Stupid Question re: babies getting sick

lilygirl · September 2010

I have a stupid question re: babies throwing up. How do you know when a little one is actually throwing up vs just spitting up?

I feel ridiculous asking but wasn't sure. TIA.

thehoneybadger · September 2010

I pulled this from google. I will say that the one time that K was vomitting as a baby we knew it was vomit. There is a difference and a key indicator for us was that she kept vomiting and it smelled like stomach acid.

Vomiting vs Spitting Up

First of all, there?s a difference between real vomiting and just spitting up. Vomiting is the forceful throwing up of stomach contents through the mouth. Spitting up (most commonly seen in infants under one year of age) is the easy flow of stomach contents out of the mouth, frequently with a burp.

Vomiting occurs when the abdominal muscles and diaphragm contract vigorously while the stomach is relaxed.

lilygirl · September 2010

I Googled it too but wanted some real life experience from others. Thanks!

kat.in.the.hat · September 2010

when Marion threw up (thankfully, not as an infant that I can remember) there was always crying involved. You could just tell she didn't feel well and it has always been accompanied by other symptoms. When she'd spit up as a baby, it never seemed to bother her.

savannah11 · September 2010

For c vomiting was always projectile. I could feel her stomach contract and she would nail the wall across the room. Spit up would just hit the bib. Also, she would vomit a much larger quantity than spit up.

nvp05 · September 2010

savannah11:
For c vomiting was always projectile. I could feel her stomach contract and she would nail the wall across the room. Spit up would just hit the bib. Also, she would vomit a much larger quantity than spit up.

Ditto this. When Rena first started spitting up, we freaked out and called the doctor and this is what they told us. The spit up never seemed to bother Rena, but if she thew up she would scream and be in a lot of discomfort. And it's not a stupid question, I was the same way! I was freaked out that Rena was throwing up after every feeding, but soon learned it was the start of reflux/spitting up!

lilygirl · September 2010

Thanks again. She's had AR for awhile but hasn't seemed herself in the past couple of days. DH and I were both sick this weekend with either a quick stomach virus or from something we ate. We send DD to my parents house to avoid getting her sick but was just curious. I think, more than likely, it's just teething.

CareBear01 · September 2010

We didn't know what "vomitting" was until he actually did it. Then we were like "OH, that's the difference". It was pretty much projectile and a LOT - like you didn't think you would have that much in your stomach, much less a little baby! After that episode, when he would spit up what we used to think was "a lot", we would say - nope, that's not a lot! lol.

LisaK2b · September 2010

There's definitely a difference and you will know when it happens. Ally can spit up a large volume of milk when she was little and that was never vomitting to me, it was still spit up (and it did flow out easily without issues). With vomitting, you'll actually see the stomach muscle move before and/or during. And you might even hear the noise before it's about to come out. So I would say it comes out a little more forceful than spit-up.

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Stupid Question re: babies getting sick

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Vomiting vs Spitting Up

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