How I Got My Baby To Stop Spitting Up

I received product and compensation from Mead Johnson Nutrition to create this post written by me. All experiences and opinions expressed in this post are my own and not those of Mead Johnson Nutrition. Consult your pediatrician before making changes to your baby’s diet or if you have concerns related to your baby’s digestive health. Please see the product label/website for acceptable use and benefits. You can contact Mead Johnson Nutrition with product related questions or comments toll free at 1-800-BABY 123 or through the Contact Us link on Enfamil A.R. or Enfamil.com

As a new mom we’re always questioning ourselves. Do I change my baby enough? Is my baby eating enough? Is my baby sleeping enough? and then you get hit with a less obvious question. Why is my baby spitting up so much? What do I do? I had my first daughter when I was 24, I had no clue what I was doing. Of course I had the “motherly instinct” about almost everything, but my poor baby was spitting up after she ate, every single time. It was not just a little spit up, it was A LOT. My “motherly instinct” was that it wasn’t normal.

I did however, do some research online to find out why my baby might be spitting up. Spit-up is usually caused by immaturity of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) that prevents backflow from the stomach to the esophagus. In young babies, this muscle is still developing so it sometimes doesn’t close all the way. Sometimes spit-up also occurs from acid reflux. I did find out that about two thirds of otherwise healthy infants may have uncomplicated reflux. I was almost sure that’s what our baby had.

Naturally, I called our pediatrician and made an appointment right away. My pediatrician reassured me that this was a very common thing for babies to spit-up while their digestive system develops, and every baby has periods of fussiness and irritability, even mine. However, the pediatrician immediately wanted to put her on acid reflux medication. I wasn’t sure that was the right answer, I mean, if it’s common, then why is medication the only answer? After telling our pediatrician that I was looking for another alternative first, our pediatrician then told us about Enfamil A.R.™ and that we could try it. I told her my concerns and my research about uncomplicated reflux.

Enfamil A.R. is the #1 selling brand of formula for spit-up, and it was actually shown to reduce spit-up by over 50% in babies with frequent spit-up. It is nutritionally balanced, unlike just adding rice cereal to formula. Enfamil A.R. easily flows through the bottles nipple, and it actually thickens further once inside babies stomach. Along with feeding our baby Enfamil A.R.,we also did a few other lifestyle changes to make sure our baby didn’t spit-up as much. We would make sure to burp her more frequently, and we held her upright for about 15-20 minutes after she ate.

We liked using the Enfamil A.R. powder at home and while we were out the ready to use bottles of it were very convenient. I was relieved to know my baby could continue using it for 12 months as well, as it has all of the complete nutrition like a routine Enfamil® formula, as well as brain-nourishing DHA.

If you’re having problems with your baby excessively spitting up, have a talk with your pediatrician about the important differences between acid reflux, also known as Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) and the much more common uncomplicated reflux, also called Gastroesophageal Reflux(GER).

If you’d like to learn more about Enfamil A.R, please check them out here: Enfamil A.R.
If you have any questions or concerns about this product, make sure you contact Enfamil at 1-800-BABY123.