A newborn baby spits up after feeding with blood. A newborn spits up blood after feeding. Effect on newborn weight

Regardless of whether the baby is bottle-fed or breastfed, during and after feeding (we advise you to read what to do if your baby spits up after each feeding), he may regurgitate the food he has taken. Young mothers often don’t know why this happens, what to do in such cases, and whether there is any reason to worry. It is best not to panic, but to understand the causes of this phenomenon and understand when to see a doctor.

The gastrointestinal tract of newborns differs from that of adults; the sphincter between the stomach and esophagus is not yet fully formed. The sphincter - a mucous fold that is a barrier between these two organs - is not able to close completely when the stomach is full, as a result of which food regurgitation occurs.

The main reasons that provoke regurgitation are:

• overeating (excess milk is not retained in the stomach and comes back out);
• incorrect grip of the nipple by the child, he swallows air during feeding, which again leads to an overfilling of the stomach;
• colic and other intestinal disorders in the baby;
• sudden movements and turns of the baby immediately after feeding.

Sometimes regurgitation occurs for unobvious reasons:

• allergic reactions to the formula or food that the mother takes;
• disorders of the central nervous system leading to stretching of the stomach walls;
• observed fetal hypoxia (oxygen starvation);
• infections (then the child regurgitates bile);
• inherited metabolic disorders.

If you assume one of the above reasons, especially if the child cries or becomes restless, do not self-diagnose, be sure to consult a doctor!

Prevention

Having determined why regurgitation occurs, take measures to prevent such eating behavior. Before feeding, it is recommended to let the baby lie on his stomach, and then place him on the crook of your elbow in a semi-sitting position. Make sure there is no air in the nipple of the bottle, and adjust your breastfeeding technique if necessary. Holding the baby in a “column” position for 10 to 15 minutes helps release excess air from the stomach. Usually a small amount of milk then comes out, often with curd crumbs.

Pathological regurgitation

Although regurgitation is a normal physiological process, in some cases it is necessary to consult a doctor. A deviation from the norm does not always indicate pathology; various reasons are possible.

• An alarm bell may be discharge colored yellow and green; this is often a sign of intestinal obstruction and gastroesophageal reflux. In such a case, you should consult a gastroenterologist.
• Sometimes the milk burped by the baby is mixed with blood. Due to the mother’s injured breasts and bleeding cracks in the nipples during feeding, the child swallows food with blood and regurgitates it. There may be no cracks, and then you need to inform your pediatrician about this.
• Belching with mucus is a symptom of gastrointestinal infection, dysbacteriosis.
• Belching foam most often indicates a helminthic infestation. It is usually accompanied by a greatly increased appetite and significant weight loss.
• Excessively profuse regurgitation with a characteristic “fountain” is considered a threatening symptom; in addition, there is a danger of choking during sleep.
• Copious and frequent regurgitation is undesirable, especially if the baby is also losing weight.

Standard options

Almost every baby spits up in infancy. Sometimes parents panic, not understanding what to do, but often suspicious symptoms are a variant of the norm.

• Normally, the baby does not regurgitate food through the nose, but isolated cases are not critical. The main thing is to make sure that there is no danger of choking when the milk passes through the nose.
• Vomiting water occurs as a result of excessive saliva production due to teething. Analyze your child's nutrition during the day; perhaps you are giving him too much water.
• Burping up curds is not critical and should not be a cause for concern.

Regurgitation without crying and changes in the child’s behavior is a variant of the norm.

Regurgitation and vomiting

Parents sometimes confuse vomiting and regurgitation in children. Distinctive signs of vomiting:

• the child regurgitates a significant amount of curdled milk, turns pale, cries;
• the discharge has a strong unpleasant odor;
• The abdominal muscles tense during the process;
• milk comes out through the nose;
• temperature rises;
• vomiting is sometimes accompanied by foam;
• the discharge contains blood and bile.

Vomiting is a dangerous symptom; if it occurs, call an ambulance immediately.

Let's sum it up

Regurgitation is a normal natural process. The average volume of discharge is 1 – 3 tablespoons; the presence of cheesy inclusions is not a pathology. Preventing regurgitation is easy by following proper feeding techniques. It is recommended not to jerk the baby immediately after finishing feeding, but to hold him in an upright position for some time. A child who drinks a lot often regurgitates water.

