Abdominal pain in a newborn appears in the middle. The little boy, who has been sleeping and eating all day long, suddenly falls asleep with difficulty and cries all day long. It often happens that the baby's anxiety increases after feeding. He turns away from his chest or bottle of food, kicks his legs and screams heart-rendingly. Parents panic and wonder why their previously calm angel suddenly became so restless? What can you do to help an inconsolable child? You will find answers to these questions by reading the article.
What is colic?
Intestinal colic in infants is a problem that every second mother faces. At the same time, the tummy of a newborn baby hurts as a result of spasm and increased gas formation in the intestines. The child experiences the characteristic sharp, stabbing, cramping pain that the swollen intestines cause. Quite often, problems with stools are noted - constipation, liquid foam stool Green colour up to 5 times a day.
The appearance of these symptoms is associated with the immaturity of the gastrointestinal tract of the newborn. After birth, the intestinal microflora is gradually seeded with useful and not very bacteria, the pancreas and small intestine begin to produce enzymes for the digestion of lactose (milk sugar), but these processes are not yet perfect, the number of enzymes is very small, but the number of feedings increases by two weeks, yes And portions of milk too. An immature system does not have time to process increased amount milk, the intestines swell and provoke pain.
After 3-4 months, maturation occurs digestive system, the processes are getting better, the abdominal muscles are strengthening, the baby stops screaming all day, and the satisfied mother rejoices at the changes that have taken place. If, by 4 months, the baby's stomach is not swollen, but the child is still constantly crying, it is necessary to seek advice from a neurologist. The doctor will help to understand why the baby is restless, what caused his excitement. Perhaps the crumbs have a headache, not a tummy.
Causes of spasms
When a newborn's stomach hurts, most often this happens as a result of contraction of the intestinal walls due to the strong pressure of gases and feces. The following factors can lead to increased gas formation:
- Frequent feeding, when the baby's stomach simply does not have time to digest all the milk. The exception is breast-feeding if the baby is applied to the breast for a short time and does not have time to drink a lot of milk. Such fractional feeding has a positive effect on digestion, does not overload the stomach and promotes the rapid digestion of milk, which cannot be said about feeding newborns with milk mixtures, which are a synthetic product. But also at breastfeeding it is worth observing the measure and not offering the baby a breast too often. The digestive system needs rest, it is quite possible that the baby has already eaten and is crying because it wants to sleep, but at this time the body is seriously working on digesting lactose (which is found in large quantities in milk).
- Incorrect attachment to the breast. In the process of sucking the breast, the newborn can smack loudly, weakly hold the nipple, swallowing a lot of air along with milk, which then travels through gastrointestinal tract causing bloating. Children who are on artificial feeding, more often face the problem of swallowing air, because the milk mixture flows through the nipple faster and easier, the baby is in a hurry and swallows air.
- Mom's stress. Scientists at the University of Auckland conducted a study during which they found out that cortisol (the stress hormone) passes into breast milk. What many mothers noticed before is now scientifically confirmed. If the mother is calm, the child is calm. Enhanced Level cortisol and adrenaline can lead to intestinal spasm even in an adult. And the immature digestive system of the baby is not very ready for such loads.
- Weak abdominal muscles. When a tummy hurts in a newborn baby, to relieve pain, it is necessary to empty the intestines and remove gases. It can still be difficult for him to cope with increased gas formation on his own, the accumulated gases create an air lock, and the baby still does not know how to strain the tummy properly.
- Errors in the menu of a nursing mother. It is assumed that products that cause increased gas formation in the intestines of an adult, which a nursing mother eats, affect the composition breast milk and cause the same swelling in the baby. This can only be confirmed or refuted by personal experience, focusing on the behavior of the baby after the mother has consumed various products.
How to deal with colic
If a newborn has a tummy ache, the first thing parents need to do is calm themselves. Colic is functional state organism. Every child under the age of 3 months at least once experienced abdominal pain caused by bloating, constipation or frequent loose stools. The process of digestion of milk will improve - spasms will pass.
