Causes of newborn spitting up breast milk

It is a common phenomenon for newborns to spit up breast milk. However, if this phenomenon exists for a long time, it means that there is an abnormality. Therefore, many parents want to fully understand the reasons why newborns spit up breast milk. The following is a detailed introduction for many parents, so many families can continue to read the introduction below and have a specific understanding.

Spitting up is a common phenomenon in infants. There are two reasons for this: one is that it is a symptom of systemic or gastrointestinal disease; the other is that the anatomical and physiological characteristics of the infant's gastrointestinal tract make vomiting prone to occur. Generally speaking, vomiting caused by the second reason is more common.

First of all, we need to figure out whether the baby is spitting up milk or spitting up milk. The two have different meanings, causes and treatments. The amount of spitting up is relatively large, and may occur shortly after feeding or half an hour later. Before spitting up, the child will open his mouth and stretch his neck, with an expression of pain and discomfort. The amount of milk spitting up is small and usually occurs right after a meal. It usually stops after one or two mouthfuls.

The milk taken in through the mouth first passes through a tube called the esophagus and then enters the stomach. The stomach has two doors, one is connected to the esophagus called the cardia, which is the entrance of the stomach, and the other is connected to the intestine called the pylorus, which is the exit of the stomach. The tension of the esophageal muscles in infants and young children is low, which can easily cause expansion. At the same time, the peristalsis is relatively slow, so food can easily accumulate. The cardia is relatively loose and not tightly closed, so it can be easily opened by food. When there is a little more food in the stomach, it can break open the cardia and flow back into the esophagus. The pylorus is tightly closed and can be easily stimulated by food to cause spasm, which makes the exit resistance greater, and food passes slowly or with difficulty. Food then flows back from the pylorus to the cardia and breaks out.

When the baby drinks milk, the stomach of a newborn baby lies horizontally when viewed from the front, which is an unstable state. At the same time, the cardia (the entrance to the stomach) is relatively loose. That is to say, when adults eat, after food enters the stomach, the cardia will contract to prevent food from flowing back into the esophagus; but because the cardia of infants' stomach cannot contract well, the milk that enters the stomach can flow back into the esophagus more easily. In addition, compared with adults, the larynx of newborns is higher, and their way of sucking the nipple is clumsy, which makes it easy for air to be inhaled into the stomach along with the milk when feeding. Therefore, when the child burps or shakes his body, the milk he eats is more likely to be spit out. If a child spits up milk occasionally and is in good spirits, he or she may not be sick. If the child vomits several times in a row and vomits every time during feeding, you should pay attention to whether the child has a fever, the condition of his bowel movements, any changes in his spirit, etc. There may be problems with the gastrointestinal tract itself, or there may be lesions in other systems. You should take your child to the hospital for examination.

Spurting up of milk is usually caused by the baby inhaling air while feeding. After the air enters the stomach, because the gas is lighter than the liquid and is located at the top, it can easily break through the cardia and come out, and it will also bring out some milk, which will cause milk regurgitation. Therefore, when feeding, let the child's mouth cover the entire nipple, leaving no gaps to prevent air from entering. When feeding with a bottle, the milk should completely fill the nipple. Don't be afraid that the milk will be too strong and only reach half of the nipple, as this will make it easy for the baby to inhale air. After feeding, it is best to let the child lie on the adult's shoulder and pat the child's back with your hand to allow the inhaled air to escape. After feeding, be gentle and use less movement when picking up and putting your baby down. If you shake the baby too vigorously, it will easily cause milk to regurgitate or spit up. The amount of milk that comes out during belching is generally small and will not have much impact on the child's growth and development. It will get better naturally as the baby gets older.

The intestines can also easily cause vomiting. Poor intestinal health can easily cause intestinal spasms. If the baby happens to have intestinal spasms when feeding, it can easily cause vomiting. In severe cases, it can easily flood the respiratory tract and cause suffocation. Therefore, you must be especially careful and cautious when feeding. If this happens frequently, you should supplement isomaltooligosaccharides in time and avoid such situations by regulating the intestines.

