What should I do if my baby swallows gum?

The baby's body is very fragile, especially in the gastrointestinal digestive system. The baby does not have a complete digestive ability for most conventional foods. Therefore, accidentally eating some foods that are not suitable for the baby will bring some side effects to the baby's body. For example, what should I do if a baby swallows chewing gum? Let’s take a look at the explanation below, I hope parents can understand it.

What happens if a child swallows chewing gum? The ingredients of chewing gum are relatively complex, and generally contain sugars, gum bases, food additives, edible flavors and other substances. The additives used in chewing gum generally include food coloring, antioxidants, lubricants, etc. Different types of chewing gum have different sources of sweetness. There are ordinary chewing gums that use white sugar or syrup, or sugar-free chewing gums that use xylitol or sorbitol to prevent tooth decay. Among these ingredients, the most basic is the gum base, which is the part that allows us to chew. Originally, the gum base was made of chicle resin collected from red pine trees, but the output of natural chicle resin is small. Now most chewing gums are replaced by other natural or synthetic ingredients.

Regardless of whether the gum base is made from natural or synthetic ingredients, it cannot be digested by the human digestive system. But it will not remain in the stomach and intestines forever after being swallowed. The human body has another way to deal with this kind of indigestible things: just push it down along the digestive tract until it reaches the end one day and is excreted. This journey does not take 7 years as the scary legend says. In fact, whether it is chewing gum or other similar foreign objects, it takes about 1-2 days to a week for the human body to excrete them. Compared to the tens of billions of chewing gums consumed each year, the number of cases requiring hospitalization and serious treatment due to chewing gum swallowing is very small. In addition to the fun of blowing bubbles, chewing gum is also beneficial to human health, such as reducing bad breath, increasing saliva secretion, improving appetite, cleaning the mouth, preventing tooth decay, etc.

Our advice to parents who are considering whether to allow their children to chew gum is this: However, chewing gum is not a candy that should be eaten, so children must be made clear that they cannot swallow it. Make sure you explain this clearly to your child before giving him gum. But don't use scaremongering methods like saying that swallowing it will make people sick or die. This will only unnecessarily increase children's fear and the workload of science enthusiasts 20 years later. It is difficult for children aged 0-3 to fully understand and grasp the requirement of not swallowing. It is best not to let children chew gum. We recommend that children start chewing gum at an age of 4-5 years old or above.

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