
Intense muscle contractions after feedings during the first few months of a baby’s life can be caused by pyloric stenosis. Your baby may experience poor weight gain and fail to thriveĬall our office for an appointment as soon as possible if you see any of the signs of GERD.Your baby may choke on the spit-up as it comes out.Your baby will seem irritable and uncomfortable throughout the day (as a result of apparent heartburn or painful reflux).The following are some indications that your baby is experiencing GERD, not normal spitting up: Seems to have difficulty breathing or other signs of illnessĪ condition called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) can develop in some babies.Spits up blood or a material that looks like coffee grounds.Begins spitting up at age 6 months or older.Is more irritable than usual and crying for long periods of time.Has poor appetite or refuses feedings repeatedly.Contact our office at Entirely Kids Pediatrics immediately if your baby: However, there are a few symptoms that can indicate a problem or underlying condition that should be addressed quickly. Most of the time, spitting up is no cause for concern. When should I worry about my baby’s spitting up? Does your baby seem comfortable? If so, and if they are eating well and gaining weight, then the loss of calories from spitting up is not affecting him or her adversely. In healthy babies, spitting up – even on a regular basis – does not lead to weight loss or a failure to thrive. The contents of your baby’s stomach will come up fast and shoot out of their mouth rather than coming up smoothly and dribbling out. It is occasionally accompanied by a burp! Vomiting, on the other hand, is a forceful flow of liquid. Spit-up is a quick and easy flow of liquids up and out of the mouth during or after a feeding. Most babies have stopped entirely by the age of 12 months. By the age of four to five months, your baby’s body may have matured enough to handle ingestion better and as a result, they may stop spitting up. While it may seem like a lot, spit up is usually only a small amount of the liquid your baby has ingested. The size of a spit-up stain can be misleading and cause you to overestimate the amount of milk that your baby has actually lost. Newborns have tiny stomachs that fill up easily, and when this ring of muscles does not tighten up after the milk has passed into the stomach, the milk can come back up. However, the lower esophageal sphincter may not be mature enough to function as it should. The lower esophageal sphincter, a ring of muscles between the esophagus and the stomach, is designed to prevent the stomach’s contents from coming back up. After your baby swallows breast milk or formula, it passes down their esophagus to their stomach.


Roughly half of all babies occasionally experience gastroesophageal reflux, also known as infant reflux or infant acid reflux. The first thing new parents should know is that spitting up is normal and quite common. What is normal? What is not? Let’s talk about some spitting up facts. Our office receives a lot of calls from parents about their new baby’s spit up.
