Reasons for excessive spitting up in newborns

It is normal for newborns to spit up milk, especially for new mothers. Since it is the first time for breastfeeding, spitting up milk may occur when the feeding is improper. This phenomenon often occurs in children who are fed with a bottle. However, when you see your baby spitting up milk, you will still be nervous and at a loss. Here we will introduce to you some of the reasons that cause newborns to spit up a lot of milk.

The baby is still small and his stomach is in a horizontal position, so the contents are easy to overflow. When feeding your baby, try to hold him upright. If you let him curl up in your arms or feed lazily in a car seat, the formula or breast milk will not enter his stomach directly, causing him to spit up. ?Be quiet when feeding. Concentrating on feeding can prevent your baby from spitting up. Reduce surrounding noise and other distractions that may distract your baby. Also, try not to wait until your baby is very hungry to feed him. Spitting up is more likely to occur if your baby is distracted or fussy, and is more likely to swallow air while feeding breast milk or formula. ?If your baby is using a bottle to feed formula or expressed breast milk, be sure to make sure the nipple hole is not too small, as this will make your baby anxious and cause him to swallow air.

On the other hand, if the hole in the nipple is too big, the milk will flow too quickly and the baby will not be able to swallow it in time, which may cause the baby to spit up. ?Burp your baby after every feeding. In fact, if your baby naturally stops eating, you should take this opportunity to burp him before he starts eating again. This way, if there is air in your baby's stomach, it can be expelled before he takes in more milk. Remember to place a towel on your shoulders before burping to prevent staining your clothes. Don't worry if you don't burp your baby within a few minutes. Your baby probably doesn’t need to be burped at that point! Don't feed your baby too much. If your baby seems to spit up a little after every feeding, he may be eating too much. Try feeding him a little closer together and giving him a slightly smaller amount of formula or breast milk each time to see if he's willing. He may be happy with smaller feedings of formula or breast milk, but will want more frequent feedings. This is also a way to prevent your baby from spitting up.

If your baby tends to spit up while sleeping, you can elevate his head. Although it's not safe for your baby to sleep on a pillow, you can raise one end of his mattress or the head of his crib with foam or wood blocks to minimize spitting up. In most cases, spitting up stops by the time your baby is about six or seven months old, or learns to sit up independently. However, there are still a few babies who will continue to spit up until about one year old.