What should I do if my baby can't digest the milk powder? How should I use medicine for my baby's indigestion?

Since the digestive system of infants and young children is not fully developed and the digestive function is not perfect, artificially fed babies are more likely to suffer from indigestion than breastfed babies. So, what should I do if my baby can't digest the milk powder?

Why can’t my baby digest the milk powder?

Children's digestive organs are not fully developed, digestive juices are insufficiently secreted, enzyme function is imperfect, gastrointestinal mucosa is tender, and digestive function is weak. If parents cannot feed their children correctly and feed their children, the quality and quantity of their diet will be inappropriate, which will damage gastrointestinal dysfunction. Children will experience indigestion (food damage) such as abdominal distension, vomiting, loose and sour stools, and a large amount of undigested food residues.

In addition to improper feeding, gastrointestinal inflammation, abuse of antibiotics, cold weather, low body resistance, and cold stomach can also cause indigestion. Long-term indigestion in children will lead to insufficient nutrient intake, poor digestion and absorption, and affect growth and development. Especially for children under 3 years old, this stage is the period of most vigorous brain development and a critical period for determining intelligence level. If the digestive function cannot be improved in time, it will affect the absorption of nutrients, which will inevitably affect the development of the brain and regret it for life.

The baby is now indigestion, it is not recommended to give the baby milk personally, so it is not good for the baby. Only when the baby's digestive system is normal can milk be given. It also takes an adaptation process for milk to transfer the baby's stomach. Just adjust the gastrointestinal function, everything is normal, and then transfer milk, which is good for the baby. The amount of milk is indeed not much, which may be related to indigestion, so the baby's growth indicators are under the standard. It is necessary to slowly adjust the stomach. Various brands of milk powder have special gastrointestinal milk powder (intolerance) that can be given to babies to drink this kind of stomach adjustment. After drinking for a period of time, you can see normal stool transfer milk.

Three reasons for indigestion in babies

1. The food given is not easy to digest (digest food)

Since infants have poor digestive ability, parents should feed their children food that they can digest, absorb and are willing to accept according to their age characteristics. On the one hand, parents should gradually change their diet from liquid to semi-liquid (such as rice soup, paste food, porridge) and solid food (such as soft rice, bread, etc.) according to the different age characteristics of their children. Infants under 3 months old have different digestive juices from adults, and starch digestion is relatively poor, so special attention should be paid. For infants under 2 years old, the added supplementary food must be rotten, fine and soft. For example, vegetables can be cut, rotten and made into vegetable puree. For infants aged 2-3 years old, because they already have 16-20 milk teeth, the food can be a little thicker. At the same time, whole melon seeds, beans, peanuts, jelly and other foods are very dangerous to infants and young children, and may be swallowed into organs, so be careful and grind them into powder and break them before eating.

Giving too much new food

For example, some children eat shrimp for the first time and think it tastes good, so they eat a lot all of a sudden, which leads to indigestion. Therefore, when parents let their babies try a new food, let them adapt slowly. Don't give too much at a time, increase it gradually, and let the child have an adaptation process.

3. Unreasonable food combination

After the baby is 4 months old, parents need to add supplementary food other than milk to the baby and pay attention to giving the baby a nutritionally balanced diet. A balanced diet means that the food the baby eats can meet the needs of his age and physical development. Children's growth requires a variety of nutrients, including protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and trace elements, cellulose and other nutrients. Food is the most basic food, meat, fish, milk, eggs, vegetables, fruits, etc. are all necessary for the body.

Infants with indigestion should be treated with caution

The baby's digestive organs are underdeveloped. Colds, pathogenic microorganisms or improper diet can cause digestive dysfunction in babies, leading to loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, and nausea. In order to deal with these digestive problems, experts remind babies to be very careful. Here are some drug rules:

1. Gastric mucosal protective drugs

The drug's function is to form a thin film on the gastric mucosa, which protects the gastric mucosa from erosion by gastric acid, pepsin, food, etc., and has very few side effects. Dioctahedral montmorillonite (Smecta) is a representative drug of this type.

The drug not only has a strong ability to cover the digestive tract mucosa, but also can absorb pathogens. It is mainly used to treat acute and chronic diarrhea, especially for children with viral diarrhea (such as autumn diarrhea), because it has no bactericidal effect and cannot replace antibiotics.

Be careful when taking this drug. First, there is a concentration requirement. Rinse one bag with 50 ml of water and do not pour it directly into your mouth and swallow it; second, drink it on an empty stomach because this drug will affect the absorption of other drugs. If you want to use it with antibiotics and probiotics, you should take antibiotics and probiotics one hour before.

2. Digestive aids

Infants with indigestion can use digestive aids to make the digestive function of the gastrointestinal tract work better. These drugs include pepsin, pancreatic enzymes, multi-enzyme tablets, Maifeiming (lactase), etc. Digestive aids are usually used for indigestion caused by eating too much meat or decreased digestive function during the recovery period after illness. Take before or after meals.

Infants should also pay attention to taking digestive aids. First, they cannot be taken together with alkaline drugs (such as sodium bicarbonate), otherwise the vitality will be reduced; pancreatic enzymes and multi-enzyme tablets are enteric-coated, which can delay the release of drugs into the intestines, so they cannot be chewed or broken. For example, chewing pancreatic enzyme tablets can cause oral ulcers; when Mai Feiming is combined with antibiotics, the efficacy will be reduced. Therefore, if these two drugs need to be taken at the same time, Mai Feiming should be taken before meals and antibiotics should be taken after meals.

In addition, when babies suffer from indigestion, taking some Chinese patent medicines with small side effects, such as Sanwa Children's Seven Star Tea, Yan Sang Milk Tea, etc., can also play a certain digestive role.

3. Gastrokinetic drugs

The main function of gastrokinetic drugs is to restore upper abdominal gastrointestinal motility, improve lower esophageal sphincter tension, improve gastric emptying, and enhance intestinal peristalsis. They are mainly used to treat various motility disorders of the esophagus and gastrointestinal tract. Representative drugs include domperidone (trade name: Metoclopramide), cisapride (trade name: Ordinary Bos), etc.

It can be used for a short period of time to help babies resume eating after severe vomiting. This medicine must be taken 15 minutes before meals. Because this medicine may cause side effects on the infant's nervous system, infants under 1 year old should be used under the supervision of a doctor. This medicine is contraindicated when the infant has gastrointestinal bleeding, intestinal obstruction or perforation.

4. Microecological preparations

Probiotic preparations can supplement beneficial bacteria in the human body, inhibit the overgrowth of harmful bacteria, and regulate the imbalance of the body's microecology. These drugs represent bifidobacteria, compound lactic acid bacteria intestinal preparations (Mama Love), etc.

In order to ensure the activity of such drugs, probiotics cannot be used together with antibiotics, because the antibacterial and bactericidal functions of antibiotics will reduce or kill these live bacteria and reduce the efficacy. Moreover, this drug is afraid of high temperatures, and the water temperature should not be higher than 40°C when taking it. In addition, it also has special requirements for storage conditions. The appropriate storage temperature is 2°C-10°C, so the remaining drugs should be refrigerated.

5. Antidiarrheal drugs

When infants have diarrhea due to indigestion, they can be given antidiarrheal drugs to increase intestinal tension, inhibit intestinal peristalsis, and delay intestinal contents. They are used for severe and difficult-to-control diarrhea. Representative drugs include diphenoxylate (phenethidine), etc. However, due to the large number of side effects, these drugs can usually only be used for a short period of time in severe diarrhea.