If the child has swallowed water. Why a sip of soapy water is dangerous for a baby
During a family vacation on the beach, parents really want to relax and unwind. While splashing in an open pond or even a pool filled with water, a child gulped in water - this happens all the time. A small child splashing in the water should not be left unattended, because the baby can slip, fall and swallow water at any time. In the meantime, there is no need to know about it. ”
Usually everything ends well, the kid cleared his throat, spat out water and ran to play further.
Water Precautions are relevant not only if the child is in a natural natural reservoir: a river, lake or sea. Even if the baby is sitting in the bathroom or home pool in the country, parents should be extremely careful.
What to do if the baby still could not stay on the water, slipped or fell and swallowed water? The main thing is to act calmly and quickly, but without unnecessary fuss: violent anxiety can scare the child and worsen his health. Nevertheless, for at least two more days after the incident, observe the child especially carefully if water gets into the lungs and lingers there, everything can end tragically.
The main symptom of suffocation is noisy breathing with sobbing.
First aid:
Having pulled the child out of the water, you first need to understand whether he is breathing, whether the airways are free. The ingress of water into the respiratory tract causes a reflex spasm of the larynx, which after a certain time can lead to suffocation. A sign of choking is noisy breathing with sobbing, which is easy to hear when leaning the ear against the baby's back in the thoracic region.
Call an ambulance.
Next, check the oral cavity baby, make sure there are no foreign bodies in there. Often, after staying in water in natural reservoirs, algae, small stones, shells, mud, sand get into the mouth.
To make sure that there is nothing superfluous in the mouth, and if something is found, remove it from the child's mouth, slide your fingers all over the mouth, checking the places between the gums, teeth and lips, and the palate.
It is better to carry out such an inspection, of course, wrapping your hand with gauze or a clean cloth. But if nothing like this is at hand, if possible, just wash your hand with clean water before examining your child's mouth.
Then place the baby on your lap, face down, gently pressing your knees on the abdomen and lungs. The child's thighs should be 40 cm higher than his head.At the same time, hold the child with one hand, and with the other hand lightly pat him on the back between the shoulder blades, this technique will help him to cough up properly, and in this position it will be easier for the water to exit through the nose or mouth. Along with vomiting, water will come out of the stomach.
If there is still no ambulance, if necessary, start giving the child artificial respiration and chest compressions.
In order to give the child artificial respiration or mouth-to-mouth breathing, pinch the child's nose with your fingers and breathe air into his mouth with your mouth. The baby's chest should rise, stop and wait for it to come down. Take each new breath in 3 seconds.
Massage the heart of a child for up to a year is done on a hard surface with two fingers, press in the middle of the chest 5 times. Then you need to blow air into the child's lungs, wait until he exhales and again make 5 finger presses on the chest. A baby over one year old can be pressed with the whole palm, but in any case, try to regulate the pressure.
As soon as the child begins to breathe, take off his wet clothes and cover him with something dry and warm. If a pulse appears, the skin turns pink, take the baby in your arms so that the head is down. In this position, wait for the arrival of doctors or find a way to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.
A parent is a person whose life is full of surprises and stressful situations. The assertion that the surprises of responsible parents do not lie in wait is fundamentally wrong. Anything can happen, but the consequences of the situation largely depend on mother's actions. The baby takes water procedures from the first days of life. Should mom turn away - the child swallowed water, the consequences can be any. He can dive and sip on water in a baby bath, an inflatable pool or in a natural reservoir. In most cases, tragedy does not happen, but it is important to know how to act in a similar case.
Keep yourself together
Panic is one of my mother's main enemies! Strong fear prevents you from thinking soberly and make decisions quickly.
Of course, it's scary to see a child plunge into the water and choke. But is the baby himself afraid? Most often it my mother's fear scaresrather than a sudden dive. Most of the child's phobias are determined precisely by the mother's attitude. In general, we do not panic, we quickly take the baby out of the water and smile at him. Confident parenting will help you avoid the fear of bathing in the future.
