the large amount of stool. The stretched colon then holds more stool, making the constipation worse.
Your child may have soiling or smearing of stool in their underwear. They may get used to having their underwear always dirty. The child may get used to their own odor. The parents must understand that the child often does not notice their own smell.