Some babies do seem to need to get rid of the stuff orally while most seem
to work it out the other end.  Some nurses (and parents) would get all
concerned when I would simply roll a baby on its side and gently pat or rub
the back when they would be a little spitty.  The nurses wanted to
immediately shove suctioning down the poor kiddo's throat or at least use
the bulb syringe.  Parents had been instructed to use the bulb at the first
sign of baby trying to spit up.  I would encourage them to first see if baby
was handling it himself, with the syringe handy if baby wasn't able to cope.
In the vast majority of cases, baby did just fine without further
intervention.  I would then encourage the parent to cuddle and reassure the
baby who might seem a little upset (scared?) about the episode.

I wonder if by immediately taking care of the mucous for the baby we are not
allowing the infant to develop its own ability to handle it.  Are babies who
have had any spitting/gagging taken care of by others more likely to choke
when no one is right there to help because we have not allowed him/her to
learn to take care of it on their own???

 

Winnie

 


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