The child has swallowed water - check breathing
The most difficult case is does not breathe... In this case, it is necessary:
- Perform artificial respiration, and if necessary, then indirect heart massage
- Call an ambulance - it is better to ask your family to take calls and concentrate on helping the baby
Artificial respiration is done "mouth to mouth" for the child. You need to gently pinch the baby's nose with your fingers and inhale air into the mouth. The baby's ribcage should rise. Next, you should wait until the chest drops again. The next breath is taken after 3 seconds.
If you need to do heart massage, the baby is placed on a flat, hard surface. The massage is gently done with two fingers. You need to push the breast 5 times. After that, repeat artificial respiration again and massage again.
A one-year-old baby can press on the chest with the whole palm, but it is important to monitor the pressure. When the baby begins to breathe and turns pink, he needs to be wrapped in a warm blanket and as quickly as possible show medics.
Help to clear your throat and overcome fear
The child is breathing, but has swallowed a lot of water. You need it turn face down, put on your knees and not too much press your knees on your lungs and stomach. With one hand you need to hold the baby, and with the other, gently pat on the back between the shoulder blades. This position will help the child to cough up, water will flow out through the mouth and nose.
The baby must be taken out of the water carefully, not pulled out. Do not shake the child and turn it upside down. In most cases, you don't even have to put the baby on the lap, just hold it upright, he clears his throat himself. Calm mom will help to avoid the fear of bathing. The baby may cry a little with fright, but if the mother remains calm, then he will quickly calm down.
Observe the baby within 24 hours after the incident
After diving, the child needs to be closely monitored for a couple of days. The child has swallowed water, the consequences may not appear immediately. The worst thing that can happen is water will enter the lungs... This is called dry drowning. It is observed in 2% of children who survived drowning (that is, they did not just dive, but stayed under water for some time). Dry drowning can have serious consequences. Water in the lungs can cause lung tissue to spasm.
It is worth worrying if the child:
- Coughs constantly, but does not clear his throat
- Shallow and frequent breathing
- Complains of chest pain
- Demonstrates strange behavior - this could be a sign of oxygen deprivation
Dry drowning is rare, but it's best to know its symptoms. At the first suspicion, it is worth showing the baby to the doctor.
Teach your child to hold their breath
Many toddlers love to dive. Even in a bathtub, where there is little water, they raise their legs and recline. The ability to hold your breath Is an important skill. To train him, you can water the child's head with water while bathing, warning him about this. He himself will begin to hold his breath and will not be frightened. Very helpful classes in the pool together with my mother.
If a mother has to bathe her child alone, for her peace of mind, she can put a bathing circle on him and put an anti-slip silicone mat on the bottom of the bath.
Have you faced similar problems? Please share your opinion and experience!
The article was written within the framework of the initiative "implemented by the Mother and Child Support Center" MamStart "and the" MamExpert "project. The Children in Safety Initiative is part of the large-scale BELMED project funded by the European Union and implemented by UNDP, WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA in partnership with the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus.
Sometimes a long-awaited vacation on the water can turn into force majeure circumstances. We are talking about drowning and the need to provide first aid to the victim. If you do it promptly and competently, then human life can be saved. So how is a drowned person reanimated?
What happens to a drowning man?
When a person begins to drown for a number of reasons, water fills the upper respiratory tract and pushes air out of them. Therefore, the first thing that happens when drowning is laryngospasm. This is the name for the spasm of the vocal fold zone, which closes the path to the trachea and stops breathing. This flooding is called dry.
When a person is in the water for a long time, a lot of water gets into his respiratory tract, then oxygen starvation occurs, which, in turn, excludes the possibility of breathing. The victim simply "inhales" the water, which very soon ends up in his lungs. If first aid is not provided, a person dies.
