Q&A
Why Babies Spit Up
Question:
Why does our 6-week-old baby spit up so much? Our pediatrician says he has a mild case of gastroesophageal reflux. What does that mean?
Don't worry, it means he's probably just getting the hang of feeding. Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) is a normal condition in which the stomach's contents tend to come back up the esophagus and onto your baby's clothes, or you!
It's also pretty common: More than half of all babies under the age of 3 months have it, and about 40 percent of young babies spit up regularly. It happens because infants' digestive systems are still developiing. When your baby takes in air along with his breast milk or formula, the air gets trapped in with the liquid. And when the air eventually comes up, so does some of the liquid. Plus, if your baby really likes to eat, he may overfeed, becomes overfilled and spits up.
The good news is that most babies outgrow it by a year or so. Until then, try giving your baby less formula or breast milk at a feeding but more frequently, and hold him upright after feeding – gravity helps keep food down.
So when is spitup a concern? If your baby isn't gaining weight, has projectile vomiting (more forceful and of greater quantity compared to spitting up), cries when he spits up or has a fever, diarrhoea or constipation, call your doctor. This could be something more serious, like a bacterial infection.
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