Frequent regurgitation in a newborn, in a baby - by a fountain, after feeding
Content:
- Spitting up after feeding - a pathology or not?
- Determine: vomiting or regurgitation?
- Why does a baby spit up?
- Prevention of physiological regurgitation
- When to seek medical attention
- Pathological regurgitation in infants
- Regurgitation by a fountain in infants
In the first months after birth, the child finds himself in a difficult situation. Aggressive environment, many tests for the body.
All this takes time to adapt to new conditions. During this period, the final "tuning" of all organs and systems of the child takes place. The digestive system is no exception. Therefore, there may be some problems associated with feeding the baby.
Young parents are puzzled and scared by such a phenomenon in children as regurgitation. Inexperienced mothers usually associate spitting up with vomiting, thinking that the child is sick with something.
In fact, regurgitation has nothing to do with vomiting and occurs for completely different reasons. Accordingly, it does not pose a danger to the child's life.
Spitting up after feeding - a pathology or not?
Regurgitation is a process during which some (usually small) amount of previously consumed food is evacuated from the child's stomach through the oral cavity. As a rule, spitting up is a physiological norm. In this way, air that the baby swallowed with food is removed from the stomach and esophagus. Regurgitation also indicates the normal functioning of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract.
- According to medical (pediatric) statistics, about ¾ (about babies under the age of 3-6 months regularly regurgitate before or after feeding).
- After 9 months, such a physiological phenomenon as regurgitation is practically not observed (isolated cases).
- Sometimes regurgitation can indicate the immaturity of organs and their systems. Often, in this case, we are talking about children born before the due date. Since they did not have time to develop sufficiently in the womb, the “ripening” of the organism occurs already in natural conditions. The process of this "ripening" lasts exactly as long as the child should have been in the womb before giving birth, ie. from 5 to 8 weeks.
- At the end of the period of "maturation" of physiological systems (including in children born on time), the unpleasant phenomenon disappears, and everything is normalized.
When assessing the nature of regurgitation, it is important to pay attention to the general condition of the child. If the baby is happy, cheerful and does not pay any attention to regurgitation, there is no reason to worry. But if the child behaves restlessly, often cries, there are problems with sleep, frequent and profuse regurgitation with a fountain, most likely there is a pathology that can be dangerous for the life of a newborn. In this case, do not hesitate to consult a pediatrician.
Determine: vomiting or regurgitation?
To determine if there are grounds for concern, it is important for parents to establish:
- Is it a natural physiological process of regurgitation?
- Or vomiting, indicating a particular disease.
Regurgitation - occurs without tension and contraction of the abdominal muscles. Food flows out in small quantities without any effort. Regurgitation usually occurs immediately after feeding the baby and / or when the infant's body position changes.
Vomiting is relatively easy to recognize. Allocation of food masses is abundant, accompanied by spasms and tension of the abdominal muscles. The child cries, shows anxiety. Vomiting is a complex process. With vomiting, there is an active contraction of the abdominal muscles, as well as the press, the diaphragm. Before the onset of vomiting, there is pallor of the skin, a feeling of nausea, increased sweating, dizziness, increased saliva production. If vomiting is observed, you should urgently seek medical attention.
It is not difficult to tell the difference between spitting up and vomiting in a newborn. Regurgitation occurs immediately after feeding or after a maximum of 60 minutes. This produces a small amount of milk or water. Vomiting begins with uncomfortable sensations: nausea, dizziness, which have external manifestations. Vomit is much more abundant, has a brownish or yellowish tint, since bile is mixed with them in addition to food.
It is also easy to determine whether the manifestation is natural or pathological:
- There is no urge to vomit with natural physiological regurgitation.
- The volume of released masses is meager.
- Regurgitation occurs rarely, no more than 1-2 times a day.
- Spitting up with age goes away on its own, without any treatment.
- The child is developing normally, gaining weight.
Why does a baby spit up?
Regurgitation can have many reasons. All of them, one way or another, are united by a single factor: the immaturity of the child's functional systems, in particular, the digestive system.
Pediatricians identify several reasons for regurgitation:
- Binge eating. For natural reasons, the child can continue to consume milk even when he is full. This is especially common in breastfed babies. For an infant, breastfeeding is not only a way to satisfy their nutritional needs, but also a way to receive maternal attention. Regurgitation in this case is designed to get rid of excess food so as not to overload the digestive system. Thus, in this case, regurgitation serves as a protective mechanism that prevents the development of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
- Swallowing air (or aerophagia). Often, regurgitation is caused by swallowing air during feeding. Aerophagia can be caused by an incorrect position of the baby, too large a hole in the nipple, too much milk, improper latching of the breast, etc.
- Increased gas formation. Another reason for regurgitation is the increased production of intestinal gases. With flatulence, an increase in intra-abdominal pressure occurs, which becomes the culprit of regurgitation. In this case, the mother needs to change her nutritional system (if the baby is breastfed). To exclude the development of flatulence, you need to limit the use of foods that contribute to the formation of gases: beans, apples, fresh bread, cabbage. They should be discarded completely or cooked only by baking.
- Constipation. Regurgitation with constipation occurs for the same reasons as with flatulence: intra-abdominal pressure increases. With constipation, the speed of movement of food along the gastrointestinal tract is disturbed. This becomes an additional reason for regurgitation.
