My son was born preterm at 36 weeks and he was also on a small size (2.3kg). He went through a phase of bringing up milk through his noses if I put him down too early after a feed.
In fact, I decided not to let him lie flat at all for the first three months because it always cause milk to come up and upset him, worse than that it sometimes makes him choke. Even during the night, he slept with me on bed in a recline position with a few pillows supporting his back and head.
He was choking so badly a few times in the early months. It scared me to death the first time that happened. However, I do think his first choke really scared him a lot. I could tell from the look on his face.
The first time my 2 months old baby choking on saliva
The first time my son was choking on saliva happened when he was 2 months old and while he was sleeping after an afternoon feed. It was when I least expected because he was asleep…
Anyway, after 2 hours after his feed and sleep, he suddenly woke up with a bit of sticky milk came out of his noses. He was totally in panic and was struggle to grasp his breath.
Luckily I was there so I tried to help him and calm him down by holding him up right with a hug and gentle pats on his back. Nothing seems to help. He was still struggling to breath like something stuck on his throat. I could see he tried to get rid of it by swallowing, but it was not going down and I could see lots of bubbly saliva keep drooling out of his month.
It was so bad that he couldn’t even cry properly, his eyes turn red and full with tears. His face turned all red and he was trying so hard to breath properly.
I could hear his breathing stop and on and off for a while. He arched his back trying to swallow and breath so hard. My heart dropped because of that too! I did not know what to do to help him.
What I did to help my choking baby
I was thinking of calling an ambulance at that point, but I realised that although he was struggling to grasp some air from time to time, he was still able to breath and not turn blue or have any sign of blockage in the airway.
So I decided to keep calming him down by hugging and patting his back in a hope that he will be able to deal with the situation and get rid of what ever stuck on his throat himself.
Luckily, it gradually got better like he realised what was going on and was able to be in control bit by bit. Although, still drooling bubbly saliva, arching his back and struggling to breath and swallow properly from time to time.
While trying to calm him down and keep checking in his condition, I started an online search on my phone for a video on how to help a choking baby.
Back blows help stop baby from choking
I found a video on NHS website showing how to help choking baby. It is very short and demonstrate exactly how you can help a choking baby with a first aid technique called ‘Back blows’
Here is the link to the NHS video that stop my baby from choking.
I applied back blow to my son a few times until a bit of mixed sticky milk and saliva came out from his mouth. He was noticeably more comfortable after that, but still crying and mourning from what had just happened. He clearly was still scared.
After seeing that he could breath properly again with no arching back or drooling bubbly saliva, I was a bit more relieve. I continue to give him a cuddle and calm him down until he hold himself together, probably about 15 mins later.
So it was sticky milky saliva that was stuck in his throat and caused him to choke and panic. And doing ‘back blows’ does actually help clearing his throat and put things back to normal.
A few positive notes
Good news is that my son seems to learn to deal with it better when it happened again. Yes, This had happened again a few times later within the next few weeks, similar scenario, wake up from a nap with sticky milk up his noses and struggling to breath and swallow after that.
He was still panic and cry out for help when it happened, but it took him less time to get back to normal and he even managed to clear his throat himself somehow… I didn’t need to give him back blows the second or third times it happened.
Another good news is that he eventually grow out of choking on sticky milk or saliva. The last time he had choked like this was when he was nearly three months old. After that it never happened again. Or he might be mastering on how to deal with little bits of thick saliva stuck on his throat himself!
Final words
After his first choke incidence, I decided to go on a baby first aid course as I now realised how important it is to know what to do to help my baby in an emergency situation. Of course, you will never wanted anything bad to happen to your child, but it could unexpectedly happen any time. You never known, so I rather be prepared.
I was lucky enough that his choke wasn’t too bad and back blows worked. I meant he was still conscious, able to breath and significantly better after a few back blows. Otherwise, I would have call an ambulance.