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Children have different bowel movement patterns than adults. In addition, there is a wide spectrum of normalcy when considering children's bowel habits. [1] On average, infants have 3-4 bowel movements/day, and toddlers have 2-3 bowel movements per day. At around age 4, children develop an adult-like pattern of bowel movements (1-2 stools/day).
Constipation is a bowel dysfunction that makes bowel movements infrequent or hard to pass. [2] The stool is often hard and dry. [4] Other symptoms may include abdominal pain, bloating, and feeling as if one has not completely passed the bowel movement. [3]
Functional constipation, also known as chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC), is defined by less than three bowel movements per week, hard stools, severe straining, the sensation of anorectal blockage, the feeling of incomplete evacuation, and the need for manual maneuvers during feces, without organic abnormalities.
Normal definitions of functional constipation include infrequent bowel movements and hard stools. In contrast, ODS may occur with frequent bowel movements and even with soft stools, [ 20 ] and the colonic transit time may be normal (unlike slow transit constipation ), but delayed in the rectum and sigmoid colon .
Toddler's diarrhea is characterized by three or more watery stools per day that persist for 2–4 weeks or more. [2] [6] Newborns and infants may normally have soft and frequent stools; however, any noticeable changes in stool frequency or form (i.e. watery) can indicate toddler's diarrhea. [7]
The treatment of fecal impaction requires both the remedy of the impaction and treatment to prevent recurrences. Decreased motility of the colon results in dry, hard stools that in the case of fecal impaction become compacted into a large, hard mass of stool that cannot be expelled from the rectum. [citation needed]