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Downpouring is quite an unpleasant but also very common ailment. It can be assumed that it affects almost every newborn baby. If it does not occur very often, it should not be cause for concern. Moreover, there are a few simple ways to prevent your newborn from spitting.
What is rainfall in a newborn?
The downpour is a phenomenon where food flows back up the esophagus. Usually, it occurs immediately after feeding, but there may be rainfall in an infant up to an hour after eating. The downpour is caused by the fact that newborns do not have a fully developed lower esophageal sphincter muscle, and food sometimes flows back up the stomach. When it happens immediately after taking food, it flows down practically unchanged. However, if your baby rains later, it means that the food has already been in contact with digestive juices. As a result, the poured milk has an unpleasant, sour smell.
Sprinkling in a newborn is also favored by the situation in which the toddler accidentally swallows air together with food. Then it can happen that the air will push the food up your esophagus.
Especially inexperienced parents sometimes confuse abundant downpouring in babies with vomiting.
It is worth knowing that these are completely different processes. During pouring down, food slowly flows out of the mouth of the newborn, while vomiting is a sudden expulsion of gastric contents under pressure.
How can I prevent heavy rainfall in my newborn?
There are several ways to prevent or at least limit a heavy spill on your newborn baby. First of all, it is important to have the right feeding method to prevent the baby from swallowing air.
- Many new moms soothe their baby by putting it to their breasts. This is a mistake because a sobbing child can more easily swallow food together with air. The baby should be reassured before feeding.
- Watering too much is also conducive to feeding too abundantly. It is definitely better to feed your baby more often, but in smaller portions.
- The correct feeding position is essential. First of all, the baby’s mouth must adhere well to the nipple or the bottle opening to restrict air access. Downpouring is often caused by too much food coming out of the nipple. For this reason, the best feeding position will be reclining so that the milk leaks a little “upwards”.
- Belching is also very important to remove air from the digestive system on an ongoing basis. It is worth doing them even several times during one feeding.
Following these recommendations will also reduce the risk of colic, which is a painful condition for the newborn in which the swallowed air enters the intestine.
What happens to the baby immediately after a meal also plays an important role. Just follow a few simple tips:
- The baby should be placed on its side after feeding. Note: Never put your newborn baby on its back after a meal. If it breaks down, it could cause a potentially serious choking hazard.
- If your baby is already crawling, it is better to make sure that he does not do so for a while after feeding.
- It is also worth waiting for a while before changing and making sure that the diaper is not worn too tightly and does not compress the tummy.
How long does rainfall last for a newborn?
Typically, a baby stops raining after 6 months of age. However, there are exceptions – in some cases, the digestive system does not develop mechanisms to prevent downpouring until 18 months.
When is rainstorming in a newborn cause for concern?
The occasional rainfall is not an abnormal symptom. A situation that requires consultation with a doctor is the raining of the newborn after each meal. This may indicate various types of digestive system dysfunctions. In such situations, special food thickening preparations are used, which are given to the baby before breastfeeding. If your baby is consuming formula, your doctor may recommend adding an anti-reflux agent to your baby.
Frequent and abundant downpouring in a newborn is also a common symptom of food allergies, especially allergy to milk. In this situation, the nursing mother must switch to a dairy-free diet, and if the baby is drinking milk from a bottle, it is necessary to use a special milk replacer.
You should also always carefully monitor if the downpour is not accompanied by other disturbing symptoms. It is certainly necessary to consult a doctor, traces of blood in the spilled food, irritation of the child or problems with gaining weight.