The baby can choke on food, bottle, suck, or even on his own saliva. In these cases, what should be done is:
1. Ask for medical help
- Quickly call the 192 to call an ambulance or SAMU or the fireman calling 193, or ask someone to call;
- Observe if the baby can breathe alone.
Even though the baby is breathing hard, this is a good sign, as the airways are not completely closed. In this case it is normal for him to cough a little, let him cough as much as he needs to and never try to take the object from his throat with his hands because he can go even deeper into the throat.
2. Start the heimlich maneuver
The heimlich maneuver helps to remove the object that is causing the choke. To do this maneuver you must:
- Give the child on the arm with the head slightly lower than the trunk and observe if there is any object in his mouth that can be easily removed;
- I ncline the baby, with the belly on the arm, so that the torso is lower than the legs, and give 5 spanking with the base of the hand in the back;
- If this is still not enough, the child should be turned in front, still on the arm, and make compressions with the middle and ring fingers on the thorax, in the region between the nipples.
Even if with these maneuvers has managed to disengage the baby is attentive to him, always watching him. If in doubt, take him to the emergency room. If you can not, call 192 and call an ambulance.
If the baby continues 'molinho', without any reaction it should follow this step by step.
Signs of choking on the baby
The clearest signs that the baby choked are:
- Coughing, sneezing, vomiting and crying during feeding, for example;
- The breathing may be rapid and the baby may gasp;
- Failure to breathe, which can cause bluish lips and pallor or redness on the face;
- Absence of respiratory movements;
- Make a lot of effort to breathe;
- Make unusual sounds when breathing;
- Try to speak but not make a sound.
The situation is more serious if the baby can not cough or cry. In this case the present symptoms are bluish or purplish skin, exaggerated respiratory effort and eventual loss of consciousness.
Some babies may appear to be choking but when parents are sure that they have not put anything in their mouths they should take the child to the hospital as soon as possible because there is a suspicion that he is allergic to some food he has eaten, swelling of the airways and is preventing the passage of air.
Main causes of choking on baby
The most common causes that cause a baby to choke are:
- Take water, juice or bottle in a lying or lying position;
- While you are suckling;
- When the parents put the baby lying down after he eats or suckles without having burped or regurgitated yet;
- When eating rice grains, beans, slippery fruit pieces like mango or banana;
- Small toys or loose parts;
- Coins, button;
- Bullet, chewing gum, popcorn, corn, peanut;
- Batteries, batteries or magnets that may be on toys.
The baby who chokes often even with saliva or while in sleep may be having difficulty swallowing, which can be caused by some neurological alteration and for this reason one must take the child to the pediatrician so that he can identify what is happening .