Even if all are eliminated possible reasons the appearance of colic, this does not guarantee getting rid of them. Parents, trying to help their child, rush to pharmacies, buying medicines, warm babies' tummies with diapers, feed them with all kinds of dietary supplements containing probiotics and prebiotics, while the baby both screamed and screamed, the tummy both swelled and swells. What to do? How to help the baby?
It is important to understand that effective means to combat colic does not currently exist. The right doctor will be the one who, to the mother’s questions, why month old baby the stomach hurts, what to do, he will answer: "Be patient, it will outgrow." But parents cannot calmly watch their baby crying, and therefore they are looking for miraculous ways to deal with pain in a small tummy. Manufacturers of all kinds of medicines profit from this parental feeling, offering huge selection means to eliminate the symptoms of bloating.
All means that eliminate flatulence, according to the type of active substance, are divided into natural and synthetic. Natural dietary supplements contain fennel oil or are made on the basis of fennel fruit. Synthetic drugs include drugs based on simethicone, they are available in different countries and under different brand names.
It is preferable to choose products containing natural natural ingredients. If they don't help, at least they won't hurt. Starting from two weeks of age, you can prepare dill tea for your child. Both fennel and common dill are suitable for this. You can purchase ready-made sachets for single tea leaves of fennel or products based on fennel extract. But it is much more useful to make such tea yourself, using dill seeds grown in your own garden or cottage.
pour a glass hot water 1 tsp seeds, insist and give the baby half a teaspoon, gradually increasing the amount of the drink with age, if there is no allergic reaction. For a one month old baby dill water- 1 tbsp. l. per day, divided into several doses. You can also brew fennel seeds. The advantage of fennel tea is a natural sweetish taste without the use of sweeteners, kids drink it with pleasure.
How to calm a crying baby
- To eliminate pain during the next attack, when the baby cries and does not calm down in any way, take him in your arms, shake him, put him on your stomach, it especially calms newborns to lie “tummy to tummy” when the mother puts the undressed baby on her bare stomach.
- Calm down crying baby free swaddling or wrapping in a blanket with a warm diaper on the stomach. To do this, dress your baby in a thin suit. Fold the diaper several times, warm it up with an iron, then attach it to the baby’s tummy (over the suit), swaddle it or wrap it in a blanket, so that the diaper is well fixed on the stomach. Hold tightly to you, shake or try to feed. It is not worth offering food to bottle-fed children at this moment, wait until the spasm passes.
- Don't forget before every feeding. This will help strengthen the muscles of the neck, abdomen, back, arms and legs, relieve tension in the intestines, relieve gas.
- To warm the baby's tummy, use a bag of heated salt or cherry pits. Hold the salt or the bones in the pan, pour it into a cotton or linen bag (you can also use the baby's sliders), make sure that the salt is cool enough and does not burn the baby, attach a heating pad to the stomach. Follow the reaction, remove the heating pad.
- Massage the baby's stomach with the palm of your hand clockwise, press his knees to the stomach and rotate them clockwise, massaging the baby's stomach with your knees.
In what cases it is necessary to see a doctor
To understand when you should definitely consult a pediatrician, carefully read the following symptoms:
- spit up a lot, spitting up even 1-2 hours after feeding,
- the child cries a lot, his stomach is swollen and constipated for more than a day,
- liquid, foamy stool more than 5 times a day,
- the child refuses several feedings.
If you notice any of these signs in your child, contact your doctor.
The first months of a baby's life, especially if it is the first-born, can be a real test for a young mother. Communication with a child and caring for him raises many questions. Finally, the first days and weeks have passed, the baby and mother begin to understand each other, and suddenly, the recently established rhythm and way of life of the family begins to be disturbed again. Outwardly perfect healthy baby begins to act up, cries, it is impossible to calm him down. The cause of concern may be that the crumbs have a tummy ache.
