1 Feeding Problems & Gastrointestinal

DEFINITIONS
Most feeding problems and digestive disorders in newborns is not a serious problem and often disappear spontaneously or can be mitigated by the changes in feeding patterns.

Regurgitation and vomiting

Babies often spit (spit, regurgitation) small amounts of milk when or after feeding, often accompanied by belching. This is normal.
Sometimes regurgitation caused by drinking too fast and swallow air.
Very much regurgitation can result from feeding too much.

If milk is given through a bottle, regurgitation can be reduced by using a dot that is harder and smaller holes.
More often menyendawakan baby during breastfeeding can also help, both in infants fed with breast milk or a milk bottle.

Spew large amounts of milk may reveal an abnormality.
Vomiting that occurs repeatedly radiating may reveal narrowing or blockage in the stomach hole (stenosis pilorika).
Blockage in the small intestine which causes vomiting greenish.
Galactosemia can also cause vomiting.
Vomiting accompanied by fever may be caused by infection.

Poor feeding

Babies who get enough food to eat normally after the administration will be quiet or asleep. If feeding less, then 1-2 hours after feeding, the baby will stay awake and restless, apparently still hungry.
In infants aged less than four months, weight gain of less than 200 grams / week were low / less, and may reveal a lack of feeding.

Excessive feeding

Obesity later in life sometimes starts from excessive feeding in infancy. Obesity also involve heredity. The chances of obesity in infants who his parents are also obese amounted to 80%.
If the weight gain too fast (based on standard growth charts), then it should be controlling the speed of weight gain.

Diarrhea

Newborns usually do defecate as much as 4-6 times / day. Infants who received breast milk tend to frequently issue frothy stool, especially if it did not get solid food.
That need attention is if the baby has a bad appetite, vomiting, weight decreased, not increased weight or stool containing blood.

Bacterial or viral infections can cause severe diarrhea. Acute Diarrhea most often byi disebakan by infection.

- Mild diarrhea that lasted for weeks or months may be caused by celiac disease: a hereditary disease, which gluten (protein in wheat) causes an allergic reaction occur in the lining of the intestine so that absorption of fat became ugly.
Celiac disease causes malnutrition, poor appetite and foul-smelling stools are pale.
To cope with this disease, patients should not consume any kind of wheat.
Cystic Fibrosis : a hereditary disease, which occurs several organ dysfunction, including the pancreas.
Pancreas does not produce a sufficient number of enzymes to digest proteins and fats. Without the appropriate digestive enzymes, the body will waste a lot of protein and fat in the stool, resulting in malnutrition and growth restriction. Stool is very large and smelly.
To treat pancreatic extracts given.
-Malabsorbsi sugar, occurs in infants who experience shortages of certain intestinal enzymes to digest certain sugars, such as the enzyme lactase to digest lactose.
Intestinal infection caused a temporary shortage of the enzyme, whereas the enzyme deficiency hereditary disease which causes permanent.
This situation can be overcome by not eating sugar.
- Allergies milk sometimes causes diarrhea, vomiting and blood in the stool. The symptoms will disappear if the milk formula was replaced by soy milk. But some babies are allergic to formula milk are also allergic to soya milk. Babies are almost never allergic to breastmilk.

Constipation

Anus in babies aged less than three months may be narrow, so that the baby must be straining and stool comes out very thin.
This can be overcome by expanding the anus with your fingers as much as 1-2 times / hair.

Stools that could tear the lining of the anus (anal fissures), so when defecation pain and the possibility will arise in the stool will have a small amount of bright red blood.
The existence of fissures can be seen on examination anoskopi. Without special treatment, fissures will be better soon. Can also be given a mild stool softener.

Severe constipation persist, particularly if it starts before the baby reaches the age of one month, could indicate a serious disorder. Eg Hirschsprung's disease (neurological disorders are accompanied by large intestine) or an underactive thyroid gland.