Baby vomits milk

Why This Happens and What to Do

It can be difficult to tell the difference between vomit and spit-up. Both might look the same since your baby is currently on a steady of diet of milk or formula. The main difference is in how they come out.

Spit-up usually happens before or after a burp and is most common in babies under the age of 1 year. Spit-up will easily flow from your baby’s mouth — almost like white, milky drool.

Vomit typically comes out forcefully (whether you’re a baby or an adult). This is because vomiting happens when the muscles around the stomach are triggered by the brain’s “vomiting center” to squeeze it. This forces whatever is in the stomach to be hurled out.

In a baby’s case, vomit may look like milky spit-up but have more clear stomach juices mixed into it. It may also look like milk that has been fermented for a little while — this is called “cheesing.” Yes, it sounds gross. But the texture probably won’t bother you when you see it — you’ll be more concerned with baby’s well-being.

Your baby may also cough or make little retching noises before they vomit. This is likely the only warning you’ll have to grab a towel, bucket, burp cloth, sweater, your shoe — hey, anything.

Additionally, spit-up is normal and can happen at any time. Your baby will only vomit if there’s a digestive issue or they have another illness.

Feeding difficulty

Babies have to learn everything from scratch, including how to feed and keep the milk down. Along with spit-up, your baby may vomit occasionally after being fed. This is most common in the first month of life.

It happens because your baby’s tummy is still getting used to digesting food. They also have to learn to not gulp milk down too fast or overfeed.

Post-feeding vomiting typically stops after the first month. Give your baby more frequent, smaller feeds to help stop the vomit.

But let your pediatrician know if your baby vomits often or has very forceful vomits. In some cases, it might be a sign of something other than feeding difficulty.

Stomach flu

Also known as the tummy bug or “stomach flu,” gastroenteritis is a common cause of vomiting in babies and children. Your baby may have cycles of vomiting that come and go for about 24 hours.

Other symptoms in babies may last for 4 days or longer:

• watery, runny poop or mild diarrhea
• irritability or crying
• poor appetite
• stomach cramps and pain

The tummy bug can also cause a fever, but this is actually less common in babies.

Gastroenteritis usually looks a lot worse than it is (thank goodness!). It’s typically caused by a virus that goes away by itself in about a week.

In babies, severe gastroenteritis can lead to dehydration. Call your pediatrician immediately if your baby has any signs of dehydration:

• dry skin, mouth, or eyes
• unusual sleepiness
• no wet diapers for 8 to 12 hours
• weak cry
• crying without tears

Infant reflux

In some ways, babies really are like tiny adults. Just like adults of any age can have acid reflux or GERD, some babies have infant reflux. This can lead to baby vomiting in the first weeks or months of your baby’s life.

Vomiting from acid reflux happens when the muscles at the top of the stomach are too relaxed. This triggers baby vomiting shortly after feeding.

In most cases, the stomach muscles strengthen, and your baby’s vomiting goes away on its own. Meanwhile, you can help slow down the vomiting by:

• avoiding overfeeding
• giving smaller, more frequent feeds
• burping your baby often
• propping your baby up in an upright position for about 30 minutes after feeding

You can also thicken milk or formula with more formula or a bit of baby cereal. Caveat: Check with your pediatrician before you try this. It might not be suitable for all babies.

Cold and flu

Babies catch colds and flus easily because they have shiny new immune systems that are still developing. It doesn’t help if they’re in day care with other sniffling kiddos, or they’re around adults that can’t resist kissing their little faces. Your baby may have up to seven colds in their first year alone.

Cold and flu can cause different symptoms in babies. Along with a runny nose, your baby may also have vomiting without a fever.

Too much mucus in the nose (congestion) can lead to a nasal drip in the throat. This can trigger bouts of forceful coughing that sometimes cause vomiting in babies and children.

As in adults, colds and flu in babies are viral and go away after about a week. In some cases, sinus congestion may turn into an infection. Your baby will need antibiotics to treat any bacterial — not viral — infection.

Ear infection

Ear infections are another common illness in babies and children. This is because their ear tubes are horizontal rather than more vertical like in adults.

If your little one has an ear infection, they might have nausea and vomiting without a fever. This happens because an ear infection can cause dizziness and loss of balance. Other symptoms of ear infections in babies include:

• pain in one or both ears
• tugging or scratching at or near the ears
• muffled hearing
• diarrhea

Most ear infections in babies and children go away without treatment. However, it’s important to see a pediatrician in case your baby needs antibiotics to clear up the infection. In rare cases, a serious ear infection can damage a baby’s tender ears.

