The concern of parents about the health of their baby is fully justified. If new mothers are afraid of colic and regurgitation, then what can we say about more serious symptoms. You should immediately consult a doctor if the child spit up with blood.
Danger
It is perfectly natural if a newborn burps after eating. All babies and new mothers face this condition. It develops as a result of overeating and imperfect functioning of the digestive system. Also, swallowing air while suckling promotes regurgitation. To minimize the likelihood of burping with an outpouring of ingested food, it is necessary to keep the child in an upright position for several minutes after eating.
Important! The reasons that the baby spit up blood can be factors that do not pose a health hazard, as well as pathological processes.
It is quite difficult to determine on your own what a child has encountered. Therefore, in any case, it is necessary to show the baby to the doctor.
Reasons that do not pose a threat to health
The baby may spit up blood on the first day of life. In this case, there is a suspicion that the baby swallowed amniotic fluid during childbirth. Specialists monitor the baby over the next day. If regurgitation no longer recurs, then there is no cause for concern.
If a newborn spit up blood a few days after birth, then there is no talk of swallowed amniotic fluid. In this case, it is necessary to pay attention to the condition of the mammary glands of the mother. It is possible that there are cracks in the nipples from which bleeding occurs during suckling. Swallowed blood is thrown out along with a small amount of milk.
Pathology requiring treatment
If the newborn has vomited, burped up with blood, or the baby has diarrhea, then we can talk about serious pathological processes developing in the digestive tract. It is important to distinguish vomiting from simple regurgitation. In the latter case, part of the discarded food remains undigested. When you vomit, the milk looks curdled and has an unpleasant odor. Red vomit may appear in a baby for various reasons, but they can only be determined after an examination.
A dangerous condition is damage to the vessels of the digestive tract. The principle of therapy is determined depending on the severity of the pathological process. In such cases, you can not hesitate, as there is a risk of death.
Red regurgitation in children that occurs after an abdominal injury is a reason for urgent medical attention. If the baby behaves restlessly and complains about the tummy, you can not engage in self-treatment. You need to see a doctor as soon as possible.
Another unpleasant, but less dangerous condition is gastritis or an ulcer. They can be accompanied by damage to blood vessels and the release of blood. In some diseases of the nasopharynx, small vessels are damaged. During regurgitation, along with food, a red liquid flows out of the baby's mouth.
What to do
If the baby is spitting up milk with red patches, then, first of all, you need to carefully examine the mammary glands. The absence of cracks in the nipples indicates that the blood is released in the baby's body.
With the natural behavior of the baby, you should contact the pediatrician in the near future, do an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity and take tests. If the main symptom is accompanied by increased anxiety of the child or the infant has a fever, then any delay can be dangerous, so emergency care should be called.
Regurgitation is a normal physiological phenomenon for infants up to a year old, associated with the imperfection of the digestive system. But of particular concern to parents is the situation when the child burped with blood. This is due to injuries to the mother's chest (cracks), violations of the vessels of the baby's digestive system.
To prevent frequent spitting up, it is necessary to keep the child in an upright position more often and lay him on his stomach. If the general condition worsens, continuous crying or a rise in temperature, it is necessary to seek medical help.
In the normal state of health of the baby, the process of regurgitation should not bring acute discomfort to either him or his mother, and should not exceed 30 ml. To make sure it is regurgitation, you need to pay attention to the baby's tummy: when vomiting, its tension occurs, and the masses pour out not only through the mouth, but also through the child's nose.
When the baby spit up, the contents of the stomach come out in a completely undigested form. If it vomits, then the milk partially curdles, impurities of bile or mucus appear. The child spits up immediately after feeding, and can vomit at any time, regardless of food.
Norms and pathologies:
- if the amount of milk released is less than two tablespoons, then everything is in order. When its volume is larger, then this is vomiting: you need to seek medical help;
- the child spits up with blood after feeding and cries a lot - also a cause for concern, since he can scream from pain, discomfort, or due to disorders of the nervous system;
- if too often (more than 7 times a day) the spitting up baby gains weight very slowly. This is a sign that the baby may have pathologies in the development of digestion;
- the exit of milk through the mouth with a “fountain”, that is, under pressure, is a clear reason for contacting a doctor. Perhaps a violation of the central nervous system or, less often, spasms of the digestive tract;
- regurgitation occurs an hour after feeding. This is more like vomiting, so you need to see a doctor.
brown streaks
Pay attention to the general condition of the baby, body temperature: if everything is in order, then regurgitation is not dangerous. When a child burps with brown streaks, you need to see a doctor as soon as possible.
