Monday, May 3, 2010

Do You Have a Spitty Baby? I Certainly did!

  • Why do babies spit up? The most common reason is that they have an under-developed esophageal valve that doesn't function as it should when pressure is placed on the tummy or the baby is in a flat-lying position.
  • My oldest Mica wasn't a spitter. He kept his milk down for the most part.
  • My youngest Isaak was another story. I actually called him, "Mr. Spits" for awhile.
  • Just about every time he ate, he spit up.
  • Isaak's pediatrician told us not to worry about it, as long as the spit up didn't smell, was discolored, and he wasn't gaining weight. He surpassed all three, so I didn't worry about it too much.
  • The nice thing about breast milk is that it doesn't stain like formula does.
A few things to do with a baby that spits up a lot:
  • Sit them upright when you can. This is good anyhow because it helps with digesting. How would you like to drink a bunch of milk shakes and lay down afterwards? See what I mean?



  • Feed them in small amounts. This is harder to do with breast feeding, but if you have someone watching your little one tell them to feed them in small amounts, but more frequently. We found this really helped Isaak.
  • Stock up on cloth diapers. The Gerber ones are great; you can buy in any store and they are not expensive. They work great as spit up rags! They sell Gerber spit up rags as well. The spit up rags are a little more in price, and not as absorbent. Later on you can use them for pee accidents when they are potty training.


  • If you have a spitter like I did with Isaak, you'll feel like he/she is never going to stop spitting up! They start to stop when they are eating baby food and can sit up better on their own.
  • It was frustrating to me because I'd work so hard to pump, and he'd spit up 1/4 of it. That was just in his nature.

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