Causes not treatments
In some ways constipation in toddlers can be treated the same as it can in adults, however, there are a few major differences too. In this article we will be looking at causes rather than treatments. Identifying the underlying causes of the condition will have a more beneficial effect rather than merely treating the symptom of constipation.

Short-term constipation
Because of their young age, toddlers are not going to have chronic constipation like adults often have, so any problem is not likely to be long-term in nature. This is particularly true since we are monitoring their every movement (literally!) and we will know as soon as a problem arises. Any poor-health condition is easier to resolve if we have caught it in its early stages and curing constipation in toddlers is likely to be an easier task due to this reason. Due to their smaller size and faster metabolism, toddlers react more quickly and and are more sensitive to remedies or treatment we may give them.

Constipation as a symptom
It is important to remember that constipation in toddlers is going to be as a result of something else, some other condition which is causing the constipation. The first thing to do is to get your child checked out by the doctor, and then if you do not want to use orthodox drugs to treat the constipation, you can begin to consider what else might be causing the problem.

Any medications?
Medical physical causes having been ruled out by a trip to the doctor, you can start to think of other reasons why your child may not be able to go to the toilet as usual. You should probably first consider any medication that you are giving them and remember to ask the doctor whether this may have constipation as a side effect.

Changes in living conditions
Changes in environment and living conditions have been known to cause constipation in toddlers and adults alike, and if one of these emotional reasons is the cause for the constipation, you will need to work out a solution based on the individual personality of your child.

Food changes
Consider too, any changes in food that have been recently undertaken. Sometimes, it takes the body a little while to adapt to a change in habit or usual routine, and after a little while things start to move normally again.

Allergies and sensitivities
Like adults, toddlers can become constipated due to an allergy of some kind. This could be a sensitivity to anything to which they have come into contact, and you may need to do some testing to find out what is causing the sensitivity. If your toddler’s constipation has been a recurring theme in their life, then you can keep a food diary for them and this may show you what may be the likely culprit. Sensitivities sometimes show themselves in other ways too which might help to pin down the substance. Often an emotional response is present as well as the physical one and so you may need to be extra vigilant for these kind of out-of-character indications to a substance sensitivity.

Time is of the essence
Finally, make sure you give your child enough time. Constipation in toddlers can be caused by them being rushed due to our own busy life schedule, as well as their own busy play schedule. Try to have some relaxed time after meals when your child will be able to use the potty/toilet without pressure to do other things, and when you are not rushing to go out. Many children suffer from constipation due to choice – they rather spend time doing something else and do not make the time for their toilet.

Your Peace of Mind
Anyone with chronic, long-term constipation will probably begin to wonder if they will ever be rid of this condition, and if you have not already, you probably should see a doctor to find out if there is a larger problem causing your constipation. However, most people suffering from long-term constipation will have gone to their doctors many times over the years, and you would not be reading this if you and your doctor had found a solution.

Defining Constipation
Any cure for constipation cannot be considered without first understanding what is the definition of constipation. From an orthodox medicine point of view it is probably something like this:

 Having a bowel movement fewer than three times per week. (http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov)
 ….an adult who has not had a bowel movement in three days or a child who has not had a bowel movement in four days…. (http://www.answers.com)
 ….fewer than three stools a week…. (http://www.mayoclinic.com)

Constipation at Wikipedia
Check out your stools on the Wikipedia Bristol Stool Chart

Symptom Focussed Medicine
All of these definitions do not acknowledge that constipation is a symptom and why should they? Orthodox medicine is symptom-focused. If you have an ache in your knee, then here is a pill to take away the pain. If you have a headache, here is a pill to stop the throbbing. If you have a sore throat, here are pills to get rid of your infection. If you have a gallbladder condition, come into hospital for an operation to remove the part that is causing the pain. You have to admit, that we have all been brainwashed to think in these ways.

Find the Cause, Not Treat the Symptom
How often do you find a doctor who is willing to find out the cause of your runny nose (low resistance? weak immune system?) or find out the cause of your headache (stress? too much caffine?) Not very often, and you can probably bet that this doctor does not manage to see many people in a day at his or her clinic. This is because there are often set amounts of time allocated for each patient and having a symptom-focussed approach allows them to stick to this allocation. I suppose we should be grateful for these symptoms for without symptoms, we would not know we have a problem. Without finding the cause, you will never find a cure for constipation either.