Most often, if the baby burped with blood, then the problem may be in the integrity of the nipples: there are microcracks that bleed, the child swallows blood and undigested milk. But there may be other factors that contribute to the fact that the newborn burps with blood.
Causes
Bleeding happens:
- food:
- Mallory Weiss syndrome (injury);
- varicose veins after cirrhosis of the liver;
- inflammation of the esophagus;
- intestinal: swelling and ulcer of the duodenum 12;
- gastric:
- infection;
- oncology;
- ulcers;
- varicose veins of the gastrointestinal tract.
The structure of children's digestive organs
This is the main cause of regurgitation, the esophagus is a funnel, with its wide side up and rather small in length. Since the esophagus blocks a weak sphincter, the contents of the stomach exit through the mouth with excess air accumulated.
Reasons why a child spit up with blood:
- cracks in the nipples;
- pathology of the development of the digestive system;
- the newborn swallowed amniotic fluid;
- overfeeding;
- flatulence;
- tight swaddling;
- injury.
Damage to the nipples and areolas
In the first time after the birth of a baby, the skin on the nipples is very delicate, therefore it is prone to damage to the mother's breast. The child eats milk, squeezing out droplets of blood with it. There is nothing terrible here, the most important thing is to heal wounds and cracks on the nipples as soon as possible in order to remove discomfort from mom.
Pathology of the development of the digestive system
Violation of the integrity of the small vessels of the esophagus of the baby. They are associated with congenital problems, with the weakness of the vascular walls, pathologies of the development of digestion. The cause is serious, it is not possible to identify it on your own, therefore an urgent visit to the doctor is necessary.
Intestinal obstruction can also cause a baby to spit up blood. In very rare cases, gastritis or stomach ulcers occur, which always provoke pathological impurities.
Release of swallowed amniotic fluid
If a newborn spit up with blood on the first day of his life, then there is a possibility that amniotic fluid swallowed in the womb comes out with milk. In this case, there is no reason to panic. You just need to observe the baby and his condition, regurgitation with blood should end a day after birth.
Overfeeding the baby
In this case, the baby spit up a small amount of blood. The gastric mucosa is irritated, red or brown streaks enter the contents of the released mass.
Table - The number of feedings and the volume of milk by month
| Age, months | Volume, ml/day | For 1 time, ml / day | Number of feedings per day |
| 0-1 | 500-600 | 80-110 | 7-8 |
| 1-2 | 600-900 | 100-140 | 5-7 |
| 2-4 | 800-950 | 140-160 | 6 |
| 4-6 | 850-1000 | 160-180 | 5-6 |
| 6-9 | 1000-1150 | 180-200 | 5 |
| 9-12 | 1000-1300 | 200-250 | 4-5 |
Single serving calculator
Newly born babies have a physical feature of spitting up after feeding, which is a long known fact. Such a process can proceed in different ways, differ from each other and be not quite normal. How to recognize the problem in time if the child spit up blood?
There are several factors that indicate the non-normative process of regurgitation of the baby:
- at the end of feeding, the newborn baby burps, but there is increased excitability and crying;
- contrary to the standard indicators for age, the child is not gaining enough weight;
- direct regurgitation with blood after the process of eating;
- an increase in the frequency and amount of regurgitation, in which the milk at the outlet is more like vomit.
With excessive feeding or the presence of factors squeezing the stomach, involuntary emissions occur, which are called regurgitation. These processes are often inherent in infants, but during the procedure, mothers may become suspicious. Basically, such cases are presented as something natural, so the parents' worries seem completely in vain.
When the child reaches two years, after feeding, he stops spitting up. But also this process should not be confused with vomiting. In such cases, the masses can exit not only through the oral cavity, but also through the nasal cavity, while their composition will include not only dairy products, but also, perhaps, bile and blood.
