Is your baby spitting up a lot after feeding? Sometimes the reason for this happening is quite obvious, but when it’s not, these reasons might be why!
Your baby spitting up a lot after feeding can be really disheartening after a routine feeding because it leaves you feeling helpless a little bit, but it also makes you worried about why it keeps happening.
Some common concerns are: baby spit up color, baby spits up after every feeding, and if baby spits up should I continue feeding?
TOTALLY NORMAL CONCERNS! I had them myself with my first – and my second – and my third! Because almost all babies spit up and there can be many different reasons behind why it’s happening.
Babies spit up and it’s completely normal.
THIS POST IS ALL ABOUT BABY SPITTING UP A LOT AFTER FEEDING AND WHY THIS KEEPS HAPPENING!
Why is my baby spitting up a lot after feeding!?
1. Your baby ate too fast
This is a super common reason and sometimes you can’t really do anything to stop the rate at which they chug down milk. My best tip for combating them eating too fast is to try and feed them before they get TOO hungry. This will definitely depend on your baby and their preference for how frequently they like to eat.
Personally, my babies usually never went 2 hours between feeds. They were always hungry it seemed like, especially in the first few months. If I did happen to go 2 hours without feeding them – usually they’d eat super fast and spit up!
Try and feed them 10-15 minutes before when they normally start doing their hungry feeding cues.
2. Your baby ate too much
Babies are generally pretty good about knowing when they are hungry and when they are full, but sometimes that radar can either be a little off because they were initially really hungry or they are “eating” or suckling for comfort and milk keeps coming.
If you’ve ever experienced your baby drinking more milk but then getting frustrated and unlatching and then latching and getting frustrated again – this may be a sign that they are wanting comfort from suckling but aren’t really hungry anymore.
In my experience, this happens when my baby is tired and is wanting the comfort of nursing to fall asleep but isn’t hungry anymore and milk keeps coming. Then they are frustrated and crying because of the entire situation – tired + overly full.
Tip: If they are getting frustrated while eating, prop them up and pat their backs and release any potential burp and then try to feed again. If you’re breastfeeding, try the other side! If they get frustrated again after the second try then they may be tired and need some help going to sleep.
3. Your baby is swallowing too much air
This is also super, super normal when a baby is eating and can be easily mitigated depending on the feeding method.
For bottle-fed babies, they have special bottles that help babies not get as much air.
For breastfed babies, ensuring a good latch and a good nursing position can help the baby reduce the amount of swallowed air.
Regardless of whether bottle fed or breastfed, if your baby is continuing to spit up because of swallowing too much air then I recommend shorter feeds. Prop them up and pat their back to release any trapped air (cute little baby burps), and then continue to feed again for a short period and repeat until their feeding session is done.
4. Your baby needs to rest after a feed
Picture this: You just ate lunch and immediately went outside and did some jumping jacks, jumped rope, and then went on a swing. What do you think would happen after all that activity? You’d probably throw up!
When I had my first baby I would pat his back so he would burp and then sometimes I’d stand up to rock him and do a little bounce with him if he was fussy. Without fail, he would spit up (and sometimes a lot!) and I’d wonder why this kept happening!
Babies don’t have a fully developed valve that keeps the food in their stomach so when they are overstimulated with movement after a feed it can make them spit up.
So, just wait like 10 minutes before you do rock-a-bye baby! Ideally, keep them in a vertical position for those 10 minutes to let their little bellies settle.
Every baby is different though, so do some trial and error on your end to see what your little one needs. Could be 10 minutes of rest or even up to 30 minutes!
5. Your baby is pushing while feeding
And by pushing I mean… trying to poop. Yep, I said it. This one is totally from experience because without fail my babies would stop mid-feed and start pushing and would poop.
Then they’d go back to eating, but because they were actively engaging their muscles to use the restroom they’d usually engage them so much that they’d force milk back up.
Over time I realized that when I sense they are pushing, I’ll stop the feed and wait for them to be done (and then give them extra time just in case there is more) and then change their diaper and wait 5-10 minutes before feeding again so their bellies can settle.
This isn’t to say that there aren’t scenarios where spitting up might not be normal – there’s something known as reflux in babies that spit up beyond the normal levels. This should be something that is brought up with your baby’s doctor if you suspect that they have reflux.
But, in my experience, when a baby spits up it usually looks like way more than what it actually is.