Lifestyle & Routine
Many chronic cases of constipation are due to a lifestyle which has become over taxing on the body. Our body is trying to tell us to stop a moment and look at the way we live. Not just the daily routine of rushing from here to there, but also other things too.

What You Eat
What you eat is important. A balanced diet, not one which is full of sweet carbonated drinks, processed foods, refined sugar, refined white flour, foods which focus on difficult to digest ingredients, enough water, not much coffee or tea, all these things are important, and can have a bearing on how likely you are to have chronic long-term constipation.

Where You Eat
Where you eat. For example, do you grab a sandwich on the way home from work because you have appointments in the evening? Do you eat lunch at your desk while continuing to do your work thoughout the lunchtime break? Do you eat in a crowded rushed atmosphere? None of these circumstances allow you to take a little time to relax and give your body a break.

How You Eat
How you eat. I realise that our grandfathers used to say that we should chew our foor thoroughly, but it is important today as much as it was then. Chewing mixes the saliva in our mouth with the food and starts the digestion process. If this is rushed or missed almost altogether, we have left out one of the vital processes which help our body to effectively digest what we put in it. Since constipation is a problem concentrated in the digestive system, don’t you think that we should do everything we can to help that system process our food effectively? Remember to chew, and learn to take time over eating.

Why You Eat
Why you eat. There is a saying in China that you should not eat when you are upset and you should not discuss very emotional issuess at the dinner table. This has a basis in the fact that our emotions can affect our digestion. The sight, sound, smell, and taste of food promotes gastric juices to flow, particularly when we are hungry, but the opposite can also happen if you are upset, your body will block digestive enzymes when you need them. You only have to look at the number of people who have ulcers or irritable bowel syndrome to know that these are worse when emotional issues are strong.

Moods….
Why you eat is important in another way too. People who eat as a result of feelings often tend to eat junk food. For example, some people like to eat when they are bored, some people like to eat when they are feeling lonely, others like to eat when they are unhappy. We cannot hope for a cure for constipation if our moods steer us towards snacks, and foods which only make our condition worse.

Sensitivities
Sometimes our body develops a sensitivity to something. It can be anything, from toothpaste to perfume, from beer to washing up liquid. Some things, such as foods, are more likely to cause sensitivity than others. Long-term constipation suggests one of the reasons may be that our body just cannot process a particular food substance and therefore it just stays in the gut for longer than it should.

Food Sensitivity
Occasionally too, some kinds of food will cause the colon to absorb more water than normal, or cause the peristalsis, which moves the waste through our colon, to become slower. These rhythmical contractions of the gut are the way the body moves our waste towards the outside world. Drier stools and weak peristalsis are just two reasons why we may have constipation. However, if sensitivities are the cause of your problem, many people have found that by cutting out the food to which they are sensitive, they can discover the long-lost cure for constipation that they have been searching for all these years.

Cure for Constipation
So, from an orthodox point of view, a cure for constipation consists of a quick fix of laxative which will probably overcome the immediate problem. It makes you dependent on the drug industry for your medications and does not offer you a long term solution. It certainly is not a cure for constipation. What you really need is a change in the way you live your life because this is leading to your constipation problem

Looking For A Permanent Cure
It is obvious to us all that popping pills and potions will not be a permanent cure for our constipation. Natural constipation remedies are the answer, but which ones are best and which ones to take at the onset of difficulties? Each person builds up a list of effective medicines that they rely on and will return to, each time they have a health problem, and most of these have the names of the big pharmaceuticals on their packaging.

Not Enough Water
When considering the most natural constipation remedies we should not forget the best and most natural constipation remedy of all – water. Are you drinking enough water to allow your body to function effectively? If not, then your body will naturally want to retain as much water as it can, and so producing fairly constant constipation. One of the major functions of our colon is to reabsorb water from our waste before it is expelled into the outside world, and normally it does this extremely effectively. If you are not drinking enough water, then this is possibly contributing to your constipation problem. In addition to the correct amount we all should be dinking, some alternative health practitioners encourage their patients to drink at least one glass of warm water before eating anything each day. This will help to re-hydrate us after not drinking all night and will also help replace some of the water we have lost due to nighttime sweating. Some practitioners advise adding a squeeze of lemon juice to the warm water, as they say this helps the liver function better and gives it a kick-start to the day.

