Improve regurgitation in weaning-age children

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Dr. Phan Nguyen Thanh Binh - Head of Nutrition - Dietetics Department - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology, Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital.
Vomiting is very common in young children, is often a symptom of an acute illness, and is usually self-limited. At the age of weaning, vomiting can often be due to a number of other causes. Prolonged vomiting can lead to anorexia, growth retardation, and decreased resistance. The most dangerous thing is that vomiting can cause airway obstruction because the child breathes vomit into the lungs.

1. Vomiting due to psychology

Vomiting in infants usually occurs from infancy to the age of weaning, the amount of vomit is not much, mainly undigested or partially digested food, or viscous sputum. If you notice that your baby is often vomiting or often avoids eating, this may be a sign of anorexia nervosa.

1.1. Reason

It is necessary to exclude new pathological causes to conclude that the child has psychological regurgitation. There are many causes of psychological vomiting, including:
Children often eat a certain type of food, leading to a feeling of boredom. Children are forced to eat too much. Supplemental feeding after overeating or improperly mixing milk. Children have a habit of sucking on pacifiers. Start introducing new foods for your 7-8 month old baby.

1.2. Measures to improve

For the group of physiological causes, mothers only need to adjust their baby's eating more scientifically than can significantly limit this vomiting. For example:
Feed your baby when he is hungry, do not force him to eat too much, causing him to lose his appetite and be afraid when he sees food. Divide meals into several meals a day but still ensure enough food volume needed. After the child has finished eating or sucking, do not put the child down immediately, instead let the child play gently for 10-15 minutes. Mix milk, powder or food for 7-8 months old baby according to the recipe instructions. Pay attention to how your baby feeds from the bottle as well as eats slowly to avoid swallowing air into the stomach, causing gas and bloating.

In addition, babies at the age of weaning should also be seated at their own table, freely using cups and forks when eating. Mothers need to let the baby discover, create a happy meal atmosphere, not because they are afraid to clean, but only passively feed the baby.

2. Vomiting due to medical reasons

2.1. Reason

The most common cause of vomiting in 7-month-old babies is gastroesophageal reflux. This condition is quite common in infants and children, because the valve ring between the esophagus and the baby's stomach is not strong enough to stop the food in the stomach from moving up the esophagus, sometimes into the baby's mouth. While gastric juice is acidic, the esophagus is slightly alkaline. Therefore, the phenomenon of acid reflux from the stomach up will cause bad effects on the esophagus, namely:
Causes esophagitis; Burns the esophagus; Scared the child to be fed or fed; Causing aspiration pneumonia due to aspiration in children's mouth; Causing the child to stop breathing, cyanosis because the esophageal nerve is stimulated, inhibiting breathing. Because of the above effects, gastroesophageal reflux is considered very dangerous for young children, especially newborn babies. Although children still have the ability to play and eat again after vomiting if they have gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, regurgitation will be repeated many times, causing many inconveniences and not good for normal development. of children.
In addition, vomiting in children < 1 year of age can also be caused by intolerance syndrome, food allergy, intestinal infection or other parts of the body.

2.2. Measures to improve

In addition to following the doctor's instructions in treating reflux disease or vomiting due to intolerance, parents also need to note some home remedies such as:
Help the baby burp After giving the child After nursing or eating, family members need to pick up the baby and pat him on the back so he can burp. The amount of gas that a baby swallows when eating is what causes the baby to spit up easily, so the purpose of burping is to reduce and expel this gas.
Adjust lying position When lying down, the baby should be placed in a high position, the upper body is always higher than the lower part to prevent reflux. If the child is vomiting milk or vomiting a lot, the child should be lying on his side, this position helps to prevent vomit from being inhaled into the lungs. Absolutely do not pick up the baby while vomiting because it will increase the risk of vomiting fluid into the lungs.
Use solid food

Thicker foods for 7-8 months old babies are likely to cause symptoms to subside and then go away. Children should eat slowly, a little at a time and divided into several times a day to avoid overstretching the baby's small stomach. In addition, parents can refer their children to use more types of milk that are easy to clot when entering the stomach to avoid reflux.
Using anti-reflux and esophageal-protective drugs Motilium, primperan, omeprazol... are common drugs, but absolutely must consult with a specialist doctor before giving them to children. take any medication.
Although vomiting at 7 months is common and not too dangerous, it is still important to learn the appropriate ways to improve this problem. In addition, the selection and processing of food for children aged 7-8 months also plays an important role, in order to help the baby reduce the symptoms of vomiting, thereby gaining weight steadily and developing healthier. . If the child is vomiting with fever or other symptoms, parents need to take the child to the pediatrician for an examination to determine the cause and treatment.
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