How to understand that a newborn has a tummy ache
Of course, a child under one year old will not yet be able to tell his parents that his tummy hurts, but it will not be difficult to understand from his behavior. To do this, you just need to take a closer look:
The tummy can hurt for only a few minutes or even a few hours. In any case, you should not wait until the baby calms down, because he really hurts. He needs parental support and care.
The most common cause of tummy pain in a child under six months of age is intestinal colic.
How to help if a newborn has a tummy ache due to colic
The first thing to do is to make sure that the cause of the pain in the tummy is really colic, so young parents need to know them and. Of course, do not neglect the advice of a specialist. So, if the cause of the pain in the tummy is colic, we will briefly give some recommendations without the use of medications. There are several ways to do this.
What to do so that the child's tummy does not hurt
It is impossible to completely eliminate the occurrence of colic, but you can try to reduce the likelihood of their occurrence:
Other causes of abdominal pain in infants
As a rule, tummy pain caused by colic goes away on its own, but there are other causes of pain:
- food allergy;
- intolerance to cow's milk protein;
- intestinal obstruction;
- constipation.
Important! If, apart from pain in the tummy, the baby is not bothered by anything else, the stool is normal, and he is gaining weight well, then colic is most likely the cause. With poor weight gain, altered stools, and even more so temperature, you should consult a pediatrician to rule out other causes.
So, the first months of life are the most difficult period not only for the child, but also for his parents. After all, there is a process of adaptation of a small organism, through which every newborn passes. To make it as easy as possible to survive this time, parents should be patient and maintain a positive attitude.
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Due to the unformed digestive system of the baby, parents are at a loss: the tummy of the newborn hurts, what to do in this situation, how to alleviate the suffering of the baby, how to effectively help him. The most common causes of this phenomenon, doctors call accumulations of gases, intestinal colic, and in difficult cases- dysbacteriosis or infection with infectious diseases.
About the causes and treatment of increased gas formation in infants.
modern medicine Ready to help parents deal with unpleasant phenomenon when a child has a stomachache. For the treatment to good result, it is necessary to choose the right medicines and methods necessary for this.
1 What can cause pain
When a baby has a stomach ache, he cannot tell about the reasons for his suffering, but his demonstrations of this condition can tell parents that it is the baby’s stomach that hurts. The most common external manifestations of such a deviation in the well-being of the baby are:
- squeezing and sharp straightening of the legs;
- body bending;
- refusal of food;
- irritability;
- incessant crying.
When a baby has a tummy ache the most common outward manifestation. considered incessant crying.
If baby frequent bouts of pain in the abdomen, with more this may be due to intestinal colic. This display of symptoms is quite common in the first six months of a baby's life. The reason for this lies in the formation of the digestive tract, adaptation to new types of nutrition. In most cases, in infants, this phenomenon goes away on its own. Doctors advise parents during the period when abdominal pain is observed in a newborn to completely exclude fatty, fried, spicy, acidic foods from their diet. You should not consume a lot of coffee and sweet pastries or other types of sweets.
If a newborn has a stomach ache, a mother who breastfeeds him should look for the cause, first of all, in herself, her diet, her daily routine. It is very important to analyze what kind of water a nursing mother drinks. In no case should you drink unboiled, carbonated water. The use of products that provoke fermentation processes, semi-finished products and food of dubious origin is also prohibited.
2 Other causes of pain
Other reasons can provoke abdominal pain in a baby:
- food allergy;
- lactase deficiency;
- teething.
A food allergy can appear in a baby, provided that complementary foods were introduced into his diet for up to six months, if the baby is artificially fed. This phenomenon can have a number of symptoms. In addition to the fact that the tummy may hurt, a rash may appear on the body, and. In this case, the baby is not gaining weight. In such a case, the baby should be urgently shown to the pediatrician. The doctor diagnoses the cause of this phenomenon and prescribes therapy. In most cases, the doctor will recommend adjusting the diet of the baby or nursing mother.