Position Is The Key
Another remedy in our armory of natural constipation remedies is an unusual one. It is the position that we take to elimiate our waste. The standard in the West of potty training from birth is to sit on something to eliminate, but in other countries where a more natural approach to life is adopted, they squat rather than sit. Physiologically, this squatting position is much better and more efficient. It straightens the final section of the colon and allows us to use the force of gravity to help move the waste naturally into the outside world. There is a muscle called the puborectalis muscle that maintains continence and when we sit, this muscle never fully relaxes, making it more difficult for the waste to pass out. In the squatting position we straighten the final sections of the colon and it signals to the body that we are going to evacuate. Consequently this squatting position allows for an easier passage of our waste and that in turn will help our constipation problem.

Flush Out The Waste
Continuing on our unusual natural constipation remedies theme, I would like to introduce the idea of flushing out the colon. This is often done by use of an enema, but can also be done using a home colon irrigation or hydotherapy kit such as the Colema Board. These devices are used to get the waste moving again by introducing water into the rectum and colon. They are often used as part of a plan to clean the colon of impacted faeces and to encourage the peristaltic contractions in a lethargic gut. Many people have used these devices and report benefits from their use, however many more people do not like to consider having to use this kind of equipment. It is a choice we have to make when we realise that our health should come first over everything as without our health, our quality of life will be worthless.

These are just a few natural constipation remedies that you might like to consider for your longer-term health. If there is a subject that you would like covered, please use the contact us form to let me know.

Health is a Serious Issue
Your health is a serious issue – maybe not for you now, but it will become so if you do not look after yourself – and this applies whatever age you are at the moment. I take it seriously, and you need to take it even more seriously than I do, because you have to live with it each day.

Constipation is a Symptom
Since we are all different, there is no one-solution-fixes-everyone answer to your prayers. In order to find help with constipation it is necessary to realise that you may have more than just an inability to defacate. This is because constipation is a symptom of a more widespread underlying problem, and is the result, not the base condition itself. It is frequently caused by poor eating habits, stress, a slow metabolism, some kind of medication, not drinking enough water, or an unhealthy lifestyle.

Causes of Constipation
Finding help with constipation caused by these reasons is probably the easiest to sort out, because these issues merely require a change in what you are doing to create a difference. Increased exercise, a better diet, or a change in medicine could all be fairly simply undertaken. However, the reason for your constipation could also be due to a hormonal imbalance, a nervous disorder, or other underlying more serious health problem, and if you suspect that this is the root cause, then it may require a visit to the health professional to check your overall health. These are the kind of reasons why remedies for constipation must be considered on a case-by-case basis and not one general solution for everyone.

Find Health Advice
I suppose that ideally, you should go to a health advisor who will view you as an integrated health system, not as a bunch of organs each doing their own function. They would assess your particular lifestyle and they would advise you what changes you would need to make to become healthier. However, not everyone can afford this as it often involves more than one visit and sometimes requires buying herbs or other natural medicines from them too. Depending on where you live, some countries have more restrictions placed on them by their medical authorities. These limit the amount of available health options open to you.

Foods That Cause Constipation
Certain foods can react with your body to make it more difficult for the watse to move through your digestive system. These foods appear to be different for different people with reports of dairy products, processed wheat products, bananas, together with low fibre and highly processed foods. Many types of plants contain toxic or anesthetic substances which act on the muscles of our gut producing reduced peristalsis and causing constipation.

Ignoring the Urge
Help with constipation can occasionally be gained by simply giving your body more time or a regular appointment with the toilet. It is strange, but our body gets used to a habit and a regular appointment after breakfast or in the evening before bed is sometimes all it takes to solve a mild constipation problem. Children particularly are often so interested in life that they do not make time for the call of nature and do not use the toilet regularly. This may lead to constipation problems and the associated toxic system, spots, and boils and painful guts.

Disrupted Regular Routines
Occasionally when normal routines are disturbed and broken, our body clock becomes disrupted and our health can suffer. People report higher instances of bowel irregularity when this happens and returning to the old pattern of behaviour can help with overcoming constipation.