If more than a liter of water enters the respiratory tract and the body, vital functions are disrupted. If we are talking about fresh water, then all of it turns out to be in the blood. This leads to a tremor of the ventricles of the heart and rupture of red blood cells. When a person has choked with sea water, the blood plasma enters the pulmonary alveoli and accumulates there. This is how pulmonary edema occurs. Whether fresh or salt water is inhaled, it is a life-threatening condition. And in such a situation, you need to act very quickly.
Drowning: what to do?
So, the main and first task of rescuing a drowning person for his rescuer is to pull the victim out of the water. After that, you should immediately call an ambulance.
If you see a person drowning in water, then first assess your ability to save him. Are you strong enough to get to the drowning man and return to the shore with him? When in doubt, it is better not to jump into the water, but to seek help from other people as soon as possible. Rescuing a drowning man does not mean that you have to jump into an unfamiliar body of water, and even more so if you are not very good at swimming. If there is no one to ask for help at the sight of a drowning man, then you need to go into the water, holding on to a long branch. In this case, you need to speak, and sometimes shout to the drowning man that you will save him, let him not panic. Further, the drowning person should be hugged so that he does not hinder your movements in the water. Better to grab it under the armpits, turning your back to you. So it will be more convenient to get to the coast. Care must be taken to keep the victim's head on the surface of the water at all times.
If you managed to get a person out of the water, he is conscious, then you must understand that he experienced severe stress. The victim must first of all be reassured. Talk to him, smile, because there are simply no other means of calming at hand. If, after pulling a person out of the water, he does not feel breathing, then immediately examine the victim. Open his mouth and make sure there is no water or mud in it. If the mouth is compressed too tightly, then open it with a hard object. It could be a stick that you find on the shore. Next, a finger is inserted into the mouth, which it is advisable to pre-wrap with a handkerchief, and all the contents are removed. Then the victim is turned upside down and placed on his knee. At the same time, the person's head should be hanging down. Such manipulation will allow water to be removed from the respiratory tract by pressing on the ribs and back of the affected person. This should be done strongly and rhythmically. Usually, water comes out of the drowned person in several portions. Then, if necessary, you need to do artificial respiration. To do this, pinch the victim's nose, take a deep breath and exhale air into his mouth. This will fill the affected person's chest with air. Repeat inhalation every four seconds. Usually, after this, spontaneous breathing resumes, the person clears his throat and gradually comes to his senses.
Not all childbirth goes well for mom and baby, no matter how much you want. In some cases, there is a pathology that arose right during labor, often this happens when the newborn has swallowed amniotic fluid. With a severe stage of this phenomenon, babies are susceptible to various diseases and severe adaptation to the environment after birth.
Every third woman during labor notices the release of green amniotic fluid. Is this the norm or deviation, an exclusively experienced obstetrician will tell. In most cases, the reason for the release of waters of such a content is the suffering of the newborn (birth stress), as you can see, it happens not only in the mother. In addition, the following reasons can be identified: prolonged pregnancy, (oxygen starvation), premature aging of the placenta, infectious and chronic diseases transferred during pregnancy.
The amniotic fluid becomes green if meconium (the first-born stool of a newborn) gets into it. Often, it is in this situation that the child swallows amniotic fluid, this happens if the baby tries to breathe in before his birth.
Children speak! Kirich is driving Max around the house. Max checked himself.
- Mom, urgently give a rag, gasoline leak!
Watch a video on why amniotic fluid turns green.
Note! If the baby did not immediately scream after birth or screams too weakly, does not move and has a cyanotic skin tone, most likely he has swallowed water.
When a baby has swallowed amniotic fluid with meconium, congenital pneumonia or respiratory failure may occur. If the baby gets into intensive care, he is given proper care and feeding. Within a few days, the baby's condition can return to normal and they and their mother are discharged from the maternity hospital. 