Constant regurgitation without pathological signs and weight loss is not a reason to panic. By the age of nine months, almost all children stop regurgitating, but there are cases of continued regurgitation up to two years.

Your pediatrician will help you determine why your baby is spitting up and whether you need to take action.

1. Don't panic and don't self-medicate. Get examined by a gastroenterologist if your baby exhibits unusual behavior or excessively frequent or excessive regurgitation.
2. When formula-fed, the cause may be formula, replace it in accordance with your doctor's recommendations.
3. Reasons to consult a doctor are regurgitation of blood, bile, mucus and foam. The color of the discharge should not be yellow, green, or brown.
4. The main indicator is the child’s behavior. Signs of tearfulness, drowsiness, lethargy and, conversely, excessive excitement often indicate a disease, so visit your local pediatrician and describe to him the symptoms that are bothering you.

Most women after childbirth have experienced regurgitation, because almost every newborn regurgitates a little human milk or formula after feeding. This process is physiological and normal if the volume of regurgitation is small and the general condition of the toddler is not disturbed. This is how the baby “gets rid” of the air swallowed during feeding, as well as of excess food that entered its tiny stomach during 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 the baby regurgitates milk that contains blood?

Why does regurgitation occur with blood?

The most common cause of regurgitation of milk containing blood is when the baby swallows blood during sucking when the mother's nipples have cracks. If a woman has very sensitive nipples, the skin of which easily bursts when feeding the baby, blood from such cracks will enter the toddler’s stomach along with the food, and during regurgitation, the mother will notice its admixture in the milk, which the baby will “return.”

The second, less common cause of regurgitation with blood is damage to the blood vessels of the baby’s digestive tract. This is a very serious problem, which additional examinations of the child can help diagnose.

A newborn baby may also vomit blood on the first day of life if he swallowed amniotic fluid during birth. This is a fairly common situation and does not indicate any pathology.

What to do

If you notice streaks of blood in the milk that the baby regurgitated after feeding, you should carefully observe the baby’s behavior.

The main thing is to make sure that the child is not vomiting:

• Unlike regurgitation, when milk is released without much strain, vomiting will be accompanied by strong tension in the abdomen.
• When regurgitating, 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 attacks of vomiting are possible at any time.
• The general condition of the baby is not affected by regurgitation, but if the baby has vomiting, which is a symptom of the disease, he will be restless, capricious, drowsy, lethargic. In addition, often when vomiting, the baby’s body temperature rises.

You should also examine your nipples - if cracks appear on them, then they are the cause of blood when regurgitating. If the mother’s nipples are intact, and blood appears repeatedly during regurgitation, the baby should be taken to see a doctor. There are also other warning signs that require immediate medical attention.

When to see a doctor

The mother should immediately show the baby to the pediatrician if:

• After spitting up blood, the child became agitated or began to cry a lot.
• The baby spits up blood from time to time and does not gain weight well.
• The volume of milk streaked with blood released during regurgitation is very large (more than two teaspoons), which suggests vomiting.

Such symptoms may indicate an illness in the baby, so you should not hesitate to seek medical help.

Newborn babies have the physical characteristic of burping after feeding, which is a long-known fact. This process can occur in different ways, differ from each other and not be entirely normal. How to recognize the problem in time if a child vomits blood?

There are several factors that indicate that the process of regurgitation of a baby is not normal:

• upon completion of feeding, the newborn baby burps, but there is increased excitability and crying;
• contrary to standard indicators for age, the child is not gaining enough weight;
• direct regurgitation of blood after eating;
• an increase in the frequency and amount of regurgitation, in which the milk that comes out looks more like vomit.

When overfeeding or the presence of factors compressing the stomach, involuntary emissions occur, which are called regurgitation. These processes are often characteristic of 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 a child reaches two years of age, he stops burping after feeding. But this process should also not be confused with vomiting. In such cases, the masses can exit not only through the oral, but also the nasal cavity, and their composition will include not only dairy products, but also, perhaps, bile and blood.

Causes

The above already indicates that regurgitation by a child after feeding is a natural process. Due to the fact that when soaking, a small part of the air penetrates, which comes out back along with the food. Basically, the amount of food that comes out does not exceed a few spoons, so there is no need to worry about the baby not having enough to eat.