In children who are bottle-fed, there may be a disease such as volvulus. A characteristic feature of this type of pathology is that the stomach of the newborn hurts, gas exchange stops completely, the child cannot defecate, the feces are excreted in the form of mucus. In addition to these symptoms, a gag reflex may appear and body temperature may rise. With this type of illness, the tummy of a newborn hurts in a special way, in the form of spasms, between which the baby's well-being can be normal, painless. With this development of painful symptoms, it is necessary to urgently call an ambulance.
With a lack of lactase, an enzyme that is involved in the breakdown of milk sugar in an infant, there may be pain and other manifestations similar to an allergic type. The baby may experience pain in the abdomen and due to the eruption of the first teeth. External signs such a process are symptoms of diarrhea. If the baby is full of energy and strength, such symptoms disappear within 1-2 days immediately after teething.
3 Determination of the cause of pain
Despite the fact that doctors categorically forbid self-medication, it is possible, by the way the baby has a stomach ache, to determine the cause and, in a simple form, try to solve the problem without medication before the doctors arrive.
So, if the pain in an infant begins immediately after the feeding process, he begins to cry and tighten his legs, the problem may be bloating due to the accumulation of gases provoked by milk carbohydrates. Simple exercises will help to cope with this phenomenon before the doctor's visit: stroking the tummy clockwise, pressing the legs to the tummy and back. You can give dill water.
When the pain is accompanied bad smell from the mouth, constant loose stools, increased dryness of the skin, the cause of pain in the tummy can be dysbacteriosis, which often develops in children who are formula-fed, when the child's body is infected with infections. You can change the infant formula, but be sure to consult a doctor.
There is pain in the abdomen of a cramping and periodic nature, but there is no defecation, there is a loss of appetite. When trying to empty the baby cries in pain. This painful condition can cause constipation. To alleviate the suffering of the baby, you should remove all flour, protein foods. Give your baby more to drink.
A condition where fever, diarrhea, vomiting is added to abdominal pain, may occur with infectious or inflammatory processes in the intestine. Doctors recommend giving the baby more fluids with such symptoms. If vomiting does not stop, you need to call a doctor.
When abdominal pain is supplemented by diarrhea with blood, a painful sensation when probing the navel, a gag reflex, this phenomenon may demonstrate the development of dysentery, which has become a complication of infection. These symptoms require urgent hospitalization.
In children under three years of age, abdominal pain may signal a. The pain appears mainly at night, while the baby lies with his legs tucked up to his stomach, he can vilify, he may vomit. Sometimes this condition can be supplemented by an increase in body temperature. If appendicitis is suspected, call immediately ambulance.
4 How to help a child
Before the doctor arrives, adults should monitor the child's condition. If he does not have vomiting and a number of other dangerous symptoms, he can be given an enema and given as much liquid as possible. You should also resort to medicines, which must be given to the baby only as directed by a pediatrician or infectious disease specialist. To prevent gas in the baby pain, after feeding, it must be kept upright until belching, demonstrating the state in which air is expelled from the stomach.
In case of bloating, it is necessary to use a special gas outlet tube, which must be sterilized and lubricated with petroleum jelly before use.
You can use a thermometer for this purpose.
If the baby is worried about spasmodic pain, it is recommended to put a warm heating pad on the baby's tummy. This will help relieve spasm and ease the suffering of the baby. You can put heat on the tummy before feeding and hold for 10 minutes. This procedure will help to avoid pain after eating.
5 Medical care
No recommendation or appointment medical preparations they cannot be used by a doctor to treat newborns. But there are a number of drugs that can be used in first aid. They help to relieve the condition if the baby has a tummy ache. With vomiting and diarrhea, you can give the child Gastrolit and. These drugs help replenish lost fluid with frequent gag reflex and diarrhea. According to the scheme indicated in the instructions, the drugs are diluted in boiled water and the baby is allowed to drink after each emetic and diarrheal symptom. It will help to avoid dehydration of the body and simple boiled water. Drinking with such indications should be frequent and plentiful.
In case of poisoning and increased gas formation, it is allowed to give the baby sorbents that can clear from harmful substances intestines and stomach of the child. These drugs include Smecta, Enterosgel. The defoamer Espumizan has proven itself well, which doctors recommend giving to babies with severe flatulence.