Causes
The foregoing already informs that spitting up by a child after feeding is a natural process. Due to the fact that when wetting, a small part of the air penetrates, which comes back along with the food. Basically, the amount of food released does not exceed a few spoons, so you should not worry that the baby has not eaten.
However, if the child burped with blood, then panic should not arise contrary to common sense. After all, the causes of regurgitation of blood in a baby are often much simpler than it seemed initially. One of the main reasons is the cracks formed on the mother's nipples. The child inadvertently absorbs milk from. Subsequently, after feeding, when regurgitation, blood clots are visible.
Small damage to the smallest vessels of the digestive tract is the second reason for such situations in children. These processes of detecting blood during regurgitation are much more serious than the reason described above. This is due to the fact that it is much more difficult to detect damage factors on your own.
Some mothers, while taking care of their babies, are often able to overdo it when feeding. This behavior is understandable - I want the child not to starve and be fed enough. But such cases can lead to the fact that the baby collects a large amount of milk in the cheeks, but it comes out through the corners of the mouth. In this case, mothers take the outgoing fluid for vomiting or regurgitation, which by its nature is not valid.
Incorrect breast latch is another reason why a baby spit up blood. In such situations, the child captures an excess amount of air, which leads to poor absorption of food and regurgitation. When feeding from a bottle, it is necessary to hold it correctly in order to avoid unforeseen incidents. If the container is in the correct position, then the child will not vomit, and he will not burp.
What to do
Most of the incidents, when a child spit up with blood, put mothers in a panic state. But initially you need to follow the process: find out its frequency, the condition of the baby, etc. After all, if there is a small amount of blood, then this state of affairs does not indicate any violations or damage to the digestive system.
Naturally, consulting a doctor is a mandatory procedure, but often practice indicates that the baby is in a healthy state, unlike his mother. After all, basically the detection of blood impurities occurs from the delicate skin of the nipples, which simply burst in the process of absorbing food. If the reason lies not in this, then the timely intervention of a doctor is necessary.
The case when, instead of spitting up, the baby vomits with blood, is more serious than the above.
It is not worth delaying a trip to the doctor, because if you bring it to a repeat, then this promises unforeseen complications. Even if the amount when spitting up seems insignificant, you should consult a doctor.
Every baby has a habit of spitting up, for this reason mothers are interested in this issue. This process ends at just under one year of age, but can take longer. Vomiting, ideally it should not be.
Spitting up is the swallowing of excess air, in order for it to come out, you need to hold the child in the “soldier” position. With this procedure, the air will come out by itself, respectively, the frequency of regurgitation will decrease. Holding the child upright makes it difficult for the stomach to push the excess air out on its own, which leads to the fact that he passes out with some food.
When to contact a doctor
The normalized processes of regurgitation of the baby do not pose a danger. Since such an action is characteristic of most children, then for the most part the excitement is in vain. But if the child spit up in abnormal amounts and very often, then such symptoms can serve as serious violations of the child's digestive system.
In such situations, you should:
- carefully monitor the size of the regurgitated substances and the frequency of the process;
- with a high degree of activity, the weight gain of the child should be monitored. In the case when he loses weight, and it does not reach the desired mark relative to his age, you should consult a doctor. There is also a significant difference between vomiting and regurgitation, since their amount varies;
- special attention should be paid to the color of the vomit.
It seems that all these small and, at first glance, insignificant signs are not related to complications and problems with the digestive tract. But in fact, at the first symptoms of unusual regurgitation, it is better to contact a qualified specialist. Self-medication is not recommended, because in such situations you can not only not have time to provide the necessary assistance to the child in time, but also aggravate problems for the baby's health.
- carefully monitor the feeding of the child, the quantity and the process itself;
- when eating food, the baby must swallow the breast correctly to avoid air ingress;
- proper holding of the child for his own convenience;
- careful monitoring of the condition of the mother's breast, because this can cause blood to appear in the spitting masses;
- when feeding a baby from various kinds of containers, you should not leave the child alone with the child, because he can swallow more air than necessary;
- one or two spoons - the allowable amount of regurgitated masses, anything over this rate is vomiting;
- at the end of the process of eating, it is advisable to keep the baby in an upright position so that he burps the air himself;
- if the vomit is unnatural, then you should immediately consult a doctor;
- a large amount of food can harm the child, the poet needs to carefully monitor feeding and weight.
