Reasons for infant milk leakage
Release time : 03/19/2025 09:30:02
Mothers often notice that if a baby is immediately placed on their back after breastfeeding, the milk may flow from the corners of their mouth and even expel all of the milk they just consumed.
In medicine, this phenomenon is referred to as regurgitation.
Regarding the reasons for colic in babies, how many mothers truly understand? Understanding the true causes of gassy colic can significantly enhance the efficiency of baby's absorption of nutrients and healthy growth. Pay attention to your baby’s healthy growth, starting with understanding the reasons behind gassy colic! Causes of gassy colic in infants: The reasons for gassy colic in infants are multifaceted, primarily due to the following factors: 1. Inadequate feeding practices, such as swallowing too quickly, swallowing excessive air during feeding, and excessively shaking the baby after feeding.
2. Infections, such as vomiting caused by upper respiratory tract infection in the gastrointestinal tract.
3. Diseases of the nervous system that cause vomiting typically manifest as explosive vomiting accompanied by significant systemic toxic symptoms, such as fever, convulsions, and enlargement of the fontanelle.
4. Surgical diseases, such as congenital pyloric hypertrophy, congenital intestinal rotation abnormalities, and congenital megacolon, generally present with symptoms of weight gain failure, malnutrition, and abnormal bowel movements.
5. Ingestion of irritants to the gastric mucosa can cause vomiting in infants when they take antibiotics such as erythromycin and sulfonamides.
6. Gastroesophageal Reflux.
Infant gastric reflux is a normal physiological phenomenon and does not require special treatment.
To reduce the risk of gastric reflux, it is important not to give the baby milk immediately after crying because crying can swallow air, which is a direct cause of gastric reflux. Additionally, do not let the baby suck on the bottle, and never use the bottle to comfort the child.
After feeding, you can gently pick up your child and place him on your shoulder, patting his back gently. If he can burp, it will prevent reflux.
After feeding, it is advisable to place a suitable position according to the observed pattern. Start by trying the right lateral lying position and observe whether there is any vomiting. If there is no vomiting, then this position can be adopted in the future.
Infants and young children are prone to vomiting due to improper feeding, often resulting in spitting up. If the amount is excessive, it can slow down the weight gain. The main cause is eating too much food or water, or swallowing too much air when breastfeeding or consuming complementary foods. Additionally, issues such as the mother's nipple retraction or a lack of suction from a milk bottle causing too much air to be swallowed may also contribute to this phenomenon.
What should I do if my baby is having severe vomiting? The baby's stomach is horizontal, with a small capacity. Its pyloric valve, which connects to the esophagus, is wide and has poor closure. It also has a tight pylorus, which connects to the small intestine, but the baby often swallows air while eating, making it easy for milk to flow back into the mouth and cause vomiting.
When a mother first sees her baby spewing milk, she may become anxious and unsure of what to do.
In fact, as long as you pay attention to the following aspects, you can prevent your baby from spitting milk.
1. Adopt a suitable feeding posture: try to pick up the baby and feed it, so that the baby's body is tilted at about 45 degrees, and the milk in the stomach naturally flows into the small intestine. This will reduce the chance of spitting milk compared with lying down feeding.
2. Be sure to let your baby burp after feeding: Hold the baby upright and lean it on his shoulder, pat the baby's back, let him use the hiccups to expel the air in his stomach when sucking milk, and then put the baby on the bed. This way, it's not easy to spit out milk.
3. After breastfeeding, it is not advisable to let your baby lie on his back immediately, but should lie on his back for a while, and then change to his back.
4. The amount of feeding should not be too large and the interval should not be too close.
After your baby spits milk, if there are no other abnormalities, you generally don't need to care about it. It will gradually recover in the future and will not affect the baby and growth and development.
The milk your baby vomits may be in the shape of tofu dregs, which is the result of the action of milk and gastric acid. It is also normal, so don't worry.
However, if your baby vomits frequently and vomits yellow-green or coffee-colored liquid, or is accompanied by symptoms such as fever and diarrhea, you should go to the hospital for examination in time.
What should I do if the baby spills milk and coughing? If there is a slight overflow or spitting of milk, the baby will adjust his breathing and swallowing movements and will not inhale it into the trachea. Just observe your baby's breathing conditions and skin color closely.
If you spit out a lot of milk or even choke on milk, you can handle it as follows: 1. Pick up the child upright and rest his head on his shoulder.
2. Gently pat the baby on the back with your hand to know that the cough is relieved.
3. Be careful not to use too much force, because some people say that excessive concussion is not good for the development of the baby's brain.
It's pretty much the same intensity and rhythm as when you give someone a back rub.
4. Due to the differences in the stomach of infants compared to adults, and their clumsy mouths, milk can easily be mixed with air when sucking. When the air is compressed and expelled from the stomach, it can cause regurgitation and vomiting of milk.
It is recommended to pat the baby's back after each feeding until they burp, indicating that air has been expelled. This can effectively prevent vomiting.
From personal experience, if you do not have a spasm of 50 times or less, there is no need to pat it. It will not result in vomiting.
How to Prevent Breastmilk Spillage in Infants? The effective prevention of breastmilk spillage must find the appropriate preventive techniques. The specific techniques are as follows: 1. Feeding should be appropriate, and there are techniques for burping. Experts believe that the first step in preventing spit-up is to "feed appropriately." If frequent changes in formula, environment, or caregivers are made, it is very detrimental to the development of an infant's digestive system, exacerbating the situation of spit-up.
Generally speaking, after a baby has finished eating, parents should promptly pat the baby's back to help them burp. At this time, it is important to pay attention to whether the baby has burped or not, rather than just patting and moving on.
2. When sleeping on the side, less spitting up occurs. Experts recommend that "it's not advisable to hold a baby in their sleep all day long."
When placing your baby in their cot, it is important to move slowly and preferably use a side-sleeping position to minimize the risk of vomiting.
Generally speaking, babies can keep this sleeping position for 2-3 hours.
If parents worry about the baby's head shape and pressure on the internal organs, they can change the baby's sleeping position 1 hour later.
In addition, it is also advisable to have a small towel folded into a triangle and placed from one ear to the other of the child so that even if the baby vomits, it won't get on the pillow or flow to the ear.
Preserving the cleanliness of a baby's ears is very important because the ear canal in babies is shallower than that in adults and is more susceptible to middle ear infections.
3. Daily swimming can improve digestive function, and for infants with less developed motor skills, it is beneficial to maintain swimming practice.
Infants can perform full-body movements in water, and water has the gentle massage and soothing effect on their bodies.
Moreover, swimming is also beneficial for the development of a baby's digestive capabilities, reducing the occurrence of reflux.
Therefore, experts recommend that if conditions permit, mothers should take their babies swimming.
The medical information provided in this text is for reference only.
In the event of discomfort, it is recommended to seek medical attention immediately. For diagnosis and treatment, consult with a physician in person.