Antimicrobial and immunomodulatory agents can be used to restore the intestinal microflora. These include Enterol, Hilak Forte, Linex (for babies). If it is difficult to determine the cause of children's pain, you should not feed the child until the doctor arrives, especially if he is vomiting.
At normal condition digestion in the baby, an increase in body weight is observed according to his age and developmental characteristics. Normally, when the baby rarely spits up after eating. O good health and the state of digestion of the baby says it good mood after eating, and also in the feces there is no mucus, blood, foam, no pungent odor. Throughout the treatment process, doctors recommend parents not to leave the crumbs alone. Only next to his relatives will he feel calmer and endure pain more easily.
6 Physiotherapy for abdominal pain
Attacks of abdominal pain are exacerbated mainly in the evening and at night. The kid twists his legs, blushes, screams. Relief comes only after emptying the bowels or passing gases. In order for this process to proceed normally, parents are advised to help the baby with a special massage. It is not carried out during an exacerbation disease state baby, but during his normal state of health. Massage is similar to a special gymnastics, consisting of six exercises that are carried out 3-4 times a day.
Before starting, you need to put your hands on the baby's tummy. Your hands should be warm. Even if the baby continues to cry, do not remove your hands. Parental calmness will be transferred to the baby, and he will stop crying. Next, hug the baby’s tummy with a brush and start ironing from top to bottom. This movement must be repeated 6 times. In order for the gases to come out better, you need to massage with one hand, the second hand should support the raised legs of the baby. The next exercise demonstrates raising the knees up and down. It is necessary to connect the knees, lean them against the tummy, slightly press. Hold your knees for 5-10 seconds. This will help speed up the release of gases.
To relax the muscles, you need to stretch and shake the legs. The last exercise is to imitate the drawings of the sun and moon on the abdomen in the navel area. Left hand draws a full circle, while the right one draws a semicircle. This exercise is repeated 6 times. The final step is to repeat the exercise with the knees, and then, as a relaxing effect, the baby's hips are slightly swayed.
One of the most common problems that worries all new parents is abdominal pain in a newborn. The appearance of pain in the abdomen in the first weeks of life is explained by the incompletely formed digestive system, which causes discomfort to the baby. The main root causes that disturb the baby are bloating, accumulation of gases, colic. All parents go through these problems, so you should not panic and urgently call an ambulance. It is necessary to be attentive to the child - pay attention to anxious crying, and additional features which are indicative of abdominal pain.
To the extent that the child cannot yet tell his parents about what worries him, he begins to act up and cry. But, crying can be different reasons, but additional movements can confirm the diagnosis. The first thing the baby begins to do is to tighten and straighten the legs. Movements may be accompanied by crying or the newborn will be irritable and refuse to take the breast. Sometimes the baby takes the breast, but feeding only increases anxiety, so the process is problematic. With an increase pain syndrome the child turns pale. When the cause of the pain is the digestive process, then the anxiety will not last long and will disappear immediately after taking an enzyme remedy or defecation.
In general, the following signs of abdominal pain are distinguished:
- the baby tries to press the legs to the stomach, then unclenches them, sometimes the movements from the side resemble the “bicycle” exercise;
- crying resembles a cry of pain;
- on palpation of the abdomen, its swelling, uncharacteristic hardness is felt;
- from severe pain the child may become very pale.
Basically, the baby begins to worry in the late afternoon or at night after the feeding process. However, you cannot navigate by time of day. The main indicator of pain in the abdomen is the movement of the legs and the stomach to the touch.
Causes of pain
Among the main causes that disturb newborns are intestinal colic. This phenomenon disturbs infants during the first six months of their life. After the complete formation of the digestive system and the normalization of processes, anxiety disappears. This condition does not require any special treatment, it is only important for parents to follow certain recommendations.
