- 1. Ask for medical help
- 2. Start the heimlich maneuver
- Signs of choking on the baby
- Main causes of choking in the baby
The baby may choke when feeding, taking a bottle, breastfeeding, or even with his own saliva. In such cases, what you should do is:
1. Ask for medical help
- Quickly call 192 to call an ambulance or SAMU or the fireman by calling 193, or ask someone to call; see if the baby can breathe alone.
Even if 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 necessary and never try to get the object out of his throat with his hands because he can get even deeper into the throat.
2. Start the heimlich maneuver
The heimlich maneuver helps to remove the object that is causing the choking. To do this maneuver you must:
- Place 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; Incline the baby, with the belly on the arm, so that the trunk is lower than the legs, and give 5 pats with the base of the hand on the back; if still not enough, the child should be turned in front, still on the arm, and perform compressions with the middle and ring fingers on the chest, in the region between the nipples.
Even though with these maneuvers you have managed to disengage the baby, be attentive to him, always watching him. In case of any doubt take him to the emergency room. If you can't, call 192 and call an ambulance.
If the baby remains 'soft', without any reaction you should follow this step by step.
Signs of choking on the baby
The clearest signs that the baby choked are:
- Coughing, sneezing, retching and crying during feeding, for example; Breathing may be rapid and the baby may become breathless; Unable to breathe, which may cause bluish lips and pallor or redness in the face; Absence of respiratory movements; Make a lot of effort to breathe; Make unusual sounds when breathing; Try to speak but do not make any sound.
The situation is more serious if the baby is unable to cough or cry. In this case, the symptoms present are bluish or purplish skin, exaggerated respiratory effort and eventual loss of consciousness.
Certain babies may appear to have choked but when the parents are sure that he has not put anything in his mouth, 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, which caused swelling of the airways and is preventing the passage of air.
Main causes of choking in the baby
The most common causes that cause the baby to choke are:
- Take water, juice or bottle in the lying or reclined position; When parents lay the baby down after eating or breastfeeding without burping or regurgitating yet; When eating grains of rice, beans, slippery pieces of fruit such as mango or banana; Small toys or loose pieces; Coins, button; Bullet, bubble gum, popcorn, corn, peanuts; batteries, battery or magnet that may be in the toys.
The baby who frequently chokes even with saliva or when sleeping may have difficulty swallowing, which may be caused by some neurological disorder and therefore the child should be taken to the pediatrician so that he can identify what is happening.
