Baby Spit-Up - How Much is Normal?

Babies spit up – a lot. It's a fact of parenthood that you're going to go through a lot of burp cloths (and laundry). But all that spit up can be worrisome and have parents asking, "Is this normal?" It's a question Dr. Vuong Dao hears often and he's here with answers about spit up, acid reflux, what's normal and what isn't.

Meet the speaker

Meet Dr. Dao

Visit his pediatrician office

Related information

Sniffing out seasonal allergies

Transcript

Today I'd like to talk to you about how to tell if your baby's spit up is normal or not. Well, first, you want to look at what's coming out. Does it look like formula or breast milk? If it does, that's not concerning. But if it looks like coffee grounds, bright red blood or yellowish in nature/ That can be a sign of something else going on. You also want to see if your child's very fussy when they're feeding. If they're happy you don't have to worry about reflux.

Last, you want to see what their bowel movements look like. Has it changed? Has it become watery, mucousy or bloody. Those are also signs that your baby might be having something else. Fifty percent of all babies in the first few months will have reflux. So by the time they hit 10 months of age 95% of it will go away.

Back to Ask-a-Doc