It is important! If the cause of the pain is colic, then nursing mothers urgently need to exclude sweets, fatty foods, and spicy foods from the diet. While breastfeeding, fast food, convenience foods, carbonated drinks and other unhealthy foods are strictly prohibited for women. You should also reduce the consumption of potatoes, grapes, cabbage. Pasta is not recommended.
But, for babies, other problems are not alien.
| Problem | a brief description of |
|---|---|
| Pathological condition | Such a pathological reaction may occur as a result of the introduction of bait up to six months. Parents can decide on their own. The baby has a rash on skin, in feces there may be bloody inclusions, loose stools. If these symptoms are obvious, then it is necessary to examine the therapist with the appointment of subsequent therapy. |
| Intestinal obstruction | Pathology that occurs against the background of regular artificial nutrition and is defined as volvulus. The main signs of the disease will be the absence of fecal discharge, vomiting, fever. Pain in the abdomen in this case is spasmodic in nature. This case requires urgent hospitalization, so you should not hesitate to call an ambulance - it can be dangerous for the life of a newborn |
| lactase deficiency | AT children's body in the first weeks of life, there is not enough specific enzyme - lactase, on the basis of which there is pain in the tummy. This enzyme is responsible for the breakdown of sugar that comes with milk. Symptoms will practically not differ from allergic |
| When teeth are cut | Oddly enough, but during the process of teething, there are pains in the abdomen. The main signs include temporary diarrhea and a slightly sour-smelling stool. Symptoms disappear on their own after the teething is completed. |
Attention! If the baby is anxious for a long time, then an urgent examination of the therapist is necessary. Perhaps the child is not worried about abdominal pain, but he needs the help of a neurologist.
What to do when your stomach hurts?
Parents can try to determine the root cause of the pain themselves and give their child first aid. To do this, it is advisable to consider the table, which indicates the reason and the correct actions.
| Symptoms | Problem | How to help? |
|---|---|---|
| The child begins to tighten the legs to the tummy and cry hard immediately after the feeding procedure | From the carbons that are contained in mother's milk, gases can form, which accumulate in the tummy and lead to an unpleasant sensation - bloating. | Parents can alleviate the condition of the baby on their own. To do this, gently stroke the baby's tummy clockwise. Then do an exercise in the form of pressing the legs to the tummy and slowly unclenching. First, the manipulation is carried out with the legs alternately, then simultaneously. If the anxiety does not subside, then the baby is given dill water |
| The child has dry skin, an unpleasant odor begins from the mouth, and the feces are liquid. | Dysbacteriosis | Pathology develops against the background of artificial feeding. Also, the cause of the development of dysbacteriosis can be an infection. Therefore, self-medication is contraindicated and parents need to call an ambulance. |
| Fecal masses do not go away for two days, the pains are cramping in nature, the baby screams when trying to strain | Constipation | Here the problem lies not so much in the body of the newborn, as in the nutrition of the mother. She needs to reconsider the diet and give up black tea, coffee drinks, flour products. You can alleviate the well-being of the baby with the help of plentiful drink, give a drink more decoction of dried fruits |
| Abdominal distention is visible, in the feces there is an admixture of blood, diarrhea, with palpation of the navel, the child reacts painfully | Dysentery | A complex infectious lesion that does not allow slowing down, so it is necessary to urgently call an ambulance |
| If the newborn has a cold, then abdominal pain is not uncommon. Additionally, there is vomiting, fever, diarrhea is possible | Inflammatory process of the intestinal mucosa due to infection | call an ambulance
Help medicationsThe first thing you should pay attention to is that it is forbidden to self-medicate and give any medications on your own (even on advice). Only a therapist can establish a correct diagnosis for a newborn and, based on this, prescribe the necessary therapy. However, there are a number safe drugs that help eliminate unpleasant symptoms for abdominal pain:
A pediatrician will tell you how to recognize abdominal pain in a baby. Video - How to understand that your child has a stomachache?
