Spit Happens: What's GER verses GERD?

Many of us parents have experience spit up with our babies at some point in time. But at some point every parents wonders "Is this normal?" . My daughter was on her way to replacing Old Faithful as an infant with her throwing up after almost every feeding. And to make it worse, after each "eruption" she would then cry to be fed again for comfort, starting the vicious cycle again. Not fun. But we were lucky enough to have a great doctor who assured me that my daughter wasn't that abnormal. 

Shockingly about 66% of infants suffer from GER. The good news is that GER or gastroesophageal reflux, typically clears up by the time your infant is about 18 months old. GER doesn't require medication treatment, but can often be resolved by feeding your infant less at feeding time and elevating your infant's head during and right after feeding. If that doesn't work, follow up with your pediatrician. 

But in some cases, infants actually suffer from GERD or gastroesophageal reflux disease. This looks like GER but is a little more severe. More spitting up and vomiting (yes, these are 2 different things*), discomfort, and most notably- poor weight gain. GERD only affects about 10-20% of infants. GERD is often diagnosed after GER treatment tips have ben unsuccessful, and can often result in treatment with an acid-reducing medication (like my daughter needed). 

The good news is that she did eventually grow out of it, we were able to wean her off medication and she is now perfectly healthy and a happy eater (that is unless broccoli is involved, but that's another story).

*For the many parents who are wondering  right now: "What's spitting up verses vomiting?".

Here is a some help deciphering the two: spitting up is when a small amount of food is expelled from your baby's mouth with little force. Vomiting is when there is a large amount of food and some of it actually airborne, with force.