First, let’s look at a scene:
Ah! Ah! Ah! Husband/Mom! Come on!
What’s the matter? What’s the matter!
Oh, my God! The child vomited! ! Vomit all wet!
Did you throw up what?
Milk!
This kind of scene must have appeared in many families that have just had children. When the baby vomits milk, the whole family is nervous. Perhaps it is because in our cognition, vomiting is a very terrible thing, because vomiting means that there may be digestive system problems. But does vomiting milk mean that the child is ill?
First, why do children spit milk?
When the baby finishes eating milk, occasionally, the milk flows out along the corners of the mouth, or with hiccups, or when the mood is excited and the movement range is large, it suddenly gushes out from the oral cavity and nostrils. However, the baby has no discomfort, and has good growth and development, good spirit and good milk intake. This kind of situation is spitting milk (this article mainly mentions physiological spitting milk).
For babies under 1 year old, spitting milk is very normal, especially for babies around 4 months old, which is related to the baby’s immature digestive system and eating.
The human body’s stomach has two [gates], the place where the stomach borders the esophagus is called [cardia], and the place where it borders the intestinal tract is called [pylorus]. Compared with adults, the muscles in the cardiac part of the baby are not fully developed and relatively relaxed, while the muscles in the pylorus are relatively tense, which will cause a situation: gastroesophageal reflux.
In addition, because the baby’s stomach is horizontal and the volume of the stomach is small, and the pyloric muscles are tense, if the feeding amount is too large (i.e. Overfeeding), the shallow stomach will naturally not be able to hold the surging milk, and the lower head will not be able to go, so it can only rush up, resulting in milk vomiting.
If the baby drinks too much and too fast when drinking milk, and swallows a lot of air in the process, then when the air is discharged from the stomach, which is what we call [hiccups], some of the milk drunk will also [hitch a ride] and run out together.
Knowing the possible causes of vomiting, parents need to remember one thing most: physiological vomiting is one of the most common physiological phenomena in small babies, which is common in babies between 4 and 6 months old. Most babies’ milk overflow and vomiting will gradually improve around the age of 6 months, while a few babies may not improve until around the toddler period.
However, it should be mentioned that, The performance of some diseases may also have spitting milk, this performance is pathological spitting milk. If the baby spits milk at the same time, such as poor spirit, poor feeding, abdominal distension, diarrhea, fever, crying uneasiness and other discomfort manifestations, should seek medical treatment as soon as possible. Intestinal obstruction, intussusception, esophageal atresia, intestinal atresia and other serious diseases can be manifested as spitting milk.
Second, is it different from vomiting in what?
There is a difference between real vomiting and vomiting. Vomiting means that the contents of the stomach are forcibly [squeezed] into the esophagus and vomited out through the mouth. Vomiting is only a slight reflux of the contents of the stomach into the mouth. And often accompanied by hiccups. The biggest difference between vomiting and spitting milk is that the baby will have discomfort when vomiting, such as crying, dysphoria, etc.
What should we pay attention to?
If there is milk vomiting and the following situations are combined, Bao’s parents should be on guard:
Repeated spitting of milk;
Large amount of milk spitting;
Jet vomiting;
Reduced urine volume;
Weight gain is slow or even stagnant.
Not in good spirits;
Vomit with yellowish green, brown or bloody vomit;
Blood stool;
Complicated with fever, diarrhea, dyspnea and other symptoms;
To cry;
If there is an appeal, the child should be taken to see a doctor in time to judge whether vomiting is caused by pathological reasons.
Four, the baby choked milk how to do?
In addition to the possibility of spitting milk after feeding, In the process of breast-feeding, For many reasons, Babies may also choke on milk, At this time, treasure parents don’t hold the baby upright, this will only let choking milk into the baby’s lungs. We should observe the degree of choking milk, and then according to the degree of weight, take let the baby side face back pat the baby’s back or let the baby lie prone on the adult leg, hard pat the baby’s back, let the milk flow out.
Five, how to prevent spitting milk?
If the child has no symptoms of other systems, good spirit, good growth and development, and good diet, then this common spitting is a common physiological phenomenon, and it is very difficult to completely solve spitting, but the following methods can help the baby reduce the frequency and amount of spitting.
After feeding, gently pat the back to expel the air swallowed during feeding. For children fed with formula milk, since the contact angle between the bottle and the child is different from the mother’s breast, more air may be swallowed during feeding than breast feeding, and the back can also be properly pat during feeding.
For children fed with formula milk, choose a nipple hole suitable for the swallowing and sucking speed of the baby. If the nipple hole is too large, it is easy to choke milk too fast, and if the nipple hole is too small, it is difficult to suck milk and it is easy to swallow too much air.
After feeding the milk, hold the baby vertically for 15-30 minutes, and do not tease the baby immediately.
Try to be quiet and calm every time you nurse.
Don’t lie down and nurse, as much as possible half lying down or holding the breast vertically;
Grasp the time and frequency of breast-feeding, and try not to breast-feed the baby before it is extremely hungry.
The amount of milk fed each time should not be too much, but a small amount and many times.
Raise the upper body and let the baby sleep on his back, which can prevent suffocation caused by spitting milk after falling asleep.
So the baby vomited milk, don’t panic, ask yourself three questions: Does the baby show any discomfort? Are there any other symptoms? Is growth lagging behind? If the answer to one of these three questions is yes, then you should take your child to see a doctor as soon as possible to rule out whether vomiting is caused by disease. If there is no discomfort, no other symptoms, good growth and development, eat well and sleep soundly, then don’t worry, go and change clothes for the baby.
Responsible Editor: Jing Liu
This article is exclusively authorized by the author to be used by Clove Garden and refuses any other form of reprinting.