Is my baby’s spit-up reflux or something else?

It always looks like the whole feed

Milk spreads dramatically across a muslin. It can look as though the entire bottle has come back when the real amount is much smaller.

If your baby spits up easily, seems comfortable and is growing, it is often more of a washing problem than a medical one.

Our reflux story was not quite that simple

Ari was premature and reflux made feeding harder for her. Her doctor prescribed AR formula, which was thicker and stayed down better for her. It helped us, but it was a plan made for Ari, not something every baby needs.

Smaller feeds, pauses to burp and keeping her upright after a feed also helped. We avoided leaving her slumped in a car seat after feeding.

Yes, we did tilt the cot

We raised one end of Ari’s cot a little because gravity seemed as though it should help. We later learned that current safe-sleep advice is a flat, firm mattress, even with reflux.

So we are not going to rewrite our story and pretend we never did it. We did. We just would not suggest it now, and we did not add wedges, towels or positioners to the cot.

If vomiting is green, yellow, bloody or forceful, or your baby is distressed, feeding poorly or not gaining weight, call your baby’s doctor or nurse.