However, if a child burps blood, then panic should not arise contrary to common sense. After all, the reasons for regurgitation of blood in a baby are often much simpler than it initially seemed. One of the main reasons is cracks formed on the mother’s nipples. The baby unintentionally absorbs milk from. Subsequently, after feeding, blood clots are visible when regurgitating.

Minor damage to the smallest vessels of the digestive tract is the second reason for such situations in children. These processes for 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 independently detect the factors of damage.

Some mothers, while caring for their babies, are often able to overdo it when feeding. This behavior is understandable - you want the child not to starve and to be sufficiently fed. 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 mistake the escaping fluid for vomiting or regurgitation, which by its nature is not valid.

Improper latching on the breast is another reason why a baby spits up blood. In such situations, the child takes in an excess amount of air, which leads to poor absorption of food and regurgitation. When feeding from a bottle, you must hold it correctly to avoid unexpected incidents. If the container is in the correct position, the baby will not vomit and will not burp.

What to do

Mostly, incidents where a baby spits up blood puts mothers in a state of panic. But initially you need to monitor the process: find out its frequency, the condition of the baby, etc. After all, if a small amount of blood is present, then this state of affairs does not indicate any disturbances 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, the detection of blood impurities mainly occurs from the delicate skin of the nipples, which simply burst in the process of absorbing food. If this is not the reason, then timely intervention by a doctor is mandatory.

The case when, instead of regurgitating, the baby vomits blood, is more serious than the one described above.

You shouldn’t delay going to the doctor, because if you let it happen again, it could lead to unforeseen complications. Even if the amount of regurgitation seems insignificant, you should consult a doctor.

Every baby has the habit of burping, for this reason mothers are interested in this issue. This process ends at just under one year of age, but can last longer. Vomiting, ideally, should not occur.

Regurgitation 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 on its own, and accordingly the frequency of regurgitation will decrease. If you hold the baby in an upright position, it is difficult for the stomach to push the excess air out on its own, which leads to the fact that it comes out with some food.

In what cases should you consult a doctor?

The normal processes of regurgitation of a baby do not pose any danger. Since this action is typical for most children, most of the worries are in vain. But if a child spits up in abnormal quantities and very often, then such symptoms can serve as serious disorders of the child’s digestive system.

In such situations you should:

• closely monitor the size of regurgitated substances and the frequency of the process;
• With a high degree of activity, the child’s weight gain should be monitored. If he loses weight and it does not reach the required level relative to his age, he should consult a doctor. There is also a significant difference between vomiting and regurgitation, since their quantity varies;
• Particular 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 may not only not have time to provide the necessary help to the child in time, but also aggravate problems for the baby’s health.

• carefully monitor the child’s feeding, the amount and the process itself;
• when eating food, the baby must swallow correctly to avoid air getting in;
• correct holding of the child for his own comfort;
• carefully monitoring the condition of the mother’s breasts, because this can cause the appearance of blood in the regurgitated masses;
• when feeding a baby from various types of containers, you should not leave the baby alone with the baby, because he can swallow more air than necessary;
• one or two spoons is the permissible amount of regurgitated masses, everything above this norm is vomiting;
• at the end of the eating process, it is advisable to keep the baby in an upright position so that he burps the air;
• 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.

Regurgitation is a normal physiological phenomenon for infants up to one year old, associated with imperfect functioning of the digestive system. But parents are especially concerned about the situation when the child burps up blood. This occurs due to injuries to the mother’s breasts (cracks) and vascular disorders in the baby’s digestive system.

To prevent frequent regurgitation, it is necessary to keep the baby in an upright position and lay him on his stomach more often. If your general condition worsens, continuous crying or fever rises, you should 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 the mother, and should not exceed 30 ml. To make sure that you are regurgitating, you need to pay attention to the baby’s tummy: when vomiting, it tenses, and the masses pour out not only through the mouth, but also through the baby’s nose.

When a baby burps, the contents of the stomach come out completely undigested. If he vomits, the milk partially curdles, and impurities of bile or mucus appear. The child burps immediately after feeding, and can vomit at any time, regardless of food.

