Bebê choked: first aid

The baby can choke when feeding, bottle-feeding, suckling, or even with their own saliva, which can make them cough, become short of breath or not be able to breathe, which leaves the bluish lips and paler face. In these cases, it is important to follow some guidelines to eliminate the cause of choking and, thus, the baby can breathe normally again. So what you should do is:

1. Ask for medical help

• Quickly calling 911 to call an ambulance or SAMU or firefighters calling 911, or have someone call;
• Check if the baby can breathe on its own.

Even if the baby is breathing with difficulty, 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 long as necessary and never try to take the object out of his throat with your hands because it can go even deeper into the throat.

2. Start the heimlich maneuver

The heimlich maneuver helps to remove the object causing the choking. To do this maneuver you must:

1. Lay the child on the arm with the head a little lower than the trunk and observe if there is any object in his/her mouth that can be removed easily;
2. Incline the baby, with the belly over the arm, so that the trunk is lower than the legs, and give 5 slapswith the base of the hand behind the back;
3. If this is still not enough, turn the child over, still on the arm, and perform compressions with the middle and ring fingers on the chest, in the region between the nipples, and mouth-to-mouth respiration. mouth while waiting for help.

Even if with these maneuvers she has managed to unchoke the baby, be attentive to him, always watching him. If in doubt, take it to the emergency room. If you can't, call 911 and call an ambulance.

How to know if the baby is choking

The clearest signs that the baby has choked are:

• Cough, sneeze, retching and crying during feeding, for example;
• Breathing may be rapid and the baby may be panting;
• Not being able to breathe, which can cause bluish lips and a pale or red face;
• Absence of respiratory movements;
• Exerting a lot to breathe;
• Make unusual sounds when breathing;
• Try to speak but make no sound.

The situation is more serious if the baby cannot 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 seem 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 swallowed, which has caused swelling of the airways and is blocking air passage.

Main causes of choking in babies

The most common causes that cause a baby to choke are:

• Drinking water, juice or a bottle while lying down or lying down;
• While breastfeeding;
• When parents put the baby down after eating or nursing without having burped or regurgitated yet;
• By eating grains of rice, beans, slippery pieces of fruit like mango or banana;
• Small toys or loose parts;
• Coins, button;
• Bullet, gum, popcorn, corn, peanuts;
• Batteries, battery or magnet that may be in toys.

A baby who frequently chokes on saliva or while 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.