Overheating

Before you swaddle your baby or put them in that adorable fluffy bunny suit, check the temperature outside and in your home.

While it’s true that the womb was warm and cozy, babies can overheat quickly in hot weather or in a very warm house or car. This is because their tiny bodies are less able to sweat out heat. Overheating might cause vomiting and dehydration.

Overheating can lead to heat exhaustion or in much more serious cases, heatstroke. Look for other symptoms like:

• pale, clammy skin
• irritability and crying
• sleepiness or floppiness

Immediately remove clothing and keep your baby out of the sun and away from heat. Try to breastfeed (or give your baby water if they’re 6 months or older). Get urgent medical attention if your baby doesn’t seem their usual self.

Motion sickness

Babies below the age of 2 years don’t commonly get motion or car sickness, but some babies may get sick after a car ride or being twirled around — especially if they’ve just eaten.

Motion sickness can make your baby dizzy and nauseous, leading to vomiting. It might be more likely to happen if your baby already has an upset tummy from bloating, gas, or constipation.

Strong smells and windy or bumpy roads can also make your baby dizzy. Nausea triggers more saliva, so you might notice more dribble before your baby vomits.

You can help prevent motion sickness by traveling when your baby is ready to sleep. (Great trick if your baby loves to sleep in the car!) A sleeping baby is less likely to feel queasy.

Keep their head well supported in the car seat so it doesn’t move around too much. Also, avoid going for a drive right after giving your baby a full feed — you want your baby to digest the milk, not wear it.

Milk intolerance

A rare kind of milk intolerance is called galactosemia. It happens when babies are born without a certain enzyme needed to break down sugars in milk. Some babies with this condition are even sensitive to breast milk.

It can cause nausea and vomiting after drinking milk or any kind of dairy products. Galactosemia can also cause a skin rash or itching in both babies and adults.

If your baby is formula fed, check the ingredients for any dairy, including milk proteins.

Most newborns are screened at birth for this rare condition and other illnesses. This is usually done with a heel prick blood test or a urine test.

In the rare event that your baby has this, you’ll know it very early on. Make sure your baby completely avoids milk to help stop vomiting and other symptoms.

Pyloric stenosis

Pyloric stenosis is a rare condition that happens when the opening between the stomach and intestines is blocked or too narrow. It can lead to forceful vomiting after feeding.

If your baby has pyloric stenosis, they may be hungry all the time. Other symptoms include:

• dehydration
• weight loss
• wave-like stomach contractions
• constipation
• fewer bowel movements
• fewer wet diapers

This rare condition can be treated with surgery. Tell your pediatrician immediately if your baby has any of the symptoms of pyloric stenosis.

Intussusception

Intussusception is a rare intestinal condition. It affects 1 in every 1,200 babies and most commonly happens at the age of 3 months or older. Intussusception can cause vomiting without a fever.

This condition happens when the intestines are damaged by a virus or other health conditions. The damaged intestine slips — “telescopes” — into another part of the intestine.

Along with vomiting, a baby may have severe stomach cramps that last for about 15 minutes. The pain can cause some babies to curl their knees up to their chest.

Other symptoms of this intestinal condition include:

• fatigue and tiredness
• nausea
• blood or mucus in bowel movements

If your baby has intussusception, treatment can push the intestine back into place. This gets rid of vomiting, pain, and other symptoms. Treatment includes using air in the intestines to gently move the intestines. If that doesn’t work, keyhole (laparoscopic) surgery heals this condition.

See your baby’s pediatrician if your baby has vomiting for longer than 12 hours. Babies can get dehydrated quickly if they’re vomiting.

Get immediate medical attention if your baby is vomiting and has other symptoms and signs like:

• diarrhea
• pain or discomfort
• constant or forceful coughing
• hasn’t had a wet diaper for 3 to 6 hours
• refusing to feed
• dry lips or tongue
• few or no tears when crying
• extra tired or sleepy
• weakness or floppy
• won’t smile
• swollen or bloated stomach
• blood in diarrhea

Baby vomiting without a fever can happen because of several common illnesses. Your baby will likely have one or more of these several times in the first year. Most of these causes go away on their own, and your little one will stop vomiting without any treatment.

But too much vomiting can lead to dehydration. Check for signs of dehydration and call your pediatrician if you’re not sure.

Some causes of baby vomiting are more serious, but these are rare. Your baby will need medical care for these health conditions. Know the signs and remember to keep the doctor’s number saved in your phone — and take a deep breath. You and baby got this.

Infant Vomiting - HealthyChildren.org

My baby vomits a lot. Is this a sign of a problem?

