Every holiday season, pediatric departments in hospitals see a sudden increase in babies with gastrointestinal disorders, basically coming in with symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, abdominal pain and bloating. Why do babies experience such discomfort? This has a lot to do with the poor eating habits of babies during the holiday season. During the holiday season, elders want their babies to eat more, and the diet is often full of high-calorie foods such as fish, shrimp, meat and eggs, not only that, babies also eat more snacks than usual, due to irregular eating or over-eating, beyond the baby’s digestive capacity, resulting in the baby’s accumulation of food. So, how can mothers deal with their babies’ food accumulation during the holiday season?
1.Chinese medicine analysis of food accumulation
The physiological characteristic of babies is that the spleen is often deficient and the diet cannot be controlled by itself. If the mother does not pay attention to control the quantity and type of food the baby eats, it will lead to the transport function of the spleen and stomach being affected, resulting in the diet not being transformed and stagnating in the stomach. The symptoms of abdominal distension, abdominal pain, not thinking about eating, or vomiting and diarrhea will appear. The key causes are
(1) deficiency of spleen and stomach
The baby’s spleen and stomach are weak, and a slight increase in diet causes the spleen and stomach to fail to fully transport and transform, resulting in dietary stagnation.
(2) Improper diet
Over-eating, hot and cold disorders, or eating fried food or meat at will can cause damage to the spleen and stomach, and the diet will accumulate but not be transformed. As the saying goes, “what the stomach receives, the spleen is not strong enough to overcome it, so it does not dissolve”.
(3) Food stagnation can turn into heat
Food stagnation, accumulation and not transformed, can be depressed and turn into heat, but also can brew dampness into phlegm.
2.How to determine the accumulation of food at home
(1) The baby has over-eating or improper diet before the disease.
(2) Do not want to eat, full stomach, unformed stools, foul smell, or constipation.
(3) The baby may be irritable, crying at night or vomiting.
(4) Bad breath and thick tongue coating.
3.Discern the type of accumulation of food
By carefully observing the baby’s performance, we can identify the evidence and choose some suitable Chinese medicine for the baby. Food stagnation is mainly classified as food stagnation in the spleen and stomach, spleen deficiency and heat stagnation.
(1) Food stagnation in the spleen and stomach
Look: observe the baby’s reaction when eating, often lack of appetite, breastfeeding babies refuse milk, observe the vomit and stool, there are mostly undigested dietary material, or milk flaps. Observe the baby’s sleep, it will be very restless, or sleep on its back. The tongue is white and thick or sticky.
Smell: vomit or stool is sour and foul, and the breath is sour and foul.
Touch: Feel the baby’s belly is full and does not like to be rubbed and pressed.
Ask: ask the baby where the discomfort, will mostly point to the stomach, and will say nausea. Often the baby feels comfortable after vomiting instead.
Treatment: Eliminate food and guide stagnation
You should choose drugs that have the effect of eliminating food, Chinese medicine can be used to Baohe pill, stomach and food oral liquid, four mill soup oral liquid, etc.
(2) Food stagnation and heat
Look: Observe the baby’s cheeks, the food accumulation and heat are mostly red, the stool is dry or dry as a ball, and it is hard to defecate. The same restless sleep at night, like to stirring. The lips and mouth are red or dry, some babies also have mouth sores, the tongue is red and the tongue coating is yellow and thick.
Smell: hot breath and bad breath in the morning.
Feel: Feel the baby’s tummy, it is also full and swollen, the heart of the hands and feet are hot, and even fever may appear.
Q: The baby will say he is thirsty and likes to drink water.
Treatment: Eliminate food stagnation and clear heat
This type of baby has both manifestations of food stagnation and characteristics of heat, treatment should not only eliminate food stagnation, but also pay attention to clearing heat, Chinese medicine can be chosen from children’s food pills, children’s black bean curd and clearing heat particles, Wang’s Bao Chi Wan, etc.
(3) Spleen deficiency and stagnation
Look: observe the baby’s complexion, which is yellow and lusterless, and the baby is thin. The stool is thin and unformed, plus there is undigested food. When sleeping, the baby likes to lie down. Observe the tongue, the tongue color is light red, the tongue coating is thin white, slightly greasy.
Smell: sour and smelly stools, no obvious bad breath.
Touch: The baby’s tummy is large and distended, and likes to rub and press.
Q: The baby usually tends to say that his tummy is uncomfortable or painful.
Treatment: This type of baby has a deficient spleen or is often sick and on medication, resulting in weakness of the spleen and stomach. With a little improper diet, it is easy to accumulate food. Treatment should not only strengthen the spleen, but also enhance the elimination of food. The Chinese medicine of choice is Pediatric Spleen Strengthening and Accumulation Oral Liquid, Pediatric Gastrointestinal Health, and Kai Spleen Pill.
4.Strengthen diet care
When food stagnation occurs in babies, the diet must be light and digestible, you can temporarily eat porridge and noodles, etc., and less greasy and cold food. Reduce the diet and milk quantity appropriately to help the spleen and stomach recover as soon as possible. After the gastrointestinal function slowly recovers, then resume normal diet. It can also be combined with some food therapy and external treatment methods, such as
30g of hen’s internal gold, appropriate amount of sugar. Grind fine powder, take 1-2g each time, 1-2 times a day.
Yam, Shen Qu, fried malt, lentils, jiao hawthorn 15g each, japonica rice 200g. boil the first 5 herbs for 30 minutes, remove the dregs, then put japonica rice to boil into porridge, add appropriate amount of sugar when eating.
External treatment
Umbilical cord therapy: apply the umbilical cord with clove appetite patch, 1 patch per day for 3 days.
Tuina chiropractic: from the coccyx to the large vertebrae point along the sides of the spine 3 times in a row, the fourth time every two pinch lift, and then pinch 2 times, so that the local skin flushed, slightly hot. And knead Panmen, Qing Da intestine, tonic spleen 100 times each. Once a day, 7 times for a course of treatment.
5, reasonable diet is the key to prevention
Chinese medicine believes that “breast milk is expensive sometimes, food is expensive,” during the holiday season, pay attention to the baby a reasonable diet, very important.
(1) A balanced diet is advisable, do not indulge your baby to eat meat.
(2) Avoid raw and cold, especially not hot and cold disorder.
(3) attention to eating regularly, do not eat too much snacks.
(4) If you find that your baby has a thick tongue and bad breath, the diet must be light and well digested.
(5) Children who are prone to food stagnation and heat, pay attention to the habit of daily bowel movement.
(6) Children who have a deficient spleen should be properly strengthened.
(7) If your baby has obvious symptoms of abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, or fever and poor mental health, you should take your baby to the hospital promptly.