Video - The child has a stomachache
Video - Infant colic
Parents should remember that if a newborn has a stomach ache, he behaves restlessly, then before the ambulance arrives, you should not try to feed him. With vomiting, only qualified assistance is required, therefore it is forbidden to give any medications. It is necessary to call a medical team if the symptoms last for an hour (vomiting, diarrhea, blood impurities in the stool, rashes on the skin, fever). You need to make sure that the newborn does not have pain in the navel area, for this, when crying and raising the legs, feel the navel. The main thing is to remain calm if the baby begins to cry anxiously and call an ambulance if the problem is not related to colic and digestion. |
At that moment, when a baby screams heart-rendingly, wriggles, refuses food, pacifiers and favorite pastimes due to abdominal pain, many parents get lost and forget how to behave and how to help their baby. At the same time, it does not matter at all whether this is the first or fifth child in their family - a feeling of helplessness occurs in almost all mothers and fathers. When newborns have a tummy ache, they are in dire need of relief from their condition.
Prolonged crying will not turn out to be anything good either for the child or for his parents. For a baby, this is fraught with nervous breakdowns, headaches, disruption of the vocal cords and hoarseness, and his mother will have to go through another stress. So, what should you do if your newborn has a tummy ache? How to recognize the cause of malaise and how to help a tiny creature?
natural physiology
To begin with, it should be said that all children, without exception, suffer from abdominal pain. It’s just that in some babies this problem is more pronounced, in others it is less. But there can be several reasons for pain. The most common culprits for a newborn feeling unwell are:
- flatulence;
- spasm;
- volvulus (intestinal obstruction).
The first two problems are completely different factors. We will consider the main ones in more detail later. Most of these factors are not so difficult to eliminate. Treatment takes place at home after consultation with a pediatrician. But volvulus is a life-threatening condition. Symptoms may include vomiting, fever, constipation and bloating with difficulty passing gases or their complete absence, often - mucous diarrhea with an admixture of blood clots. If you observe any of these signs, you should immediately seek help from medical institution to prevent tragedy. Only timely surgical intervention can save the life of the baby!
All will pass?
If a newborn's tummy hurts due to spasms or colic, he needs proper care and preventive measures, which will help if not completely removed discomfort in a child, then at least they will be reduced to a minimum.
Usually, problems with gases do not begin in children immediately after birth, but only after two to three weeks from the moment they are born.
The formation of the work of the gastrointestinal tract in everyone occurs in different ways, in many respects the successful course of the process depends on the way the baby is fed. Children who are on a natural (breast) diet, quickly receive microflora useful for their body from their mother, while the number of pathogenic microorganisms in them is much lower than in those who eat the mixture from a bottle. In this regard, the tummy hurts more often in a newborn who feeds artificially.
As a rule, if nothing prevents the baby’s body from adapting to a new environment, then by the age of three to four months of its existence, the child and his parents will forget about colic and abdominal cramps. Problems such as dysbacteriosis, infections, lactase deficiency, weak motor skills and constipation associated with it can delay the formation of the gastrointestinal tract. All these factors contribute to the accumulation of gases that provoke discomfort in the intestines of the child.
Thrush and stomach pain
Often, mothers notice a thick mouth in their babies. white coating. It can cover only the tongue or move on - to the gums, cheeks, settle in the sky. The cause of this plaque is a fungus of the genus Candida, which is popularly referred to as thrush. At first glance, there is nothing wrong with this, the body with a strong immune system must cope with the disease himself, but until the moment of recovery comes, the child will feel discomfort, because the fungus provokes fermentation in the gastrointestinal tract.
From this, the baby develops increased gas formation, bloating and colic. So, when a newborn has a tummy ache due to thrush, what should I do? If the degree of damage is small, you can wipe the oral cavity alternately with a solution of soda (1 teaspoon of soda per 1 cup of warm boiled water) and vitamin B12. The procedure is carried out after eating for several days. But sometimes such measures do not bring desired result and the thrush does not go away completely or quickly returns. In this case, you need to show the baby to the pediatrician, and he will prescribe an antifungal drug that is acceptable for use in children.
How does constipation affect the well-being of a newborn?