Because many common childhood illnesses can cause vomiting, you should expect your child to have this problem several times during these early years. Usually it ends quickly without treatment, but this doesn’t make it any easier for you to watch. That feeling of helplessness combined with the fear that something serious might be wrong and the desire to do something to make it better may make you tense and anxious. To help put your mind at ease, learn as much as you can about the causes of vomiting and what you can do to treat your child when it occurs.

Vomiting vs Spitting Up

First of all, there’s a difference between real vomiting and just spitting up. Vomiting is the forceful throwing up of stomach contents through the mouth. Spitting up (most commonly seen in infants under one year of age) is the easy flow of stomach contents out of the mouth, frequently with a burp.

Vomiting occurs when the abdominal muscles and diaphragm contract vigorously while the stomach is relaxed. This reflex action is triggered by the “vomiting center” in the brain after it has been stimulated by:

• Nerves from the stomach and intestine when the gastrointestinal tract is either irritated or swollen by an infection or blockage

• Chemicals in the blood (e.g., drugs)

• Psychological stimuli from disturbing sights or smells

• Stimuli from the middle ear (as in vomiting caused by motion sickness)

Causes of Vomiting

The common causes of spitting up or vomiting vary according to age. During the first few months, for instance, most infants will spit up small amounts of formula or breastmilk, usually within the first hour after being fed. This “cheesing,” as it is often called, is simply the occasional movement of food from the stomach, through the tube (esophagus) leading to it, and out of the mouth. It will occur less often if a child is burped frequently and if active play is limited right after meals. This spitting up tends to decrease as the baby becomes older, but may persist in a mild form until ten to twelve months of age. Spitting up is not serious and doesn’t interfere with normal weight gain.

Occasional vomiting may occur during the first month. If it appears repeatedly or is unusually forceful, call your pediatrician. It may be just a mild feeding difficulty, but it also could be a sign of something more serious.

Persistent Vomiting

Between two weeks and four months of age, persistent forceful vomiting may be caused by a thickening of the muscle at the stomach exit. Known as hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, this thickening prevents food from passing into the intestines. It requires immediate medical attention. Surgery usually is required to open the narrowed area. The important sign of this condition is forceful vomiting occurring approximately fifteen to thirty minutes or less after every feeding. Anytime you notice this, call your pediatrician as soon as possible.

GERD

Occasionally the spitting up in the first few weeks to months of life gets worse instead of better—that is, even though it’s not forceful, it occurs all the time. This happens when the muscles at the lower end of the esophagus become overly relaxed and allow the stomach contents to back up. This condition is known as gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD. This condition usually can be controlled by doing the following:

1. Thicken the milk with small amounts of baby cereal as directed by your pediatrician.

2. Avoid overfeeding or give smaller feeds more frequently.
3. Burp the baby frequently.
4. Leave the infant in a safe, quiet, upright position for at least thirty minutes following feeding.

If these steps are not successful, your pediatrician may refer you to a gastrointestinal (GI) specialist.

Infection

After the first few months of life, the most common cause of vomiting is a stomach or intestinal infection. Viruses are by far the most frequent infecting agents, but occasionally bacteria and even parasites may be the cause. The infection also may produce fever, diarrhea, and sometimes nausea and abdominal pain. The infection is usually contagious; if your child has it, chances are good that some of her playmates also will be affected.

Rotaviruses are a leading cause of vomiting in infants and young children, with symptoms often progressing to diarrhea and fever. These viruses are very contagious, but are becoming less common than in the past, due to the availability of a vaccine that can prevent the disease. The rotavirus is one of the viral causes of gastroenteritis, but other types of viruses—such as noroviruses, enteroviruses, and adenoviruses—can cause it as well.

Occasionally infections outside the gastrointestinal tract will cause vomiting. These include infections of the respiratory system, infections of the urinary tract otitis media, meningitis , and appendicitis. Some of these conditions require immediate medical treatment, so be alert for the following trouble signs, whatever your child’s age, and call your pediatrician if they occur.

• Blood or bile (a green-colored material) in the vomit

• Severe abdominal pain

• Strenuous, repeated vomiting

• Swollen or enlarged abdomen

• Lethargy or severe irritability

• Convulsions

• Signs or symptoms of dehydration, including dry mouth, absent tears, depression of the "soft spot", and decreased urination

• Inability to drink adequate amounts of fluid

• Vomiting continuing beyond twenty-four hours

The information contained on this Web site should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician. There may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances.

Why does the baby spit up after breastfeeding?

