HealthInfo Canterbury
Helping your child with constipation
Te tiaki i te tamaiti kÅroke
If your tamaiti (child) is constipated, read below for actions you can take to help improve their bowel habits and manage their health.
- Make sure your tamaiti child has plenty of fibre and fluids. This can treat short-term or very mild constipation and can help prevent them getting constipated again. But if they've been constipated for a long time, just having more fibre without other treatment is unlikely to help.
- Help them to be physically active each day. This is important for health and wellbeing, and may help to keep your child's bowels regular.
- Support your tamaiti to develop a regular toilet habit.
- Encourage them to sit on the toilet after a meal. After breakfast and dinner is often best.
- Make sure they're comfortable on the toilet. They may need an inner seat.
- Get something for them to rest their feet on to ensure their knees are higher than their hips.
- Encourage them to lean forward and rest their elbows on their knees.
- Teach them to push their stomach out when pushing.
- If your tamaiti is younger, and is prone to holding-on, consider using a reward system (such as a sticker or star chart) to help them go to the toilet more regularly. Reward sitting on the toilet, not clean underwear.
- Show your tamaiti the correct position for sitting on the toilet.
If your tamaiti still has a problem, see your GP for advice about medications.
On the next page: Fibre & fluid for children
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed February 2022.
Review key: HICOC-14683