Constipation is another common cause, because of which the tummy hurts in children. A newborn baby may not defecate for several days, and this is considered one of the normal options. But only if he does not feel uncomfortable. If it is difficult for a child to defecate, he cannot do it himself, and his mother has to put him vent pipe, a glycerin suppository or an enema, which means that it is necessary to adjust the baby's nutrition.
Especially often constipated children who are bottle-fed. In the event of such a problem, you can try to change the mixture, it does not hurt to add a drink to the child's diet chamomile tea).
Incorrect chest grip
But children who are breastfed often face another problem - swallowing air during sucking. In the first weeks after childbirth, lactation is only getting better, there is a lot of milk in the breast, and the child may not be able to swallow it. Therefore, he eats restlessly, often comes off the nipple and grabs a lot of air with his mouth. If you do not lift the child in time to help him burp, this air will disturb him and provoke pain in the tummy. When the baby learns to properly grasp the areola of the breast and suck milk evenly, it will be much easier to deal with this problem.
Are anti-colic bottles effective?
Artificial babies can also suffer from swallowing air while eating, but their mother can help them by simply changing the regular bottle to a special, anti-colic one. According to the manufacturers of such dishes, the nipple of such a bottle is equipped with a pressure equalization system that prevents air from entering the silicone cap, and it is completely filled with milk or formula.
Is it possible to help the baby by refusing food?
Thus, we almost figured out why newborns have a tummy ache, but we missed one of the questions that interests the vast majority of nursing mothers - diet. Recent studies by pediatricians from around the world prove that there is practically no relationship between what a woman eats and the formation of gases in her child. In many Western countries, mothers are allowed to eat whatever they are used to. That is, they do not need to limit themselves to healthy food - meat, fresh vegetables and fruits, dairy products, and even sweets. Forbidden is only food that causes allergic reactions, and various harmful things that are undesirable to use in general for everyone without exception:
- alcohol;
- carbonated drinks with sugar;
- energy;
- fast food;
- fried, fatty and overly spicy foods.
Of course, you can experiment with the diet. In the end, a short-term rejection of whole milk or legumes has not killed anyone yet, but, unfortunately, even eliminating from the diet all foods that can theoretically provoke bloating, mothers see how a newborn baby has a tummy ache. What to do if the diet does not help, but others obvious symptoms diseases (constipation, diarrhea, etc.) no?
Rescue physical education
The most affordable, harmless and proven way to help a child is physical activity. Due to his age and insufficient development, the baby cannot fully move. All his activities are limited to chaotic waving of his arms and legs. When a child suffers from pain, he tries to help himself - he presses his legs to his tummy. But if the spasm is strong or the gases accumulated in the intestines have formed too large bubbles, it will be difficult for him to get rid of them in this way.
What then to do? How to help? The tummy hurts in a newborn usually in the evening. To sleep peacefully through the night, the mother must work with the baby throughout the day. During wakefulness, you need to lay it on your tummy, do physical exercise, massage, light gymnastics, including on the ball.
Folk remedies for colic
Physical education and massage will help speed up peristalsis and contribute to the release of gases. But here's a spasm to remove with the help motor activity will not work. If physical exercise does not work, you can try another way to relieve pain in the crumbs - heat. You can apply a diaper heated with an iron or a heating pad with non-hot water to the baby's tummy. Perfectly calms the child and the “body to body” pose, when the mother puts the child on her stomach.
Medications
There are several types of medicines that can be given to children for colic. Most of them are products based on simethicone, a substance that “extinguishes” air bubbles and promotes their splitting into smaller particles. The most popular drugs in this group:
- "Espumizan";
- "Infakol";
- "Sub Simplex";
- "Espicol", etc.
Each of these drugs has both positive and negative ratings. Sometimes mothers have to try several different medicines before they find the one that is right for their babies.
But if the child still suffers, the newborn's tummy hurts, what should I do? Parents' reviews recommend using another group of drugs - products based on fennel seeds. These are Plantex, Humana, Bebivita teas and drops made from concentrated oils - Happy Baby or Bebinos.