Norms and pathologies:

1. if the amount of milk that comes out is less than two tablespoons, then everything is fine. When its volume is greater, it is vomiting: you must seek medical help;
2. a child spits up blood after feeding and cries a lot - this is also a cause for concern, since he may scream from pain, discomfort or due to disorders of the nervous system;
3. if too often (more than 7 times a day) a child who spits up gains weight very slowly. This is a sign that the baby may have pathologies in the development of digestion;
4. milk coming out through the mouth in a “fountain”, that is, under pressure, is a clear reason to consult a doctor. Possible disturbance of the central nervous system or, less commonly, spasms of the digestive tract;
5. regurgitation occurs an hour after feeding. It looks more like vomiting, so you need to see a doctor.

Brown veins

Pay attention to the general condition of the baby, body temperature: if everything is in order, then regurgitation does not pose a danger. When a child burps with brown streaks, you need to consult a doctor quickly.

Most often, if the baby burps with blood, the problem may be in the integrity of the nipples: there are microcracks that bleed, the baby swallows blood and undigested milk. But there may be other factors that contribute to a newborn vomiting blood.

Causes

Bleeding occurs:

1. food:
   • Mallory Weiss syndrome (trauma);
   • varicose veins after cirrhosis of the liver;
   • inflammation of the esophagus;
2. intestinal: swelling and ulcer of the duodenum;
3. 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, facing the wide side upward and quite small in length. Since the esophagus is blocked by a weak sphincter, the contents of the stomach exit through the mouth when excess air accumulates.

Reasons why a baby spits up blood:

• cracked nipples;
• pathology of the development of the digestive system;
• the newborn swallowed amniotic fluid;
• overfeeding;
• flatulence;
• tight swaddling;
• injuries.

Damage to nipples and areolas

In the first time after the birth of a baby, the skin on the nipples is very delicate, so it is prone to damage to the mother’s breast. The child eats milk, squeezing out drops of blood along with it. There is nothing to worry about here, the most important thing is to quickly heal the wounds and cracks on the nipples in order to relieve the mother’s discomfort.

Pathology of the development of the digestive system

Violation of the integrity of small vessels of the baby’s esophagus. They are associated with congenital problems, with weakness of vascular walls, and pathologies in the development of digestion. The reason is serious, it is not possible to identify it on your own, so an urgent visit to a doctor is necessary.

An intestinal obstruction can also cause an infant 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 vomits 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 monitor the baby and his condition; regurgitation with blood should end within a day after birth.

Overfeeding the baby

In this case, the baby regurgitates a small amount of blood. The gastric mucosa becomes irritated and red or brown streaks appear in the contents of the released mass.

Table - Number of feedings and volume of milk by month

Single serving calculator

Everyone knows that newborns experience the phenomenon of regurgitation after feeding. This process can be normal and pathological. In what cases should such regurgitation raise suspicions?

1. After eating, the child burps and there is an increase in excitability, and all this is accompanied by crying.
2. The weight gain is too low according to the norms at his age.
3. The child vomited blood just after eating.
4. Spitting up too often and too much, which can feel like vomiting.

In our article we will talk about the alarming case when a child burps with blood.

What is regurgitation and how does it manifest?

Regurgitation is an involuntary reflux of the stomach, which occurs as a result of squeezing it or after overeating. This condition is quite common in infants, but it also often causes suspicion among mothers about this. In most cases, there is no need to worry, as most often this is a natural and normal process.

Typically, a child stops burping before the age of two. Do not confuse regurgitation with vomiting, since during the natural process the abdominal muscles of a newborn do not tense and he manages to do this without additional effort. During vomiting, food can even come out through the nose. Vomiting may also be accompanied by an increase in temperature. Such phenomena may contain not only unchanged milk, but also an admixture of blood and bile.

What are the causes of regurgitation with blood?

Since it was already described above that newborns often burp and more often the child does this immediately after eating. This is due to the fact that during soaking, some air gets in, and it can come back out along with the food. As a rule, the amount of food is quite small, so there is no need to worry about all the milk coming back out. This amount is much smaller and normally should not exceed 1-2 teaspoons.