Most women experience spitting up after giving birth, as almost every newborn spit up some human milk or formula after feeding. This process is physiological and normal if the volume of regurgitated is small, and the general condition of the little one is not disturbed. So the baby "gets rid" of the air swallowed during feeding, as well as the excess food that got into his tiny stomach with active sucking along with the air.
However, sometimes regurgitation is a symptom of a disease, and if a mother sees blood in her milk, it is always scary. Is regurgitation with blood dangerous and why does it happen in babies, and what should a mother do if a baby burps milk that contains blood?
Why does blood spit up
The most common reason for spitting up milk that contains blood is when the baby swallows blood while suckling, when the mother's nipples are cracked. If a woman has very sensitive nipples, the skin of which easily bursts when feeding a baby, blood from such cracks will enter the stomach of the little one along with food, and during regurgitation, the mother will notice its admixture in milk, which the baby will “return”.
The second, less common cause of regurgitation with blood is damage to the vessels of the digestive tract of the baby. This is a very serious problem, which additional examinations of the child help to diagnose.
A newborn baby can also spit up blood on the first day of life if he swallowed amniotic fluid during childbirth. This is a fairly common situation, not indicating any pathology.
What to do
Having noticed in the milk that the baby burped after feeding, streaks of blood, you should carefully observe the behavior of the baby.
The main thing is to make sure that the child does not vomit:
- Unlike regurgitation, when milk is released without much effort, vomiting will be accompanied by a strong tension in the abdomen.
- When regurgitation, undigested milk is released, which the baby has just swallowed, and vomit may represent partially digested food, and also include mucus, bile and other impurities.
- Regurgitation occurs almost immediately after feeding, and bouts of vomiting are possible at any time.
- The general condition of the baby during regurgitation is not disturbed, and if the baby has vomiting, which is a symptom of the disease, he will be restless, capricious, drowsy, lethargic. In addition, often with vomiting, the body temperature of the crumbs rises.
You should also examine the nipples - if cracks appear on them, then they are the cause of blood when spitting up. If the mother's nipples are intact, and blood appears during regurgitation repeatedly, the baby should be taken to a doctor's appointment. There are also other warning signs that require immediate medical attention.
When to See a Doctor
Mom should immediately show the baby to the pediatrician if:
- After spitting up with an admixture of blood, the child became agitated or began to cry violently.
- The baby spit up from time to time with blood and gains weight poorly.
- The volume of milk secreted during regurgitation with streaks of blood is very large (more than two teaspoons), which suggests vomiting.
Such symptoms may indicate a disease in an infant, so you should not hesitate to seek medical help.
Some young mothers are faced with such a problem when their child burped up with blood after eating. This phenomenon is both normal and pathological.
When do you need to see a doctor, and when just close your eyes to such a process? Parents should start sounding the alarm if regurgitation of blood is accompanied by the following features in the behavior of the baby:
- After the child had eaten, he burped and became very excitable. In addition, he began to cry a lot.
- The baby's weight gain is very slow and does not meet accepted standards.
- The baby spit up streaks of blood immediately after eating.
- The presence of large volume of regurgitation, more similar to vomit.
The process of regurgitation can be called the result of an accidental reflux of the contents of the stomach into the esophagus, resulting from squeezing or due to overeating. A similar phenomenon can often be observed in infants, which haunts their parents. Often there is no reason to worry, because this is a natural process.
Babies usually stop spitting up by the age of two. But remember that you need to be able to distinguish between regurgitation and vomiting: during the normal process, the crumbs' tummy does not give in to tension at all and the food comes out without any effort. But with vomiting, food can fly out even through the nasal cavity. In addition, with vomiting, an increase in body temperature is very often observed, and in the vomit there is not only milk, but also bile.
