Quiz: Your Baby's First Year! 10 Mistakes New Parents Make Slideshow Pictures Parenting and Healthy Eating Slideshow Pictures

Spitting Up in Infants Causes

When we eat or drink, food passes down the feeding tube or esophagus and into the stomach. In the stomach, the food mixes with acids and passes slowly into the intestines for further digestion.

A valve between the esophagus and the stomach helps prevent food from coming back up and out of the stomach. In infants, this valve is not well developed and can more easily allow food to go back up the feeding tube and cause spitting up. Because the infant’s stomach is small, feeding too much or swallowing too much air can help push food past the valve. As the infant grows and the valve develops, food is less likely to pass this valve and travel up the esophagus. Also, as the infant begins to take solid foods, the spitting up usually decreases.