Do you notice your child putting off going to bathroom because he/she is busy doing more important things? Do you notice avoidance of bathroom for fear of a painful bowel movement? Is your child not experiencing daily bowel movements? These actions may be signals of constipation. Parents often hope their worries about their children's bathroom habits will end with final diaper. But successful toilet training doesn't prevent occasional troubles with bowel movements. Constipation is among most common but should never be considered normal. Unfortunately most of medical literature defines childhood constipation as not frequency of bowel movements but hardness of stool. According to Physicians’ Manual for Patients, “Daily bowel movements are not essential to health.” Parents are told that as long as child is having three bowel movements a week AND they are soft that this is totally normal. Not so! Just as we eat three meals per day, a child should be experiencing between 1 to 3 bowel movements per day. Food should never be sitting in digestive track longer than 24 hours. Ideally, everyone should have comfortable, unforced bowel movements 20-30 minutes after every meal.

Because discussion of bowel movements between child and parent usually brings out total dread in parents, it is often ignored and assumed that child is experiencing bowel movements each day. Many of us remember cringing when a grandparent asked us “Have you had a bowel movement today?” The cringe was not necessarily because of question but because it was usually asked very loudly at dinner table! You see, in their generation this was considered a very important function for good health. Somewhere along line we have stopped looking at this as an important clue in overall health. Digestive track health is considered by many to be most important function in keeping body healthy.

Causes Of Childhood Constipation Diet & Nutrition - Not eating enough foods with fiber; Dehydration; Consuming a lot of sugar and desserts; Milk and dairy products; Food Allergies; Acid forming foods (meat). Lack of Exercise – With popularity of computer games and TV many children are leading a very sedentary lifestyle. Emotion Upsets & Anxiety – Fear, grief, worry and frustration have all been known to affect digestive tract. Holding stools – This means child has feeling of needing to have a bowel movement, but ignores urge. Reasons such as not wanting to take time to go to bathroom, unfamiliar bathrooms or pain in passing a stool are very common. Prescription Drugs - Antihistamines, such as diphenhydramine (Temaril or Benadryl), found in nonprescription cold medications; Antidiarrheal medications; Antispasmodics, such as atropine and scopolamine; Narcotics, such as codeine and hydrocodone; Chemotherapy; Anticonvulsants, such as carbamazepine and valproic acid; Tricyclic antidepressants, such as amitriptyline hydrochloride or doxepin hydrochloride; Iron supplements. Other less common causes of constipation are depression, attention deficit disorders, and sexual abuse.

For years I concentrated on cleansers and moisturizers, neglecting toners. The only time a toner was used was when I purchased a complete skin care regimen set that contained a toner at department store. When I began to make my own skin care products, I was concerned mainly with lotions and moisturizers. I finally began to realize that a toner has many benefits that I was missing out on by not including it in my daily skincare program:

oRemoves traces of cleanser that was left behind after cleansing oHelp restore your skin to its nature acid PH oRefresh your skin throughout day oSet make up oAdds additional moisture oConditions skin