Parents often encounter the same situation: their baby spits up milk right after feeding. First-time parents especially tend to panic when they see this. However, spitting up is a common occurrence in infants and shouldn't cause excessive worry. Still, certain measures must be taken during spitting up to prevent choking. So how can you prevent your baby from spitting up?
What causes newborn spitting up? Spitting up is common in newborns and young infants, gradually decreasing with age and typically disappearing by six months.For formula-fed babies, avoid feeding too frequently, giving excessive amounts, using nipples with overly large holes, allowing milk to flow too quickly, filling the bottle past the nipple, swallowing air while feeding, or moving the baby too much during feeding. For breastfed babies, pay attention to controlling the flow of milk. These steps can help reduce or prevent spitting up.
How to prevent infant spitting up?
1. Maintain appropriate feeding intervals. Generally, milk empties from the stomach in about 2–3 hours, making 3-hour intervals reasonable. Overly frequent feedings may leave residual milk in the stomach, reducing intake during the next feeding or causing gastric distension that leads to spitting up.
2. Avoid placing the baby down immediately after feeding. After feeding, mothers should not immediately put the baby back in the crib. Instead, hold the baby upright against the shoulder and gently pat the back to release air swallowed during feeding, helping the baby burp.Gas lingering in the stomach occupies space, which is a key factor in causing spit-up. After burping, the gas is expelled, making it less likely for spit-up to occur when the baby is laid down.
3. Avoid placing the baby in a supine position immediately after feeding. While infants typically lie on their backs, it's best not to place them in a supine position right after feeding to prevent spit-up. Wait until the baby has been burped and shows no signs of spitting up before laying them on their back.
4. Use an appropriate feeding position. Some mothers prefer lying down to feed. This face-to-face side-lying breastfeeding position increases the likelihood of spitting up.Holding the baby upright while feeding reduces spitting up. This is because the inclined position tilts the stomach opening, allowing milk to partially flow into the small intestine due to gravity, partially emptying the stomach. Thus, feeding the same amount of milk while holding the baby upright results in less spitting up than feeding while lying down.