If your baby burps up blood, you shouldn’t panic right away. The reasons for this may be much simpler than you might imagine. Most often this happens due to small cracks in the mother's nipples. The baby swallows blood along with milk, and then when he burps, there is an admixture of blood. This may also be due to small ruptures in the blood vessels of the child’s lower digestive tract during regurgitation. This reason for regurgitation with blood is a little more serious, but it is quite difficult to identify it on your own.

A child can also burp during overeating. Mothers always think that the baby is not eating well and want him to be full. But in such cases there is no need to overdo it. There are children who eat quite a lot themselves, and this consists in the fact that they suck a lot of milk into their cheeks, like hamsters, and then release it through the corners of their lips. Mothers think that this is vomiting or regurgitation, but in fact this is the intuitive greed of the newborn. This also needs to be carefully monitored.

The cause of regurgitation may be improper latching on the chest, when too much air gets in and this interferes with the absorption of food. If you are feeding your baby with a bottle, you need to hold it correctly to prevent air from getting into your baby's mouth. Then the baby will not vomit or regurgitate.

What to do if a newborn spits up with blood?

Most often, the mother begins to panic in this case. But you don't need to do this. Initially, you need to notice for yourself how often the child does this and how exactly it happens. If after eating the baby burps just a little and there is blood, then this is not an indicator of serious disorders of the digestive tract.

Of course, it wouldn’t hurt to consult a doctor, but the main thing is not to worry, since for many babies everything is fine, but the mother’s nipples are quite tender and simply burst during feeding. Then the reason for everything is the individual characteristics of the mother, not the child. As for the burst blood vessels of the baby, this is already a serious matter, but in this case, only a doctor can provide significant help with a timely examination.

Vomiting blood is a more than serious phenomenon and cannot be repeated. That is, after the first time, it is necessary to urgently consult a doctor, because the amount of blood in this case may exceed the norm and indicate some disorders of the child’s digestive tract.

What can you do to prevent your baby from spitting up frequently after eating?

Many mothers are interested in this issue, because almost every child spits up. A child, as a rule, stops burping after 7-8 months, but it happens later. But vomiting is an uncertain phenomenon, so it can occur at any time. But don’t forget that normally it shouldn’t exist at all.

As for regurgitation, after eating the baby needs to be held upright for a while so that excess air comes out. If the newborn lies down after eating, then the likelihood of regurgitation is much greater. In this case, it is difficult for the ventricle to get rid of possible air on its own, and it comes out along with the food.

If the baby eats intermittently, then during each break it is better to hold the child upright so that the trapped air can immediately escape. Such simple actions will help to significantly reduce regurgitation, and even more so with regard to blood impurities.

When should you see a doctor?

Regurgitation without pathologies does not bring any worries. That is, in most cases this is normal and there is no need to worry about it. There are cases when a child burps not only as a result of poor digestion, but also with significant disorders of the digestive system.

1. It is necessary to pay attention to the amount of regurgitation and frequency. Normally, this should not exceed 1-2 teaspoons of food.
2. You should carefully monitor the baby's weight if there is frequent regurgitation. If a child begins to lose weight, or does not gain weight to normal levels, and often spits up, then it is necessary to consult a doctor. You should also be wary of vomiting, since its amount differs significantly from normal regurgitation after eating.
3. You need to monitor the color of the vomit.

Such little things can signal problems that are already present, the solution of which should only be addressed by a doctor. It is better not to self-medicate, as you may not only fail to help the baby in a timely manner, but also cause harm.

• carefully monitor how the child eats and how much;
• the baby must completely swallow the nipple and not let go of it so that air does not get in;
• hold the newborn correctly so that he is comfortable;
• monitor the condition of your nipples, as small cracks can be a direct cause of the baby spitting up blood;
• - when artificial feeding, do not leave the baby alone with the bottle, as if it is held incorrectly, more air than food may get in;
• it is better to purchase special bottles that do not let air through with food;
• the amount of regurgitation should not exceed 2 teaspoons, and anything more than this norm – vomiting;
• after each feeding, hold the baby upright for at least a minute so that he can burp up air on his own;
• do not overfeed and monitor the baby’s weight;
• at the first detection of an unnatural vomiting reaction, consult a doctor;
• Vomiting is not a normal phenomenon, so if it occurs, consultation is necessary.