Vomiting is very common in infants and children. It can be a simple situation, or it can be a symptom of a disease.
Why Do Babies Vomit?
Especially in the first weeks of life, babies may vomit a mouthful without difficulty shortly after feeding, this is generally considered normal. This decreases as babies get older and gain normal weight. Vomiting disappears after feeding, usually by the age of eight months.
Gastro-intestinal allergies such as metabolic diseases, excessive swallowing of the mother's amniotic fluid, milk allergy are also causes of vomiting in the newborn period. Babies who swallow air while feeding, who suckle too fast or too slowly, and babies who are not gassed after feeding can vomit without difficulty. If the mistakes in the feeding technique are corrected, these vomitings seen in babies will end.
How Many Types of Vomiting Are There?
There are two types of vomiting as non-forced and forced vomiting. Non-forced vomiting is generally seen in the first weeks of life and after improper feeding technique.
Forced vomiting; It is a gushing type of vomiting that starts with nausea and gurgling. Restlessness, pallor, sweating, and vomiting may accompany in young babies. The most common ones among these are; esophageal atresia (blindness of the end where the esophagus connects to the stomach), gastroesophageal reflux stenosis, intestinal obstruction, intestinal strictures, herniation of the abdominal organs into the chest Gastroesophageal reflux is the condition of reflux of the stomach contents into the esophagus as a result of the contraction failure that occurs at the place where the stomach tube connects to the stomach. It usually begins between the 3rd and 10th days of life. Vomiting can be largely prevented if the baby can be held in a semi-sitting position for 30 minutes after feeding.
It regresses as the baby grows. It may require surgical intervention if it causes severe weight loss that requires not waiting to grow. Blinding the end of the esophagus connecting to the stomach is a serious cause of regurgitation. In this case, the baby starts to vomit after a few feedings after birth as the nutrients may accumulate in the esophagus.
In some cases this is a closed food pipe. The urethra may be connected to the trachea with a tube. In this case, shortness of breath and bruising can also be observed. Severe vomiting that starts in the third week of life, especially in boys, suggests pyloric stenosis, which is considered a kind of gastric stenosis. The treatment for pyloric stenosis is surgery.
Intestinal stenosis or obstruction comes to mind when the baby's stomach swells in the first days of birth, he cannot poop and there is severe vomiting accompanying it. A doctor should be consulted urgently.
Infections are the most common causes of forced vomiting in older children. The most common infections causing vomiting are: Influenza infection, throat infection, bronchitis Gastrointestinal infections Ear infections Urinary tract infections Meningitis and central nervous system infections.
How to Treat Vomiting?
Vomiting When it is the result of an infection, the infection needs to be cured to stop vomiting. In order to balance the ketone bodies that increase in the body in vomiting caused by infection, the child is given sugary water. It is important to replace the lost fluid. Anti-emetics can be used under the direction of a doctor in excessive vomiting. Poisoning should be considered in children aged 1-11 years who start vomiting suddenly, and there is no underlying infection or other cause for vomiting. Vomiting can also be seen in food poisoning. High blood pressure may be the cause of vomiting in childhood. Vomiting can also occur in childhood diabetes. If occasional vomiting is accompanied by acetone odor in the mouth, frequent urination, drinking plenty of water, and dry mouth, pediatric diabetes should be suspected.
Vomiting may also have a psychological origin. Some children vomit when they are excited. It is known that children who have problems with school experience nausea and vomiting on weekday mornings. Anorexia children with eating problems start to vomit if they are forced to eat.
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