The General Approach
For certain people, a more general approach to their health problems can work, as long as you are honest with yourself and can assess the kind of poor habits that you might need to change. There is a huge body of information on the internet both in articles and in health forums but it is also difficult to determine which advice to follow unless you know a bit about health in the first place. I think that it is possible to find good general advice from ebooks, which is why I offer links on this website, and although they do not suit everyone, they do offer an immediate way to start to improve your own health. At least it is a beginning which is far better than doing nothing, and if the ebook has good testimonials from others who have used it to turn their health around, then there is a good chance that it will also work for you too.

Information is Power
Wellness is something that some people have naturally, but for most of us, it means a lifelong study of our health and how our body reacts to the things we give it. Help with constipation is more likely if you have an interest in learning about vitamins, minerals, body processes, diseases and all other aspects of health as this will give a broad knowledge from which to begin to weed out the good information from the poor information. It will also enable us to ask more relevant questions of our doctor should any serious disease happen to us or to our loved ones.

Other Devices
In addition to taking constipation remedies orally, you can also get help with constipation from devices such as enemas and home colonic irrigation boards. These all have their part to play in the overall solution to the condition by attacking the problem from both ends. Some people swear by them and others say that they do not help overall, but these devices do provide temporary relief for the severely constipated individual.

Fallout
The main fallout from constipation is the toxic waste that gets reabsorbed into the bloodstream. This all has to be removed by the liver causing it to be stressed and over-worked. A liver flush is a natural way to cleanse and rejuvinate the liver using ingredients that can be easily obtained and it is an effective way to provide support to this important organ as it removes the toxins from your body. This book by Andreas Moritz called The Amazing Liver & Gallbladder Flush gives excellent background information on the liver flush, how and why it works, and then proceeds to take you step-by-step through the details of how to perform one safely. Read reviews and order your copy now on Amazon.com

The Causes are Unique
There are many causes for constipation and many different natural remedies for constipation too. The causes are likely to be different for each one of us and so the remedies that we need to use to address them are likely to be different also. This means that there is not a one-size-fits-all solution to our problem.

Such Good Intentions
Each time constipation happens to me, I swear to myself that I will sort it out this time and not let it happen again. Unfortunately, once it is over, I forget my good intentions and relax back to my bad old ways of eating and living.

Natural Remedies
Remedies for constipation come in many forms and this website will concentrate on the natural ones, since medications change and develop all the time. You really need a doctor or drug comapany representative to explain to you all of the benefits and side effects of each medicine and since I am neither of these type of people, I will leave you to consult your doctor. Personally, I do not feel that dosing ourselves with drugs for quick-fixes is a particularly good long-term solution for our body, which is why this website is concentrating on natural remedies for constipation, and alternatives to standard medication.

Balancing The Body System
Any remedy for this condition has to target the digestive system, but that cannot be viewed in isolation since the whole body system has become out of balance. The aim of all natural remedies for constipation is to bring the complete system back to full working order in a gentle effective way using ways and means that work with the body to achieve this. So, for example we may alter our eating habits, we may choose to take more exercise, or we might go to have a therapy of some kind perhaps massage or colonic irrigation.

Resolving Long-Term Constipation
For any long-term problem to be resolved we have to spend some time on ourselves and concentrate on the problem itself. Chronic constipation will probably need a lifestyle change as it is likely to be poor choices made previously which have caused the condition to become so severe. If you are willing to change the way you live, then there is absolutely no reason why the body will not respond in a way that will bring you and your body back to your best health possible.

Lifestyle Changes
Changes to the way we live take some organising. Not only because we may have other people, such as husbands, and children, who also need to be considered, but also because it takes a lot more time and effort to effect.

Your Choice
Ultimately, we always have a choice to remain as we are and continue to suffer these episodes of constipation, or we can decide to change and make a new beginning for ourselves. Like smoking, I believe there is a ‘right time’ for all of these things when it is easier to do and when the river of life seems to flow with us rather than against us.

Is Now The Right Time?
If this is the ‘right time’ for you, and you want to start to live a more healthy existence with a better chance of escaping ill-health in your old age, you may want to consider this ebook which provides various natural cures for different ailments.

Testimonials And Guarantee
It has helped many people to overcome their constipation as well as other conditions too. There is a 60-day money-back guarantee which is useful which means that if you feel that your condition has not got any better and you have not received any benefit from the advice given, you can get your money refunded.