Every mother has experienced this phenomenon to some extent - this is completely normal, because in the first months the baby's eating habits are just beginning to form. What are the causes of regurgitation? Can this be prevented? What is considered normal, and when should you see a doctor? Let's find out!

Dry initial milk formula adapted by Valio Baby 1 NutriValio for feeding children from birth to 6 months Read more

Follow-up dry milk formula adapted by Valio Baby 2 NutriValio for feeding children from 6 to 12 months More

Dry milk drink "Baby milk" Valio Baby 3 NutriValio for feeding children over 12 months Read more

Often the cause of regurgitation depends on the chosen method of feeding: whether the mother is putting the baby to the breast or feeding from a bottle.

• Overfeeding the baby. If the baby eats too much, then the excess milk comes out naturally.
• Incorrect breastfeeding technique, as a result of which a large amount of air enters the baby's stomach along with milk. Try to hold the baby so that he completely grasps the nipple and at the same time can breathe freely through his nose.
• Features of the digestive system of children at an early age. In infants up to a year old, the muscles of the esophagus are not yet fully formed, so regurgitation is often a natural process.
• An abrupt change in the position of the child. After feeding, do not turn the baby over, squeeze, swaddle or swing in the stroller.
• Intestinal disorders such as bloating, colic and other causes that interfere with normal digestion.
• In rare cases, serious diseases of the digestive system.

Note that regurgitation is more often observed not in newborns, but in children aged about 4 months.

• Abrupt transition from breast milk to formula.
• Unsuitable size and opening of the nipple, due to which the baby takes in a lot of air.
• Tendency to overeat. You should follow the rules of nutrition for babies.
• Inappropriate milk formula. Perhaps the child simply does not tolerate it well, consult a doctor about changing baby food.

Valio Baby's adapted milk formulas are as close as possible in composition to breast milk and contain prebiotics, as well as vitamins and microelements necessary for intestinal health. All components of Valio Baby are natural. A balanced composition allows you to maintain the level of cholesterol in the child's body at an optimal level. The mixtures are designed for three age categories, taking into account the peculiarities of the development of babies in a given period:

• from the first days of life to six months;
• for babies from six months to 1 year;
• and for children over 1 year old.

If the baby is lying on his back and starts spitting up, immediately roll him over on his stomach, or pick him up - this will prevent food from entering the respiratory tract.

If your baby seems to be uncomfortable while feeding, or if he comes off the breast and starts crying, let him burp. This can be done in two ways:

• Place a washcloth over your shoulder to keep it clean. Hold the baby on your chest so that his chin rests on your shoulder. Gently stroke or pat your hand on his back.
• Place the cloth on your lap. Turn the baby over on the tummy and position it perpendicular to your body. Support your chin with one hand and pat or rub your back with the other. Please note that the child's head should be higher than other parts of the body so that blood does not rush to it and food does not reflux into the respiratory tract.

As a rule, spitting up 6-8 times a day (in small portions) does not pose a health risk. Over time, when the baby's muscles get stronger, he will better absorb food. Most children stop spitting up after 6-7 months, but in some situations this problem persists up to one year.

If the spitting up is persistent and strong, prevents weight gain, the child cries after this process, then you should consult a doctor. Such symptoms may indicate that the baby has irritated walls of the esophagus.

Call a doctor immediately if your child is vomiting violently and profusely. This may indicate either the presence of food poisoning, or a disease associated with deformation of the internal organs.

If an infant vomits with greenish bile, this may be a sign of intestinal blockage, which requires urgent hospitalization and possibly even emergency surgery.

Prevention

If your newborn is spitting up a lot after feeding, follow these guidelines:

• Do not breastfeed while baby is squatting or in a car seat as milk or formula may not reach the stomach.
• Create a calm atmosphere. Keep noise and other distractions to a minimum. If the baby is distracted and disturbed by something, there is an increased risk that he will swallow large amounts of air with formula or breast milk. For the same reason, do not let the baby be very hungry.
• Make sure that nothing is pressing on the baby's tummy. Make sure his clothes and diaper are not too tight.
• Avoid driving immediately after feeding.
• Hold the baby for about 30 minutes. upright after eating.
• When breastfeeding, make sure that the baby is properly latching onto the breast (his lips should cover not only the nipple, but also the areola, as far as possible).
• If you are feeding formula or bottled milk, make sure the opening of the nipple is not too small as this can prevent the baby from drinking and cause air to be swallowed. The hole should not be too large, so that the child does not choke.
• Do not overfeed your baby. Try feeding him less milk or formula. Watch the reaction. The baby may agree to drink a smaller volume at a time, however, will want to eat more often.

If regurgitation occurs frequently, after each feeding, consult your physician.

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