Is the baby drooling because of something? Most of them are physiological reasons.

In our daily life, we often see many babies drooling. It is a normal physiological phenomenon for babies. Generally, the drooling phenomenon will disappear as the baby grows older.

Is the baby drooling because of something?

Many mothers worry whether their baby's constant drooling is caused by a lack of nutrition, such as calcium or zinc. But in fact, baby's drooling has little to do with what they lack. There are many reasons why babies drool all the time. If it must be related to what they lack, then among many pathological conditions, there is a situation where the baby's body lacks B vitamins and vitamin C, so that when the oral mucosa is infected by a virus to form herpetic stomatitis or oral ulcers, clinical drooling often occurs, which is a pathological drooling. Of course, if the child's physique is poor, you can supplement the child with zinc, selenium, trace elements and multi-dimensional elements. The child will strengthen his physique and become healthier, and many problems will be solved.

Most of the reasons are physiological.

In fact, most babies drool because of physiological reasons, and there are not many cases of constant drooling due to pathological reasons. The saliva of a newborn baby is only enough to moisten the oral mucosa. In addition, the baby only eats milk or liquid food at this time, which does not stimulate the salivary glands much, and the secretion of the salivary glands is very small, so newborns rarely drool. The secretion of saliva will increase significantly after about 3 months. When the baby is 4-5 months old, the addition of complementary food plays a pivotal role in the baby's growth. At this time, foods containing nutrients such as starch are gradually added to the diet. After the salivary glands are stimulated by these foods, the secretion of saliva increases significantly. In addition, the baby's mouth is small and shallow, and the swallowing reflex function is not yet sound. It will not use swallowing movements to regulate saliva. Therefore, when the saliva secretion is slightly more or the baby is happy and laughing, it may overflow the levee and flow out of the mouth because it cannot swallow all the secreted saliva. In addition, many babies like to put fingers, rubber nipples, etc. in their mouths to suck, which also stimulates the secretion of salivary glands and increases saliva. The teething period is the most frequent period for babies to drool. When the deciduous teeth erupt, the small teeth push the gums outward, causing slight swelling and discomfort of the gum tissue, stimulating the nerves on the gums, and reflexively increasing the secretion of the salivary glands. As the baby grows and develops, the faster-growing children will stop drooling at the age of one and a half, and most children will gradually and effectively control the swallowing action before the age of two due to the maturity of muscle motor function, and the mouth will no longer be wet.

Oral ulcers: If blisters appear on your baby's lips, corners of mouth or around the mouth, it may be oral ulcers or stomatitis, which will make your baby unwilling to swallow for fear of pain.

Throat inflammation: If the baby keeps drooling and has symptoms such as fever and runny nose, then the baby may have a cold or suffer from pharyngitis, tonsillitis, etc., which causes difficulty in swallowing.

Oropharyngeal mucositis: Babies often feel pain in the mouth and tongue or develop erosions and ulcers in the mouth.

Viral infections: Infections such as hand, foot and mouth disease, chickenpox, etc. may cause ulcers in the mouth and around the tongue, leading to pain and difficulty swallowing.

Neurological disorders: such as mental retardation, coma, facial nerve paralysis, medullary paralysis, and sequelae of meningitis can all lead to excessive saliva secretion and cause drooling.

Why do babies always drool?

1. Taking complementary foods that contain too much starch

Some babies develop faster, so after 4 months, mothers will add some starch-containing complementary foods to their babies. The starch in the complementary foods can stimulate the secretion of amylase in saliva, causing increased saliva and causing the baby to drool.

2. Sucking your fingers

Babies often put their hands in their mouths, and the stimulation of their fingers in their mouths increases the secretion of saliva. The baby's mouth is shallow and small, and the swallowing function is not yet fully developed, which makes it difficult for the baby to swallow the excess saliva, so the saliva overflows from the baby's cavity.

3. Teething

As the baby grows and develops, the baby starts to grow teeth at 6 to 7 months old, which can also cause drooling. When the teeth erupt, they will also stimulate the nerves in the mouth, secrete a lot of saliva, and the drooling phenomenon will become more obvious. However, if the baby continues to drool during the teething period or after the teething stage, parents should pay attention to the baby's physical condition.

4. Imperfect swallowing function

The baby is not yet fully developed, the salivary glands are not yet developed, and the saliva secreted is less, so there is no excess saliva to flow out. However, after the baby is 3 to 4 months old, the salivary glands gradually mature, and the saliva secretion gradually increases, but the swallowing function is not sound, and the lip closing and swallowing movements are not coordinated, so saliva often flows out of the mouth.

Take good care of your baby's drooling

Saliva is acidic and can irritate the skin. Saliva often flows out and soaks the cheeks, jaws and even the neck skin, which can cause local redness, swelling, and even erosion and peeling of the skin. Whether the baby is drooling physiologically or pathologically, care should be taken.

1. Scrub and wash frequently

Once the baby starts to drool, you should wipe it off with a small towel immediately. Because the baby's skin is relatively tender, you should be careful when wiping. The small towel used should be a soft, absorbent cotton handkerchief. The baby's wet clothes, pillows, and bedding should be changed and washed frequently to prevent bacteria from growing. If you want to reduce the number of times you wash clothes, you might as well give your baby a bib to prevent saliva from staining the clothes. It is best to choose a soft, absorbent cotton bib. At the same time, you should also pay attention to changing and washing frequently to keep the bib clean and dry.

2. Take good care of your skin

For babies who drool a lot, you should keep the skin on their face, around their lips, on their jaw and on their neck dry to prevent saliva from irritating the skin and causing skin inflammation. You can apply moisturizer or oil-based skin care products appropriately to protect the baby's tender skin.

Nursing measures for baby drooling:

3. Prepare a bib

When choosing a bib, do not use a too rough handkerchief or paper towel to wipe the baby's saliva. The baby's skin is delicate and this can easily damage the skin. You can use a soft cotton handkerchief to wipe it to reduce skin irritation and keep the area around the mouth dry.

4. Don’t pinch your baby’s cheeks

Many people think babies are cute and tend to tease their cheeks. This is because this action will stimulate the baby's salivary glands and aggravate the symptoms of drooling, so try to avoid pinching the baby's cheeks.

5. Train your baby's swallowing ability

After your baby starts to grow teeth, try to give him less liquid food and soft food. Use harder food to develop your baby's chewing ability. If the chewing function develops normally and the swallowing ability is enhanced, your baby will not drool easily.