Consequences if the child swallowed amniotic fluid
Basically, if the child at birth swallowed pure amniotic fluid - there is no strong threat to life and health, if meconium got into the fluid, we can talk about the following complications:
- manifestation of bronchitis a month after birth;
- the risk of infection of the gastrointestinal tract increases (accompanied by diarrhea, diarrhea and vomiting);
- the crumbs have no appetite for a long time, there is a violation in physical development;
- is developing rapidly due to the lack of beneficial nutrients;
- the child can make grunting sounds up to 12 months, be constantly moody and restless.
Children speak! We walked in the city center, the youngest says:
- I need white food.
After some deliberation and questioning, we found out that it is cotton candy.
To prevent the child from swallowing amniotic fluid, doctors recommend monitoring the course of his pregnancy and trying to avoid infectious diseases. Even if amniotic fluid has entered the airways of the crumbs, an experienced gynecologist will provide timely medical assistance. 
Treatment of consequences of aspiration of amniotic fluid in newborns
In some cases, doctors do not notice that water has entered the baby's lungs during childbirth. And even if the baby cried out on its own and began to breathe in a timely manner after birth, this does not mean that there are no risks. Some complications of a difficult birth process in infants appear after 1-2 months of life. At this time, a dry cough manifests itself, constant gurgling in the lungs, and possibly regurgitation.
Such signs should cause anxiety in parents, therefore, it is better to show the baby to specialists and prescribe treatment in the form of effective therapy in a timely manner. The treatment includes pumping out excess fluid from the lungs, the use of antibiotics and concomitant medications, are prescribed. When the child is in the recovery stage, he is prescribed inhalation with saline.
Attention! If the fetus is diagnosed with hypoxia during pregnancy, the mother must be admitted to the hospital, since the progression of the pathology can lead to congenital diseases.
Watch the video material on what to do if the baby swallowed water at birth.
By itself, sea water does not pose a danger when ingested, in addition, it can even be used topically for disinfection.
But against the background of the so-called acclimatization syndrome - general malaise and an increased tendency to illness due to the adaptation of the body to new conditions of existence, symptoms of poisoning may appear.
Here's what says dr. Komarovsky about this theme:
"Theoretically, nothing terrible can happen from a few sips of sea water. And, most likely, nothing will happen. But, again, theoretically, anything can be: from stomatitis to diarrhea."
What to do?
1. Brew a pharmacy chamomile and give it to the child as a drink during the day.
Chamomile helps the body fight viral infections, restores the microflora of the gastrointestinal tract and is used as a natural safe antiseptic that is suitable even for the smallest children.
2. Preparations with antimicrobial properties of a wide spectrum of action will help to destroy pathogenic microorganisms.
As a preventive measure, drugs based on the active substance are suitable. nifuroxazide (a nitrofuran derivative).
Nifuroxazide is effective against a wide range of bacteria, including staphylococci, Haemophilus influenzae, Salmonella, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Proteus, Escherichia coli and others.
There are the following medicines on the market based on this active ingredient:
- Enterofuril (can be used from 1 month)
- Diastat (can be used from 14 years old)
- Ersefuril (can be used from 6 years old).
These funds are antiseptics, are not antibiotics and are not related to the treatment of acute viral gastroenteritis.
They have the following actions:
- do not disturb the balance of intestinal microflora;
- able to restore intestinal eubiosis in acute bacterial diarrhea;
- hinders development bacterial infections when infected with enterotropic viruses;
The maximum duration of therapy with these agents is 7 days.
Learn how to identify and treat acute intestinal infection in children can
What not to do
1. Do not give activated charcoal in combination with other medicines. Coal will not have any effect on bacteria that have entered the body, while it can affect the healing properties of other drugs.
2. Do not give small children antidiarrheal drugs without consulting a doctor. Often they can interfere with bowel movements, as a result of which all toxins remain in the intestinal lumen and are more absorbed into the bloodstream, causing increasing intoxication.
Literature and sources