What causes spitting up? Spitting up is common in healthy babies. During their first three months, about half of all babies experience their stomach contents coming back up into the esophagus, a condition known as gastroesophageal reflux, infant reflux or infant acid reflux.
Feed smaller amounts.
Overfeeding always makes spitting up worse. If the stomach is completely full, spitting up is more likely. If your baby is gaining well, give him smaller amounts (at least 1 ounce less than you have been giving).
Spitting up is common for babies because their digestive system isn't fully developed yet. It most often occurs when they've eaten too much or swallowed air while feeding. Spitting up is common for most babies until about the time they can eat solid foods (around 6 months to 1 year of age).
The best way to reduce spit up is to feed your baby before they get very hungry. Gently burp your baby when they take breaks during feedings. Limit active play after meals and hold your baby in an upright position for at least 20 minutes. Always closely supervise your baby during this time.
Offer your baby a feeding after they've stopped throwing up. If your baby is hungry and takes to the bottle or breast after vomiting, go right ahead and feed them. Liquid feeding after vomiting can sometimes even help settle your baby's nausea. Start with small amounts of milk and wait to see if they vomit again.
When fed too much, a baby may also swallow air. This can produce gas, increase discomfort in the belly, and lead to crying. An overfed baby also may spit up more than usual and have loose stools. Although crying from discomfort is not colic, it can make crying more frequent and more intense in an already colicky baby.
Contact your baby's doctor if your baby: Isn't gaining weight. Spits up forcefully. Spits up green or yellow fluid.
Always burp your baby when feeding time is over. To help prevent the milk from coming back up, keep your baby upright after feeding for 10 to 15 minutes, or longer if your baby spits up or has GERD. But don't worry if your baby spits sometimes.
Usually, it's just 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time. If your baby spits up more than this—or if their spitting up is the effect of respiratory events like choking, coughing, or wheezing—ask your pediatrician if there is a reason to be concerned.
Gastroesophageal reflux, characterized by recurrent spitting and vomiting, is common in infants and children, but doesn't always require treatment. A new study shows that infants who suck on pacifiers have fewer and shorter episodes of reflux, although researchers don't go so far as to encourage the use of pacifiers.
Myth: Babies who sleep on their backs will choke if they spit up or vomit during sleep. Fact: Babies automatically cough up or swallow fluid that they spit up or vomit—it's a reflex to keep the airway clear. Studies show no increase in the number of deaths from choking among babies who sleep on their backs.
Some experts estimate that nearly 40% of normal, healthy babies spit up after feedings. If baby spits up right away, it may look just like milk; if baby spits up once he/she has begun to digest it might look curdled and smell slightly sour. If you're worried about the quantity of baby spit up, you're not alone.
Symptoms of Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease
Spit up may launch from the mouth or nose, or it might dribble over the chin after a wet burp. Spit up might only reach the back of the mouth, resulting in chewing, gagging and re-swallowing motions. Parents often don't realize this is reflux.
Babies regularly spit up when they drink too much milk, too quickly. This can happen when the baby feeds very fast, or when mom's breasts are overfull. The amount of spit up can appear to be much more than it really is. Food sensitivities can cause excessive spitting up in babies.
There's usually no need to stress. "70% of infants under 3 months will spit up three times a day, and it's even perfectly normal for them to be spitting up as often as 10 or 12 times," says William Byrne, M.D., chief of pediatric gastroenterology at Doernbecher Children's Hospital, in Portland, Oregon.
Babies can also have “silent reflux.” The signs are not easy to see, because the babies may not spit up a lot. Instead, they make gurgling sounds like they are trying to spit up. They might be very wiggly and restless during breastfeeding. Other babies cough when reflux happens.
The best way to burp a baby experiencing reflux is by holding them with their tummy side against your chest and burping them over your shoulder. This will allow for removal of trapped gas and acid from your baby's system before giving them further milk to drink.
While holding your baby upright for 30 minutes after a feeding may allow for some of the feed to leave the stomach, the majority of the feed remains in their stomach after that time. When you lay your baby down, their immature LES could still open, causing them to spit up.
Babies gaining at least 6 ounces a week and with wet diapers at least every 6 hours are usually growing well. On average, spitting up peaks at 4 months and is over by about 7 months of age, though it can take longer.
This is how your baby's brain grows. There is a lot of activity happening in their brain during light sleep, and their body often reacts to this stimulation by moving, twitching, making lots of noises and facial expressions including smiles.
What is normal spit-up? It's normal for babies to spit up breast milk or formula occasionally. For most babies spit-up is a quick, smooth flow of liquids up and out during or shortly after a feeding. Spit-up normally does not lead to distress or weight loss.
Immediate spit-up after feeding will probably look like regular milk. If your little one spits up after some time as passed, it's more likely to look curdled milk.
When a baby is born, his or her eyes are about 65% of their adult size. One week after birth the baby can see colors and can see about 8-10 inches away. At six weeks of age baby can see about 12 inches away. You can help your infant's vision by holding and feeding him or her on each side, left and right (Picture 1).