- Feeding should be streamlined. The erratic nature of the feeding encourages regurgitation.
- In an upright position of the body, the child spits up more often. The fact is that an air bubble forms in the stomach. Passing through the digestive tract, it can carry along a certain amount of food masses.
Prevention of physiological regurgitation
There are many ways to eliminate regurgitation. It is not difficult, it is enough to carefully observe the child, then the reason will become clear.
In general, pediatricians make the following recommendations:
- Ideally, both baby and mother should be calm before feeding. Regurgitation can have psychosomatic reasons, and in a nervous, agitated state, the child often swallows air. Before feeding the baby, you can put it on your stomach, make a light massage to release the gases. The baby's head should not be thrown back during feeding. The baby's nose should breathe freely. If a child has a runny nose, he will swallow much more air.
- If the baby is breastfed, it is important that he grabs the breast correctly: the nipple and part of the areola. In this case, the lower lip should be slightly turned out.
- If your baby is bottle-fed, it is important to choose the right bottle. Preference should be given to anti-colic bottles (although they do not relieve colic, they still perfectly prevent the swallowing of excess air). It is important to hold the bottle correctly when feeding. The milk should flow to the base of the nipple. The bottle should be kept under 40 ° C for a lying child and under 70 for a sitting child.
- Immediately after feeding, the baby should not be shaken. Tight swaddling is also excluded so that intra-abdominal pressure does not increase. The infant can be helped to regurgitate by lightly patting it on the back.
- If the child is prone to frequent regurgitation, it should be placed on its side in bed. This will help prevent food from entering the respiratory tract. If this does happen, you need to pick up the child and lower him face down.
- Weighing the child is not informative enough, but it will still help to understand if the child has eaten enough. Determining this is necessary to avoid overfeeding. Another way to avoid overfeeding is to shorten the feeding time.
- There is a safe way to avoid regurgitation. For this purpose, a special antireflux mixture is used. It is based on a carob supplement. It is not digested and, when it enters the stomach, creates a dense clot that prevents food from leaving the stomach.
When do you need to seek medical help?
There are a number of cases when you should be on your guard:
- Regular (more often 2 times a day) regurgitation with a fountain is observed.
- The regurgitation process does not stop after 6 months of life.
- The child has an increase in body temperature.
- The baby shows signs of dehydration and intoxication: weakness, headache, rare or frequent urination, etc.
- Weight disorders. The child is not gaining weight.
- Allocated food masses have a brown or yellowish tint, have the texture of sour milk, and an unpleasant odor.
Pathological regurgitation in infants
It is extremely common for babies to regurgitate for natural reasons. But not always the source of regurgitation lies in physiology.
Often, the root of the problem may lie in the development of one or another pathology, conjugated with increased intra-abdominal pressure, the mother's disease suffered during the period of gestation:
- Perinatal encephalopathy is a kind of classic diagnosis. It is performed regularly by a huge number of children. The reason for the development of pathology is a complicated course of pregnancy, difficult childbirth. The main symptom of the disease is disturbances in the functioning of the central nervous system. These disorders can have various external manifestations, including regurgitation of a fountain, disturbed sleep patterns, tremors (tremors) of the hands and chin, restlessness and anxiety. The group at increased risk of birth with encephalopathy includes infants who have experienced hypoxia, subject to short-term respiratory arrest, having less than 5 points on the Apgar scale at birth.
- Hydrocephalus. It is also a common cause of regurgitation by a fountain. In this case, almost all the milk eaten comes out. Children with hydrocephalus are prone to mental and physical retardation, increased muscle tone in the limbs and impaired development of the step reflex. With hydrocephalus, the child is anxious, does not sleep well. Throws back its head during sleep.
- Other pathologies of the central nervous system. The reasons for frequent regurgitation by a fountain can be birth trauma, cerebrovascular accident, underdevelopment of the central nervous system, for example, in premature babies. In this case, regurgitation of undigested food is observed immediately after each feeding. Diseases are accompanied by belching.
- Pathology of the development of the gastrointestinal tract. The main pathology is pyloric stenosis or diaphragmatic hernia. This is a rather formidable disease, the essence of which lies in the inability of food to pass beyond the stomach. The food is only half processed, then the curd, semi-processed mass is regurgitated. There is no stool even after the enema.
- Infectious diseases: hepatitis, meningitis, poisoning, sepsis, accompanied by symptoms of general intoxication, as well as, in liver diseases, yellow skin. In the structure of the isolated food masses, there may be mucus impurities, which indicates dysbiosis or an infectious lesion of the gastrointestinal tract.
- In addition, regurgitation can occur in the presence of hereditary diseases: phenylketonuria, adrenogenital syndrome.
- Regurgitation may develop with renal failure.
Regurgitation by a fountain in infants
This phenomenon may indicate significant problems in the brain, or pathology of the gastrointestinal tract. We can also talk about poisoning. In this case, you should immediately seek medical help, because poisoning is fraught with dehydration and serious consequences.
When regurgitating with a fountain, there is a risk of aspiration when food masses block the airway. To prevent this, it is better to lay the child on its side.
An artificially fed baby should be given antireflux formula. Children who are breastfed should not be given it.
The author of the article: Sokolova Praskovya Fedorovna | Pediatrician
Education: Diploma in the specialty "General Medicine" received at the Volgograd State Medical University. A specialist certificate was immediately received in 2014.
