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Vomiting in babies
contents
- Difference spitting or proper vomiting
- Tips to prevent spitting
- Various causes of vomiting
- infectious diseases
- pyloric stenosis
- Gastroesophageal reflux
- intussusception
- Food allergy
- Too fast food change
- Lack of hygiene
- complications
- When to the doctor?
- Balance fluid loss
Difference spitting or proper vomiting
The immature muscle at the stomach entrance already mentioned at the beginning is to blame if babies often spit after eating in the first weeks after birth. This is not a "proper" vomiting and is usually over time. If the child drinks well and grows well, this is no cause for concern.
Even healthy babies often have to vomit more often. (Picture: Oksana Kuzmina / fotolia.com) However, if the vomiting is bubbly, the baby is tired, in a bad mood and / or has a fever, this is a case for the pediatrician. Infants quickly lose fluid that the body desperately needs. Therefore, it is better to go to too much than not enough doctors. Vomiting can be caused by a variety of causes.
Tips to prevent spitting
To prevent spitting after a meal, care should be taken not to shake the bottle too much. The resulting air bubbles swallows the baby down while drinking. The little ones get flatulence and the food flows more easily back from the stomach back into the esophagus. It is also important to choose the right vacuum cleaner. This should correspond to the food and the age of the infant. So that not too much can be swallowed at once, the hole in the teat may only be so large that when the bottle is held down, the milk drips out slowly.
Babies who drink quickly are best kept upright and feeding is interrupted several times to make them "peasant".
If the child is breastfed and the mother's breast is so full that the milk is already squirting out, it should be streaked before putting it on. Again, an upright posture is recommended.
Various causes of vomiting
For vomiting in babies different causes are possible. It is important to take the baby up immediately, so that the vomit can neither be inhaled nor swallowed. An infant suffering from vomiting should never be without supervision. Every vomiting has to be clarified by a doctor.
infectious diseases
The possible causes include not only infections of the gastrointestinal tract, but also diseases such as otitis media and urinary tract infections. If siblings suffer from a gastrointestinal infection, they should stay away from the infant. A frequent hand washing is to think.
pyloric stenosis
A pyloric stenosis is a narrowing of the gastric outlet, caused by a thickened ring musculature on the pylorus (stomach jaw). The causes are largely unknown. Most affected are male infants. Most of the first symptoms occur in the first four weeks of life. The complaints can also start only from the 10th week. Bubbling vomiting in the baby, right after feeding, is the main symptom here. This is increasing more and more. The baby loses weight, becomes lethargic, barely excretes urine and threatens to dehydrate. The massive dehydration can develop within a few hours. The diseased babies show wrinkles on the face, deep dark circles, a sunken fontanelle and standing skin folds. These children must be treated as soon as possible. In most cases, surgery is necessary.
Gastroesophageal reflux
Gastroesophageal reflux means that gastric contents continue to flow back into the esophagus. For most babies, this happens from time to time. However, if it happens frequently and the child suffers from it, it becomes a disease that can have serious consequences. The main symptom is frequent vomiting in babies. In addition, the refluxing stomach acid causes pain and heartburn. The babies cry a lot, sleep very badly and have a cough. The fed food is vomited, causing the children more and more pain, resulting in a refusal to eat and a dehydration. The affected babies do not gain enough weight and this sometimes leads to failure to thrive. Existing milk teeth can be damaged by stomach acid.
Simple measures, such as the thickening of food with suitable preparations and the conversion to more frequent, smaller meals can help. The infants should be raised to sleep and not fed immediately before going to bed. If this alone is not enough, special drugs are used to inhibit acid production. If all else fails, an operation is considered. The sphincter of the esophagus is strengthened.
intussusception
Invagination causes bowel parts to shift into each other. This mainly affects children under the age of two. There is a risk of an interrupted blood supply to the affected intestinal sections. Other complications include ileus (intestinal obstruction) and perforation of the intestine. This disease requires a quick procedure. The little patients are immediately in a clinic.
The concomitant symptoms are sudden onset of massive abdominal pain. The affected babies shrill and pull their legs because of the intestinal cramps. There is also recurrent vomiting. Possibly the infants show signs of dehydration.
Food allergy
The most common childhood allergy is cow's milk allergy. This is an allergic reaction to cow's milk protein. The babies react immediately after eating or only a few days later with diarrhea, rash and / or vomiting. Even breastfed children can be affected. This is very rarely the case, but still possible. The constituents of cow's milk, which the mother has taken, can reach the child's body via the mother's milk. If this type of disease is diagnosed, the nursing mother should avoid dairy products. For infants receiving bottled food, a switch to cows milk-free food should be sought.
Too fast food change
Switching too quickly to a new bottle diet or to a diet can result in vomiting in babies. Since the little ones still have a very sensitive digestive system, a cautious, slow changeover to the new diet is important.
Lack of hygiene
Vomiting in babies can be caused by poor hygiene. So the vials must be boiled after each use and milk residues disposed of. Likewise, the suckers should be cleaned regularly.
complications
Persistent vomiting in babies can quickly lead to exsiccosis (dehydration), since the fluid balance is still very unstable here. Therefore, care must be taken that the baby is supplied with sufficient liquid. If this does not succeed and threatens to dry out the child, a hospital stay is necessary. In any case, a doctor must be consulted if the infant loses fluid and can no longer be supplied.
If the vomiting persists for an extended period, a pediatrician should be consulted quickly. The more urgent, if the child already makes a "dry impression". Image: Konstantin Yuganov - fotolia When to the doctor?
Babies vomit relatively often in the first few weeks and months. It does not have to be the same way. The stomach of the little ones is still very sensitive and the vomiting serves as protection. If a baby vomits several times and symptoms develop, such as fever, diarrhea, insomnia, poor drinking, or the child shows signs of dehydration and a lot of crying or even apathetic, a doctor should definitely be consulted.
Balance fluid loss
When babies vomit, fluid loss comes first. This must be compensated as quickly as possible. Nursing children are still breastfed. However, meals should initially be kept lower, but the baby should be more often fed. Bottle children get tea or water, at first only swallowed. You may need a special diet for a few days. In most cases, a special electrolyte solution for babies is recommended.
If food is already being fed, then light food is the order of the day: potatoes, carrot, rice soup, banana, etc. The transition to normal food should be very slow. The childish stomach is still very sensitive. (Sw)