What to do if your child swallows gum

Chewing gum is a snack that many people like to eat. It has the function of cleaning the mouth. It is best for children not to eat chewing gum, because children are prone to certain risks when eating chewing gum, especially very young children whose swallowing and chewing abilities are not very good. At this time, they are even prone to suffocation. If children are not careful, they may accidentally swallow chewing gum. Let's take a look at this aspect.

What to do if your child swallows gum

In daily life, bubble gum is a very common snack and many babies like to eat it. Bubble gum comes in a variety of colors and flavors, and it can be used to blow bubbles, which is very fun and is therefore very popular with babies. So what should we do if children accidentally eat bubble gum? Here is some relevant food safety knowledge for children.

The most important thing to pay attention to when children eat bubble gum is to avoid them swallowing the bubble gum. Accidental swallowing of bubble gum will increase the gastrointestinal burden on children, and in severe cases it will cause gastrointestinal diseases such as abdominal distension and diarrhea. But don't worry too much if you swallow it by mistake once. Bubble gum generally won't stick to your stomach and intestines because if there is liquid on the surface of the gum, it will not stick to anything. If the child does not vomit, have abdominal pain, or bloating within a week, and has bowel movements and passes gas every day, there is no danger of gastrointestinal obstruction.

However, for the sake of the baby's health, it is recommended that the baby should not eat bubble gum. Children often swallow bubble gum by mistake, causing gastrointestinal diseases. Moreover, bubble gum contains the colloidal component of aluminum hydroxide. Eating too much will lead to long-term intake of aluminum, causing aluminum accumulation. In addition, chewing for a long time will also damage the child's gums. Children can only eat it when they are old enough to understand (around 5 or 6 years old); parents should also pay attention and remind their children not to swallow it.

Precautions for eating bubble gum: pay attention to hygiene

When the bubbles you blow burst, they may get all over your face, and the bigger ones may even get stuck to your hair. Therefore, you should ensure your face is clean before eating bubble gum; in addition, if the broken bubbles stick to your face, you should not take them off with your hands and put them back into your mouth, as this is unhygienic and indecent.

Bubble gum (chewing gum, the same below) should not be swallowed

When eating bubble gum, chewing gum, etc., there is a risk of accidentally swallowing them into the esophagus or forming a foreign body in the bronchus, so they should not be swallowed. However, the gum they contain is mostly not digested, and most of it can be excreted from the body with feces; in addition, you can eat some crude fiber foods to stimulate intestinal peristalsis.

Doctors point out that if you accidentally swallow bubble gum, the inner wall of your stomach and intestines is very smooth and secretes a lot of mucus, so the bubble gum is less likely to get stuck. If it cannot be digested after being swallowed into the stomach, it will be automatically excreted without the need for surgery. But to avoid accidents, please do not swallow the bubble gum.

Do not chew for a long time

If children keep chewing bubble gum, they will swallow too much air while chewing bubble gum. Eating too much is not good for children because they have poor self-control and if they keep bubble gum in their mouths all day, they may swallow it or it may enter their trachea by mistake, endangering their lives. Chewing bubble gum for a long time will keep the chewing muscles tense and they may develop a habit of grinding their teeth in their sleep, which will affect the quality of their sleep. Therefore, children should not eat or consume too much bubble gum or chewing gum.

Pediatric neurologists believe that the chewing muscles of children who like to chew bubble gum are always in "a state of tension." Children should not chew bubble gum more than 3-4 times a day, and the chewing time after each meal should not exceed 10-15 minutes. Never keep chewing gum in your mouth all day long. The longer you keep it, the greater the harm. This is one of the reasons why children grind their teeth in their sleep and have poor sleep.