Baby Spitting Up
It is a common sight to see a baby spitting up when he swallows in too much of air along with his feed. Sometimes, the baby may be spitting up because he has been overfed. The baby's spitting up must not be confused with vomiting. Vomiting is forceful and painful which can upset the baby. Although the baby's spitting up is messy, this does not affect him in most cases. It does not cause choking, cough or pain.
The baby's spitting up occurs more often till he begins his solid food. Usually, this is when he is over six months old. Sometimes he may continue till she is a year old. When the baby spits up during a burp, the breast milk or formula in his stomach moves up into her esophagus. Normally, what goes in comes out in the same form.
There is no specific pattern associated with the baby spitting up. Some babies spit up when they are burped with each feed. However, some other babies spit up only occasionally.
In medical terms, spitting up is also called posseting.
Tips to Control the Baby's Spitting Up
There is no trick to control your baby from spitting up. However, you can take steps to minimise the air she swallows with his feed. This air causes her to spit up when she is burped. Some ways to handle this are:
- Do not feed your baby if she is crying even while you feed her. Calm her by talking to her before trying to feed her again.
- When feeding her with formula, keep her seated in an upright position. Keep her in this position for a few minutes after the meal.
- Make sure that the teats in the bottle are of the right size and that the bottle is tilted upwards. Tilting is done to avoid air getting filled in the teats along with the formula.
- Do not move your baby around during or immediately after a meal before the food gets settled in her stomach.
- Ensure that her clothes and diaper are not too tight on her.
- Avoid pressure on your little one's stomach and abdomen.
- Burp the baby regularly in the middle of a feed rather than one single burp at the end of a meal.
- Try giving your little one less milk during each feed and increasing the number of feeding sessions.
- Avoid overfeeding the baby. Stop when she starts turning her mouth away from the food.
Are there any instances associated with my baby's spitting up when I should show her to the doctor?
Although messy and harmless, you may show your little one to the doctor if her spitting up causes:
- Rapid loss of weight or poor weight gain
- More than a couple of tablespoons of milk to come out each time you burp her
- Prolonged gagging and coughing.
- Lesser than the normal number of wet diapers
- Tiredness and lethargy in your baby
- Forceful or projectile vomiting which spreads across the room.
- Green or brown liquid to come out with the spit up
When my little one spit up after I breast fed her, the milk appeared reddish in colour. Could this be blood? I am really alarmed if it can be dangerous.
Spitting up blood along with milk can be really alarming. However, this can sometimes be because of cracked nipples in your breast. In such cases, it is not harmful. If you are sure the blood is not because of your nipples or it appears when you are not breast feeding her, contact your doctor immediately.
