Hey Mamas,
My three-week old has recently started spitting up. Sometimes he won't spit anything up and just this morning he spit up quite a bit. This is pretty new, like in the last 2-3 days, prior to that he hardly ever spit up and when he did it was almost nothing. He seems happy and not bothered by it but I am concerned. What could it be or should I be worried??
Thank you!
It probably just looks a lot worse than it is, and nothing to worry about, especially if he seems happy :)
My daughter is 7 months and she still spitts up, I think its a normal thing and I heard with them teething it gets worse.
If he seems happy, is gaining weight, and it isn't projectile, then I think he is fine, but there is nothing wrong with calling the doc if you are concerned.
By projectile, I mean real force. My daughter is a big spitter (now 4 mo), and she has missed my shoulder completely and gotten the floor, but that isn't projectile.
You only need to be concerned when he does projectile, coughs or chokes before or during the spitting up, or if he cries when it happens (then it's probably reflux. my son has that...he's 9 weeks)
Excess spitting up is usually a food issue or a gas issue. If you haven't changed his formula (or your diet if you're BFing), then you could try burping him more often while feeding. As young babies learn to feed, they get greedier, and swallow more gas until they really get it down pat at 6-8 months.
Hi S. - I agree with your other responses but wanted to add something else. My son would spit up ALL the time - ugh to think of all the wash I did back then! And to hear the negative comments from family members, i.e. "There's something wrong with him!". Well, we consulted several books, our pediatrician AND our family doctor and they all had a consistent explanation: there is a flap between the stomach and esophagus that on some babies does not shut properly right away - which means a lot of milk comes right back up. They said it usually takes about 6 months for this flap to grow enough to properly cover the stomach opening and that as long as my son was gaining weight I shouldn't be worried about how much he spit up. Just like clockwork, when he turned 6 months old he stopped spitting up and hasn't had any issues since then. Anyway - sorry for the long response, but I thought my experience could help. Good luck!
Dear S.,
First, I want to tell you that I'm sorry to hear of your problem and sorry that it's causing you worry. You seem to be getting lots of good answers here. The one thing that I'd like to add is that in my experience as a breatfeeding mama, I noticed a connection between what I ate and when my children spit up. I stopped eating chocolate for a few months for the sake of my second child. (And if you knew me you'd know that this is a real sacrifice!) My sister's son had projectile vomiting starting at 3 weeks. It was so bad that he lost weight for several weeks until she took caffeine and dairy out of her diet and then he stopped spitting up. Other friends of mine have had to give up gluten/wheat, dairy, citrus, etc. If you're breastfeeding, I would recommend keeping a diary of what you eat and when your son spits up to see if you can find any suspicious foods. (Like you need one more task these days!)
All of the babies that I know got over these food sensitivities as their digestive systems developed and their mamas were happy to return to eating a full range of food again. But in the mean time, not watching our children spit up their food was worth making the change.
Sending you my best wishes for good health for you and your son!
Hi there, my baby (who's nearly 7 now) used to do the same thing. There are several possible causes: over-feeding, acid-reflux, stomach bug. I'm guessing since he's not bothered by it, he isn't sick. What we ended up doing with our daughter - because she didn't have other signs of reflux and I didn't think I was over-feeding her - was to place a pillow under her mattress so she slightly elevated at night. This seemed to help a bit. Basically, I kept her upright for at least 30 minutes after she ate, and it seemed to work for her (most of the time). Forgot to mention that she slept in a sleep positioner, so having the pillow under the mattress wasn't causing her to roll around.
Lastly, I always loved speaking to the advice nurse. :) They have great suggestions for nearly everything. Good luck!
All I can say is my baby (now 5 months) still spits up all the time. I think it's just pretty normal! Unless he's crying hard with it, or not eating because of it, I'd say you're fine!
Since he is just three weeks old, he is probably just getting too efficient at eating and getting too much. My oldest did this. The Doc said she was just getting rid of the excess. As long as she wasn't bothered by it, and was happy and gaining weight, he said it was nothing to worry about.
Because she was such a fast eater (5-6mins each side and maintaining 90% height and 80% weight), she really needed more sucking time without actually eating. Once I started her on a pacifier, at the Doc's suggestion, she spit up much less often.
My baby spit up all the time until he was 5 months old. It freaked me out. It shouldn't be anything but call your pediatrician to be sure and put your fears to rest! :)
My daughter spit up a lot when she was a baby. Sometimes more than others, but always spit up. It drove me crazy because I had to change her clothes and bibs several times per day. But she gained weight and didn't have any other problems and as soon as she quit taking bottles with formula, it stopped. so, as long as your baby seems okay in every other way and as long as he gains weight, there probably isn't anything to worry about except clean clothes!
