What to do when my baby chokes when suckling
Sometimes when our baby is suckling, he starts to cough, and we see that he chokes. If it happens occasionally, in principle we should not worry. But there are times when it happens in each and every one of the shots, making them very distressing for the mother and the baby. Most of the time, the ca
Sometimes when our baby is suckling, he starts to cough, and we see that he chokes. If it happens occasionally, in principle we should not worry. But there are times when it happens in each and every one of the shots, making them very distressing for the mother and the baby.
Most of the time, the cause is found in the immaturity of the baby: that at the beginning it may cost to coordinate the suction with the swallowing; but there are other causes. What should we do when the baby chokes when suckling?
When the baby chokes when suckling, what to do?
What are the main causes why the baby chokes when suckling?
- Short frenulum or limited mobility: the baby's tongue plays a key role in breastfeeding, any factor that alters its mobility can alter breastfeeding. The most frequent is that a short and rigid frenulum makes the tongue does not move normally, and this may favor among other things (mastitis, painful suction, gas in the baby, clicking, etc) a choking of the baby during the taking.
- Milk flow too strong: this is that the milk comes out too hard or too much through the ducts, and the baby is not able to manage it. The baby chokes, both by the irritation of the milk jet in the back of the mouth; as by an excessive amount of milk.
- Gastroesophageal reflux: Gastroesophageal reflux is the return of gastric contents to the mouth, if it occurs while the baby is suckling can cause coughing, or choking. Most often it happens after the shot, that milk content that returns to the mouth can do so in the form of vomit or regurgitation, and if the baby is too horizontal can get choking.
What to do to prevent choking in the baby during breastfeeding
Depending on the cause, we will act in one way or another:
- Go to a midwife or lactation consultant to make a assessment of the intake, and a exploration of your baby's mouth. Many times, when the problem is the frenulum, a simple cut is enough to free the tongue and let it move correctly.
- Do a manual extraction before taking, to avoid that the ejection is too strong at first.
- Place your baby in a ventral position to suckle: lie down and place your baby on top of him, in such a way that he looks for a spontaneous attachment. You can hold his head with the heel of your hand, to help him a little. In this way the jet will have more difficulty to hit against the bell that is what produces cough.
The wheelie position is also good:
- Take the gas after the shot.
- Do not lie in a horizontal position after the shot, in case you have reflux or you suspect it.
However the general recommendations, before choking, regardless of the cause, are:
- Keep calm, separate your child from the chest and place him upright, allowing him to continue coughing (cough is the best mechanism to solve the choking).
- It usually resolves easily, and the baby returns to normal breathing by hooking again; but if it does not do so, it would be necessary to initiate CPR maneuvers.
