Baby drooling is a headache for parents. It often changes clothes several times a day and uses several handkerchiefs. Then why does the baby drool? In order to understand this problem, let's talk about the production and physiological function of saliva.
Saliva, which is called 'saliva' in medicine, is produced by salivary glands. There are three pairs of large salivary glands (parotid gland, submandibular gland and sublingual gland) and numerous small salivary glands distributed in the mucosa of lip, cheek, palate and mouth floor. Saliva is mostly water, but also contains some amylase and mucin. Saliva mainly has the function of moistening the mouth, facilitating swallowing and helping digestion. According to the determination, normal adults secrete 1000-1500 ml saliva a day and night. Under normal circumstances, people swallow their saliva autonomously or involuntarily.
The newborn baby because salivary gland secretion function is not perfect, the salivary secretion quantity is small, therefore generally will not drool. After 4 months, saliva secretion increased due to the addition of supplementary food. After 6 months, the deciduous teeth began to sprout, which can stimulate the supragingival nerve and increase the secretion of salivary glands reflexively. At this time, the children's ability to swallow saliva has not yet formed, and excessive saliva will flow out from the corner of the mouth, which is commonly known as "drooling", especially for children aged 1-2 years Saliva is a normal physiological phenomenon, parents do not need to worry about it. After 2 years old, the children's swallowing function will gradually improve, and this phenomenon will disappear naturally.
As saliva is acidic, and contains some digestive enzymes and other substances, it has a certain stimulating effect on the skin, so for children who often drool, parents should often wipe the saliva around their mouth for them, and wash them with warm water, and then apply grease to protect the skin of chin and neck. It is better to put a bib around the children to prevent saliva from dirtying clothes. The handkerchief for children to wipe saliva should be soft in texture and suitable in cotton fabric. It should be washed and ironed frequently. Do not use force when wiping. Gently dry the saliva to avoid damaging local skin.
Morbid salivation is called 'salivation', which is caused by nervous system diseases, such as encephalitis sequelae, bulbar palsy, cerebral palsy, facial paralysis, etc. In addition, when children suffer from stomatitis and gingivitis, salivary gland secretion increases due to inflammatory stimulation, which leads to salivation, and can have a bad smell; when children suffer from sore throat herpes and tonsillitis, children dare not swallow due to swallowing pain, which will also make children temporarily salivate, but with the recovery of the primary disease, salivation will stop