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Handling Babies Spitting Up Milk

Most babies tend to spit up milk after every feeding. This is because most of the infants suffer from gastro esophageal reflux until they are six months old. However, there may not be any cause to worry if the baby is gaining weight properly and does not seem to suffer from it. Babies spit up for lots of other reasons, such as, gagging when the milk lets down quickly and forcefully, oversupply of milk, immature muscle control, allergy, and disease. Most of the times, the reason for the spitting up cannot be found and most babies outgrow the spitting up stage within 4-6 months. Research has shown that breast-fed babies have fewer and less chances of reflux as compared to formula-fed babies. The reason is, breast milk is digested twice more quickly than formula milk. If your baby seems healthy and is growing normally, then try these tips for minimizing spitting up:

Burping the baby frequently may reduce the spit up tendency and the resulting mess.
Mostly, spitting up is not due to dietary problems in infants. So, making changes in formula or changing the diet of the breastfeeding mom is of little help. However, you may still consult your pediatrician about thickening the formula, expressed breast milk and feeding rice cereal in tiny amounts.
Shift the position of the baby to upright whenever you feed her/him and keep her/him upright up to half an hour after the feeding.
Don't feed much, as smaller and more frequent feedings are easier to digest.
Try offering one breast per feeding. You can also try taking him off the breast and putting him back after the initial flow of milk has subsided.
If you are giving him supplemental vitamins, iron, or fluoride, then immediately discontinue them as most breastfed babies don't need vitamin supplements.
If you are taking herbal or vitamin supplements, try to stop them and see if it makes a difference in the spit-up.
If your baby has just started having new food, stop offering it as this may be the cause for spit- up.

You have to experiment with these suggestions because the reason for spit -up may be different from one baby to another, and what works for one baby may not work for another. So, keep on trying different tips until you find the right one for your baby. If these tips fail to work, you should consult a doctor and should try medicine which reduces stomach acid and speed up the time that milk takes to pass into the intestine of the baby. A commonly used medication which reduces stomach acid is Zantac. If all other treatment fails, only then surgery is advisable. If your baby spit-up milk and has reflux, don't panic and try to keep a positive attitude. You should remember that spitting up and reflux almost occurs in healthy babies who just need some more time to grow.

Handling Babies Spitting Up Milk

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