Coughing can also easily cause vomiting: When a baby has a cold, especially a viral respiratory infection, it can cause symptoms such as coughing. Coughing increases abdominal pressure and is often accompanied by vomiting. If you feed your baby at this time, it is very easy for him to spit up milk. Colds and coughs can cause the breathing rate to increase, which can lead to vomiting and regurgitation of milk. Therefore, you should pay attention to the coordination of breathing and swallowing when feeding. Never feed your baby when he is coughing or about to cough, so as to avoid vomiting. If you breastfeed at this time, in serious cases, the milk may spray out of the nasal cavity and damage the baby's delicate organs. Be especially careful when feeding your baby when he has a cold. Do not feed too fast. Make sure the baby has swallowed the milk in his mouth before feeding him the next mouthful. Also try to feed him small meals frequently.

Spitting up caused by incorrect feeding posture: The baby's stomach does not hang downward like that of older children and adults, but is horizontal. The stomach has a small capacity and can store less food, and the stomach contraction function is not fully developed, so vomiting up is easy to occur. Parents who do not understand the gastrointestinal characteristics of their baby may inadvertently increase the possibility of their baby spitting up milk while feeding.

Mistake 1: Feeding the baby while lying on his back Many parents feed the baby while lying on his back because they are afraid that the baby will be tired or it is easier to feed the baby. In fact, this is not very scientific. Due to the special structure of the baby's stomach, when lying on its back, it is easy for milk to be retained in the stomach, which can easily lead to vomiting. The more correct posture is to hold the baby while feeding, 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 can effectively reduce the chance of vomiting caused by feeding while lying down.

Error 2: Air enters during feeding. Compared with adults, the larynx of newborns is higher, and their way of sucking the nipple is clumsy. When feeding, air is easily inhaled into the stomach along with the milk, which makes it easy for them to spit up milk when they burp or shake their body. When feeding your baby while holding him/her, be as gentle as possible and avoid shaking the baby's body violently. Second, when feeding, let the child's mouth cover the entire nipple to prevent air from entering. When feeding with a bottle, the nipple should be completely filled with milk, and try to avoid bringing air into the baby's stomach during feeding and causing vomiting.

It is important to let the baby burp after feeding: hold the baby upright against your shoulder, pat the baby's back, let him burp out the air inhaled into the stomach while sucking milk, and then put the baby on the bed. This will make it less likely for him to spit up milk - this "putting" also requires skill. Experts remind people that it is best to let the baby stand for a while after feeding, and the best position when putting the baby down is lying on the right side with the pillow slightly raised. These small measures can effectively reduce spitting up milk.

In addition, the baby's stomach does not hang down like that of older children and adults, but is in a horizontal position. This can reduce the capacity of the stomach, store less food, and also make it easier for it to return to the cardia. Due to the existence of the above factors, even under normal circumstances, if you eat too much and lie down immediately after feeding, the milk can easily rush open the cardia and return to the mouth through the esophagus, causing vomiting. If a child spits up milk occasionally and is in good spirits, he or she may not be sick. If the child vomits several times in a row and vomits every time during feeding, you should pay attention to whether the child has a fever, the condition of his bowel movements, any changes in his spirit, etc. There may be problems with the gastrointestinal tract itself, or there may be lesions in other systems. You should take your child to the hospital for examination.

In traditional Chinese medicine, vomiting and regurgitating milk are both caused by stomach cold.

The above content has given a detailed introduction to the reasons why newborns spit up breast milk. I believe that many mothers have fully understood the reasons why newborns spit up breast milk through the above introduction. Therefore, after fully understanding it, you can constantly change some feeding methods. If the problem cannot be solved, you can go to the hospital as soon as possible for a comprehensive examination to find out the cause and treat it symptomatically.