As mentioned above, the newborn spit up a lot and often, which happens almost immediately after eating. This is due to the fact that when sucking, the baby swallows air that comes out backwards, taking some food with it. Often the returned volumes of food are small, so there is no reason to worry that the child has not eaten. The normal amount of regurgitated milk is up to 2 teaspoons.
If you notice that there is blood in the remnants of food, then do not fall into a tantrum. The reason may not be as terrible as you screwed yourself up. Quite often, blood appears due to the presence of small cracks on the nipples of a nursing mother. The child in the process of feeding absorbs protruding blood along with milk, and then successfully regurgitates it.
It also happens that newborns spit up because they ate too much. Mothers think that the baby is hungry and try to give him more food. There are children who eat for a very long time and eat a lot. They hide milk behind their cheeks and then blow it out of the corners of their lips. Parents think that this is regurgitation, but in fact it is the result of the baby's greed. Such actions should be closely monitored.
The reason that the child spit up blood can also be an abnormal seizure of the mother's breast. Here, a lot of excess air enters the baby's mouth, which prevents the food from being digested. If a mother is bottle feeding her baby, then she must learn to hold them correctly to ensure a natural feeding process. That is when the baby will not spit up.
The main thing is not to panic. Try to determine for yourself when this happens, after what and how often. When a baby spits up a little after eating, this does not mean at all that there are serious problems with the alimentary tract in his body. Surely a doctor's consultation can't hurt. But do not worry in advance, because most of them are fine and the reason is only too delicate skin on the nipples of their mother.
Remember that most newborns swallow amniotic fluid and get rid of it by spitting up blood on the first day of life. It occurs in 96% of newborns.
Blood in the vomit is urgent. This is very serious and requires an immediate visit to the doctor. The presence of blood can indicate serious violations in the work of a small organism.
When examining small patients, an x-ray of the stomach and esophagus is prescribed. Before these procedures, the baby is given to drink a small amount of a substance that contains barium, and only after that the doctor begins to monitor the process of food entering the digestive system.
What to do to ensure that the baby spit up as little as possible?
Most couples are interested in this question, because regurgitation occurs in any child. Experts recommend choosing the correct position for the baby after eating: lift it with a column and hold it until excess air leaves the oral cavity. If you leave the crumbs to lie, then there is a high probability of regurgitation. After all, the ventricle cannot cope with a large flow of air and pushes it out along with food.
When the child eats with short breaks, then during these breaks it is better to wear it vertically so that the air does not have time to reach the stomach. Such actions of adults protect the baby from spitting up blood.
Another significant nuance: you should not feed newborns on a schedule, it is better to do it according to their needs. After all, if you make too long intervals between feeding, then the baby begins to eat greedily, as if stocking up. The esophagus of a newborn is not ready for this, because it is designed for small but frequent portions of food.
Before you breastfeed your baby, try putting him on your tummy for 5 minutes. Pediatricians say that this is a very effective way to prevent spitting up.
Don't swaddle your baby too tight. Such actions tighten his tummy and provoke belching. Buy sliders that fasten at the shoulders. In addition, do not shake the child very strongly when rocking.
A mother who is breastfeeding should follow a diet and avoid foods that cause increased gas formation. It is forbidden to eat black bread, salted cabbage, kvass and muffins.
If the child burped up with blood, then the mother should pay attention to how he swallows the nipple. It should provide such a grip, in which as little oxygen as possible enters the baby's mouth.
Ensure the correct posture for the newborn during and after meals. Pay attention to the skin around the nipples and take care of it in a timely manner to avoid cracking.
If the child is bottle fed, then he should not be left alone. Otherwise, he may swallow a lot of air or choke. Purchase professional bottles that do not allow excess air to pass through.
Remember that if the amount of mass released during regurgitation is more than 2 teaspoons, then this is already vomiting.
Strictly monitor the weight of the child: do not overfeed him and do not leave him hungry. Do not delay visiting the local doctor if any unnatural behavior of the baby occurs. Do not forget that vomiting is not the norm, its appearance should be well investigated and stopped.
Knowing all the nuances and rules of behavior with babies, you can enjoy life with a new family member and protect the baby from all unpleasant moments for him. Read literature, communicate with experts, delve into the life of a child and you will be able to become good and attentive parents.