All You Need To Know About Baby Spit Up And How To Reduce It

Most times when our babies spit up, we confuse it with vomiting and often start thinking there is a problem. The truth is, spit up is usually normal while vomiting is not.

How to tell the difference between spit up and vomiting?

Normally, food flows down the esophagus to the stomach, then to the intestines. The movement is usually controlled by muscles along the track to ensure the food flows only in one direction. There are two major muscles (the lower esophageal sphincter at the point where the esophagus meets the stomach and the pyloric sphincter at the exit from the stomach to the intestines) which help to prevent the back-flow of food.

Generally, the digestive system of the young babies is not fully developed hence the constant reflux of milk especially after feeding. When the Lower sphincter muscle is loose, the food will flow back from the stomach to the esophagus resulting in a spit up.

Vomiting on the other hand results when the stomach is irritated due to infection or as a result of stomach muscle spasms. Different from a spit up, vomiting tends to be more forceful and usually in large volumes.

While all these are normal in nature, some factors such as excessive intake of air while breast or bottle feeding and feeding the baby while in an uncomfortable position increases chances of spit-up in babies. Overfeeding may also lead to the same repercussions.

The pyloric sphincter may also be one major cause for spitting up in babies. In case the sphincter becomes too thick and strong, it may cause a problem in stomach contents flowing into the intestines instead it flows back to the esophagus. This is known as pyloric stenosis which is a condition resulting in forceful spit up by babies especially after feeding.

How to reduce spitting up in babies

Depending on the cause of spit up, you can easily determine the right remedy.

• In case of overfeeding, it is advisable to feed your baby at regular intervals where you feed your baby small quantities of milk or any other food.
• Another simple strategy to prevent spit up is to ensure the baby is in an upright position while feeding. In case the baby is not yet able to stay in an upright position, then burping is necessary at frequent intervals while feeding them.
• In case you are bottle-feeding your baby, the hole of the nipple matters a lot. You need to ensure that the hole is not too large or too small to interfere with the baby’s swallowing. Excessive swallowing of air is one of the major reasons why babies spit up often.
• Thickening of your baby’s milk by adding rice cereal may help to reduce spit up in children. Before you try this, however, you need to consult with your doctor.

Wrapping It Up

Spitting up is nothing to worry about unless some serious symptoms are noted such as voluminous spitting up of green or brown substance, discomfort in your baby and maybe the baby is not gaining weight. in case of unusual spit up patterns, immediately seek medical intervention.