Stool Straining in Babies & Toddlers

Many parents become worried when they witness their babies straining to have a bowel movement. It is a very common event in the early months of life, babies push and strain, go red in the face and can appear to be in pain as they try to have a bowel movement. It is often interpreted as constipation even although the consistency of the pooh is not hard.

Toddlers also may have the same difficulty when they start to pooh in the potty. This is called ‘uncoordinated pooing’. (Dyschezia). The baby is not yet mature enough to work out the best way to get the bowel movement out. He/she does not know how to pull the knees up which would relax the pelvic floor to allow the pooh to come out easily. What the baby does is kick the legs out straight and begin straining at the same time preventing the pooh from progressing easily and naturally.

Babies also push with their abdominal muscles and diaphragm, this causes them to make grunting noises making parents worry that their baby is experiencing pain.

One solution to this problem is to help your baby to learn how to get the pooh out.
When you see your baby straining you can try bending and holding your baby’s knees up towards his/her stomach while the pushing is in progress.

If your baby is very distressed and screams a lot while pooing it is then advisable to make an appointment with your Doctor for a rectal examination to rule out any rectal problems such as a tight anus.

When toilet training toddlers it is important to have a potty that provides the right squatting position for your toddler, it should be low so that the knees are pushed up towards the stomach. This will help to make toilet training more successful.

Frances Byatt-Smith RN RHV BA Psychology

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