Constipated Toddler? Try This Morning Routine

Mornings Matter for Poop Patterns

If your toddler is battling hard stools, skipping days between poops, or straining on the potty, you’re not alone:constipation affects up to 30% of toddlers [1]. But what many parents don’t realize is that mornings are a golden opportunity to help get things moving.

Why? Because thegastrocolic reflex - your body’s natural urge to poop after eating, is strongest in the morning. By building a gut-friendly morning routine, you can help your little one poop more regularly and comfortably.

Here’s a simple, daily routine to support your constipated toddler’s digestion from the moment they wake up.

Step 1: Warm Water First Thing

Before breakfast, offer your toddler asmall cup of warm water (not hot) or water mixed with a splash of fruit juice.

Begin Health Expert Tip:

Warm water can stimulate bowel movements and hydrate the colon, making it easier for poop to pass.

Step 2: Fiber-Filled Breakfast

Skip the sugary cereal and go for a breakfast that includessoluble fiber, which softens stool and promotes healthy motility.

Great options:

• Oatmeal with ground flax or chia seeds

• Whole grain toast with avocado

• Banana with peanut butter

• Yogurt with berries +Growing Up Prebiotics

Begin Health Expert Tip:

A fiber-rich breakfast, especially withprebiotics like HMOs or inulin, can kickstart digestion and fuel beneficial gut bacteria.

Step 3: Offer Growing Up Prebiotics Daily

MixGrowing Up Prebiotics into your toddler’s breakfast or morning drink. It contains:

• 2’-FL HMO – a prebiotic found in breast milk

• Chicory root inulin – a plant-based fiber shown to improve stool consistency in kids [2]

Begin Health Expert Tip:

This gentle powder helps improve stool frequency and softness in as little as6 weeks of consistent use. [2]

 Step 4: Encourage Potty Time (Same Time, Every Day)

After breakfast, have your toddler sit on the potty, even if they say they don’t need to go. Make it fun with books, music, or a sticker chart.

Begin Health Expert Tip:

Sitting after meals helps train the gut-brain connection. Over time, this builds a natural routine and reduces stool withholding.

Step 5: Get Moving!

Physical activity helps stimulate digestion. Even 5–10 minutes of:

• Dancing

• Jumping jacks

• Playing outside

…can help get the gut moving, especially after a meal.

Begin Health Expert Tip:

Movement increases circulation and encourages peristalsis (the muscle movement that pushes poop through the gut).

 

Summary

Constipation doesn’t have to control your toddler’s day. By supporting hydration, offering a gut-friendly breakfast, adding daily prebiotics likeGrowing Up Prebiotics, and sticking to a potty routine, you can help your little one develop healthy, regular bathroom habits, naturally and gently.