What are the symptoms of food indigestion in children?

Because children's functions and organs are still in the process of growth and have not yet matured, their bodies are relatively fragile, especially infants and young babies. All mothers know that baby food accumulation is a very common phenomenon. Indigestion is related to food digestion. Frequent indigestion indicates that the baby’s spleen and stomach function is not very good. Eating too much, too little, or too quickly is not good. If the food you feed your baby happens to be difficult to digest, a lot of this food will accumulate in the stomach and intestines. Severe food accumulation may affect the healthy growth of the baby. Let us understand what its symptoms are:

1. The baby shows anorexia and obvious loss of appetite. He is not interested in food and takes a long time to eat a meal. His belly is bloated when you press it lightly.

2. Low immunity, frequent colds, fever and sore throat. Especially those caused by eating too much meat can easily cause throat infection and various swollen and painful tonsils. This is due to blockage in the middle burner, failure of the lungs and stomach to descend, and stagnant heat in the upper burner.

3. Babies with poor sleep quality and indigestion always sleep restlessly at night. They toss and turn and have difficulty falling asleep. They are noisy at night, irritable and prone to crying. They sweat profusely when they move or sweat a lot when they fall asleep. This is what Chinese medicine calls "restless sleep if the stomach is not in harmony."

4. Babies with indigestion usually have an unpleasant smell in their cavity. When the baby opens his mouth, a strong smell comes out of the mouth, sometimes with a sour taste. This is a sign of indigestion in children.

5. Abnormal stool. This is because the baby's digestive function has not yet fully developed. Poor digestive function and indigestion may directly lead to diarrhea, hard stools or diarrhea in the baby. Some babies' stools smell like rotten eggs. Also, the baby's normal stool is banana-like soft stool, but if it suddenly turns green or becomes shapeless, it is a sign of indigestion.

6. The tongue coating becomes thicker. Babies with indigestion will have blue sides of the nose, and the tongue coating will become very thick in the middle (especially in the middle and back of the tongue). The tongue coating is thick and white, and some babies will even become completely thick. Some babies only have a coin-shaped yellow coating in the middle of the tongue with no tongue coating around it. In this case, although there is also indigestion, it is often not a simple indigestion and is usually accompanied by damage to the spleen and stomach yin.

How to deal with baby's food accumulation:

1. Exercise after meals

Half an hour after a meal, you can take a proper walk to promote gastrointestinal digestion and motility, which can help your baby digest. It helps babies avoid indigestion and promotes parent-child bonding during activities.

2. Pay attention to your diet

Eat more easily digestible and absorbable foods, and don't blindly increase high-calorie and high-fat foods. Let children eat more vegetables and fruits and less meat, and increase the amount of rice and pasta appropriately. High-protein food should be eaten in moderation to avoid increasing the burden on the stomach and intestines. No matter how nutritious the food is, do not eat too much, otherwise it will not only fail to strengthen the body, but will only have the opposite effect. Children should eat at regular times and in regular amounts, and should not be allowed to eat before mealtime, which will not only burden the stomach and intestines but also be detrimental to digestion. Eat less for dinner, not only to avoid indigestion, but also for the baby's health.

3. Diet therapy

When dealing with baby's indigestion, the choice of food is critical. The editor here recommends several diets suitable for babies. Yam rice porridge and white radish porridge are both effective for children's indigestion, loss of appetite, indigestion and diarrhea.

Yam Rice Porridge:

Efficacy: Regulates the spleen and stomach, nourishes yin and fluids, and is used for children with indigestion, loss of appetite, weight loss, and sallow complexion and thin muscles.

Preparation method: Take 100 grams of yam slices, 100 grams of rice or sorghum, and appropriate amount of white sugar. Wash the rice clean, crush it together with the yam slices, put it into the pot, add appropriate amount of water, and cook it into porridge.

Warm reminder: In addition to making porridge, yam can also be fried. It tastes sticky and the effect is also very good.

White radish porridge:

Efficacy: Opens the chest and relieves gas, strengthens the stomach, and is effective for indigestion and diarrhea.

Preparation method: 1 white radish, 50 grams of rice, appropriate amount of sugar. Wash the white radish and rice separately, slice the radish, boil it for 30 minutes, then add the rice and cook together (if you don’t eat radish, you can remove the radish and then add the rice). Cook until the rice is soft and the soup is thick, add appropriate amount of brown sugar and bring to a boil.

Warm reminder: White radish is cool and can reduce internal heat, but some babies don’t like the taste of white radish. Mothers can add some brown sugar for flavoring.

4. Massage

Pinching the spine: Let the baby lie flat with face down, and the parents use the thumb, index finger and middle finger of both hands to pinch both sides of the spine, press as they pinch, from bottom to top, and then from top to bottom, pinch 3-5 times, once every night.

Rub Zhongwan: The point halfway between the center of the chest and the navel is the Zhongwan acupoint. Parents can use the base of their palms to rotate and rub it twice each time.

Yongquan Point: The center of the sole of the foot is the Yongquan Point. Parents can press the Yongquan Point with their thumb and rotate and massage it 30-50 times, twice a day.

Rub the abdomen clockwise for an unlimited time, and feel a forceful penetration. It feels like you are massaging very hard without hurting the baby.

If the baby's stomach growls when you knead it, it means bowel sounds are occurring, or the baby is passing gas. Parents don't need to be nervous, as this is normal.

Prevention is better than cure. Mothers should pay attention to their babies' eating habits. If their babies have indigestion, mothers can adopt diet therapy combined with massage. By adopting the correct method, the problem of indigestion can be effectively solved.