Toddler constipation is something you can work towards preventing, and doing so will save you heaps of worry. Holding a screaming child while she tries to eliminate is not something I thought would be a part of parenthood. However, this scenario plays out roughly once every two days. In addition, my toddler clings to me, contorts her face in agony and tightens nearly every muscle in her body.

My heart breaks in two when this happens. When I searched the internet to find a cure, I discovered that one site would say to avoid bananas while another said to eat them and so on.

Needless to say, I was confused, so I decided to write about what actually worked for us. We got advice from a pediatrician and then took steps to change our toddler's diet.

1. Remove Bananas from the Diet: 

This food, which had a binding effect on the body, should not be eaten by children with constipation troubles. You may already know that bananas form part of the BRAT (bananas - rice - applesauce - toast) diet that is recommended for diarrhea. You certainly want to encourage foods that will NOT bind.

2. Remove Wheat from the Diet: 

This is a hard one to do. However, a wheat free diet (http://wheatfreediet.wordpress.com) is completely possible. You can substitute rice or millet bread for wheat bread. Since more people have discovered their wheat allergies, there are a number of delicious products to replace the desire or need for wheat. You can get wheat-free soy sauce, wheat-free cookies, and plenty of wheat-free flours.

3. Encourage Pears and Watermelon: 

We had a great deal of success by encouraging watermelon. The high water content and fiber helped the toddler constipation situation. The doctor recommended peaches, and that works well, too.

4. Encourage Water Drinking: 
Water is not a food favorite of my toddler. I'd add some into her milk, but the doctor suggested we get her to drink it straight. To encourage the process, I'm using bendy straws only for increasing water consumption - anything to make drinking water fun and enjoyable.

5. Reduce Yogurt and Eliminate Cheese: 
Cheese (like bananas) is binding and slows down the digestive process, so cheese is completely out. About 4 ounces per day of yogurt can be eaten according to our pediatrician.

6. Get Moving!: 
The process of walking and movement helps digestion. It probably won't be hard to encourage your toddler to move around - they are always moving! - yet be sure you take some walks or run around after meals.

7. Read a Book: 
After feeling pain with elimination, your toddler may start to withold it to avoid the pain. This could cause problems later. An excellent book to read with your toddler is: "It Hurts When I Poop" about a boy named Ryan who hurts when he poops and overcomes it.

With time, and by following these guidelines, your toddler constipation woes should come to an end. It will take dedication and patience to heal the situation completely.

Hopefully, these guidelines help you improve your toddler's constipation, so she will feel healthy and comfortable - and so she won't be scared to use bathroom.

How to cure the sleepless nights of your baby or babies

Sleepless nights

A baby who has trouble sleeping can cause many problems within the family household. The lack of sleep increases the irritability between family members, with parents snapping at older children and each other for no real reason and thus arguments occur when they need not.It is therefore very important to find the cause of your baby's sleep problem as soon as you possible can, not only for your baby's sake but also for your own sanity.There are many causes for babies having trouble sleeping, some can be dealt with easily, while others need a bit more detective work.Most babies should start sleeping through the night between 8 and 12 weeks, obviously as all babies are different, some may sleep through quicker some longer.

Why is your baby not sleeping when you put it to bed?

If your baby is not sleeping through the night then you should look at the overall situation,
Have you just moved them into a cot or a junior bed?
Have they just gone into their own room after being with you for some length of time?
Have you moved house?
Has there been something happen within the family to cause an unsettled feeling i.e. a death to close family member?
All of these things are enough to unsettle a baby at night.

Good baby Sleeping tips

One of the best ways to help your baby sleep at night is to have a very good bedtime routine. This should start the same time every night, and should follow the same pattern. For example;

6.30pm bath/shower
7pm a little play with quiet toys
7.15pm story time, maybe 1 or 2 small books
7.30pm lights out, kiss, cuddle and tell them ‘sleep tight and see you in the morning’ and maybe get them to cuddle their favourite teddy

Sleep disorders

A baby waking in the night

When a newborn first arrives on the scene you expect to be woken 2-3 times during the night, with this gradually decreasing as you get baby into a better sleeping routine. However when an older child/toddler starts waking 2-3 times in the night for no apparent reason or generally showing a total lack of sleep, it can be very annoying for the parent, and in turn you end up with a very tired toddler and parent.
So again you find yourself looking at the big picture and asking simple questions,
Are they cutting teeth? Remember a child can still be cutting teeth at the 2-3 years of age!
Are they still in a cot? It may be possible that the cot is now getting too small and they are waking themselves when they move in the night.
Have you just moved them into a child size bed? It is possible that they feel insecure by the amount of round that they have around them. Perhaps fill their bed with their favourite teddies.
Are they waking up wet with nappies leaking? This can be very uncomfortable for the child and you should be thinking about maybe cutting back drinks before bed and just allowing them to have their milk at bedtime. Or if they do not drink too much maybe you need to look at larger nappies for during the night, or even a different brand. They are all cut and fit slightly differently.
Have you started potty training but still have them in nappies during the night? If so this could be there way of telling you that they need a wee during the night.
Are they asking for a drink of juice every time they wake? If so, and you usually give your child diluted squash it could be that they are actually craving for the squash. Be brave and strong and just give them water for during the night and during the day dilute the squash so water only just changes colour.
Are they having a growth spurt and waking hungry? If so perhaps they need a more filling evening meal, meat/vegetarian option with vegetables, or maybe a pasta dish, followed by a filling pudding i.e. rice pudding, fresh fruit with any yoghurt. You could always give your child something simple to eat while you are reading a story and they are drinking their milk i.e. breadsticks or small piece of toast/bread and butter.