Spit-up happens

One of the things I periodically prayed for during my pregnancy was for a baby who — besides being healthy and possessing four limbs in the right places — wouldn’t spit up much. For the first few weeks, I thought we successed in birthing a non-barfer. But in the past couple of days, Lucy’s gastric valves seem to be going in reverse more often than is strictly necessary.

I would consider myself an only *mildly* squeamish person. I don’t like to dump out things that go moldy in the fridge, but I can do it. And I can handle Lucy’s poop pretty well, even when it gets on me. But for some reason I have a harder time with spit up. Let’s be honest, people: it is really *baby puke,* and it grosses me out. Lately when I pick Lucy up for a burp, I say cheerily, “Okay, Lucy, time to barf!” And out it comes. I think it makes me feel better to name it for what it is. And I continue to be thankful to not have a projectile-spit-up baby on my hands.

Lucy in blue

I was still in denial about the new reality on Saturday, when the spit-up pace really started picking up. That day I changed my shirt four times (although, to be fair, one of those times was because she peed on me). Since then, I’ve been more diligent about having a burp cloth on my shoulder. But even now my technique needs to improve. Lucy is such a delightfully active child that she often will entirely miss the burp cloth and spew her gift down my arm. Or, she will spit up onto the cloth and then joyfully rub her hands and face in it. She certainly doesn’t seem as ruded out as I am.

The thing I like least about spit-up is the smell. It isn’t awful, but I’ve found myself racing to change Lucy’s onesie after nursing her and still smelling baby barf for twenty minutes. I’m beginning to consider sprinkling her with baking soda, or at least wearing some perfume (on myself) to mask the odor.

But hey — stinky or not stinky, barf or no barf, she certainly is a cute little muffin. We’ll keep her, even if it means eight baths a day!

7 Replies to “Spit-up happens”

  1. By the way, those aren’t black shoes she’s wearing in the photo: they’re socks (Trumpettes) that look like shoes! I think these things are hilarious. (Thanks for the loan, Emery!)

  2. Mo the Spit-Up King, will have to meet his queen someday. Kaia wasn’t a barfy baby, so I was shocked at how much Mo is able to spit-up and continue to gain weight. At least we know that they will grow out of it, and someday I will go to work without wearing it.

  3. One quick question – does she spit up fairly quickly after finishing eating or does she wait until she’s digested for a while? If she spits up right away, it may be that she is eating too much. Benjamin did that for a while – he would nurse both sides and then within 5 minutes or so of finishing, spit a bunch back out. I read in my book that if they overeat, they spit the extra out. Anyway – I solved it by switching to just nursing on one side. Of course, if she’s digesting for a while and then spitting up there’s probably not much you can do (other than be well armed with burp cloths). One tip that worked for me as far as spit up stains – anything that got spit up on, I would immediately immerse in cold water. If it looked like it might stain, I would leave it in the water until I ran the next load of laundry (thereby preventing the stain from setting), otherwise, I would just rinse it really well and let it dry until it was time to laundry.

  4. Nicole, thanks for the laundry tip! I have noticed that Lucy spits up more in the morning, so I think that maybe she is over-eating a tiny bit then. We’ll see if the pattern continues and maybe I’ll switch to one-sided feedings.

    Of course, yesterday she didn’t spit up very much. Hopefully she wasn’t embarrassed by this post. :)

  5. How about when you’re snuggling with your little bundle and she spits up right into your cleavage? I remember being shocked with how much moisture came with newborns. From the leaky diapers to the spit-up to the milk leaking all over to the tears….we were both constantly damp somewhere.

  6. The thing that amazed me the most with Benjamin is that he has only been sick a couple times where he was actually throwing things up. Anyway – everytime, I’ll go into his room in the morning to get him up (before knowing he was sick) and find him sleeping in bed in a puddle of throw-up…gross. Apparently it didn’t bother him one bit as he made no noise in the middle of the night – he must have just thrown up and gone right back to sleep (probably because he felt better). A friend of mine says that babies just don’t mind the ickiness of life – they live in wet/poopy diapers and are covered in drool a lot – what’s a little spit-up to them?

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