happy spitter
photo by ByFive Photography

Dear happy spitter baby mamas, hang in there. It’s hard. The amount of paper towels in the trash can, clothes in the washer and burp cloths in the drawers is relentless. The endless pools of spit up are frustrating. No one is hurt. No one is losing sleep. But my goodness, it’s exhausting, and does it ever go away?!?

After my little one gave the doc a shining example of the problem I’d been so desperately trying to describe at our two month appointment, we were officially “diagnosed.” Yup, my baby was a happy spitter.

Happy spitter, in layman’s terms, means your kiddo spits up any time he/she well pleases, as much as he/she well pleases, WHERE he/she well pleases, for no justifiable reason and all with a happy smile on his/her face. Even with a doctor diagnosis, people still have a hard time accepting that our child basically spits up for the fun of it. And by spit up, I mean a gross, frequent amount that manages to seep onto our clothes, legs, floors, rugs, child’s clothes, couch, family dog, etcetera, all despite a perfectly positioned bib and burp cloth ready to “cup and catch.” That much.

“I bet he’s hungry? He just spit up his whole bottle!”

Yeah, no.

“Is it reflux? Does it hurt? Is he gaining weight? Colic? Have you talked to the doctor? Tried eliminating dairy? Added cereal to his bottle? Is it your breast milk? Switched formulas?”

Nope, nope, nope. Just a darn ole happy spitter.

It actually wasn’t until a month or two into mommyhood that I realized there are babies out there who barely spit up, if any at all. What? Pools of spit up immediately following and hours after a feed aren’t normal?!? You mean you don’t own over 30 burp cloths, 30 bibs and still have to change both you and your little one’s outfits a couple times a day? It seemed like I spent my entire maternity leave participating in a daily yoga fashion show – in and out of outfits like nobody’s business.

At least there’s a glimmer of hope that my future kid(s) spare me of this social problem, right? RIGHT?

And yes, it’s totally a social (and laundry!) problem. For the longest time I dreaded public outings because of the spit up. I was literally reluctant to bring my infant to my best friend’s baby shower (even after a personal request) for fear he’d spit up on everyone’s nice clothes, including my own. It’s all good till you feel something warm and look down to find yourself covered.

They say your baby eventually graduates from this problem, that once he/she begins spending more time upright, the reflux muscles will develop, and the spit up will subside. You hear this and think, “I’m not trying to rush my child through any stage, but universe, please have mercy on me. LET’S PLEASE SIT UP!”

Knock, knock, 9 months. We’re well into solids, sitting, crawling and bravely venturing into public without matching bibdanas. (You guys really thought I was accessorizing my child with neckerchiefs for fashion? Ha!) Things have improved, and I have semi-blocked out how daunting this spit up situation has been and some days still is. Though we see the horizon, every once in awhile when we’re naively off guard, that glorious spit up shows face, now stained with orange carrots and accompanied by an added stench of adult vomit. Lovely.

Friends. Family. Strangers. No one is safe from the spit up monster.

Sound familiar? I’m sorry. I really am. Hello to the happy spitter mom club.

Kendra Germenis
Kendra joined the mom club in 2016, followed by the #boymom club in Summer 2019. Kendra loves to write, and for AMB, enjoys sharing her new parent experiences, tips, and general love of Austin. For her, life is a balance of spending quality time with her family, pursuing her program management career, and still soaking up life and adventures. She also freelances through her art and design shop, Kitsy Co. Assorted loves: art, date nights, culture, road trips, Bravo, breweries, chocolate, house remodeling, sunshine, live music and patios.

6 COMMENTS

  1. Omg u described my life in a nutshell a mom to twin girls who have this horrible reflux issue-does this ever end??? They are now 8 months and are still spitting up pools of milk and food-yep happy spitters the pediatrician and gi doc said. One sits up the other is still trying to sit up and they still spit up-please tell me when does this truly end??

    • Oh no, I’m sorry! It was nearly gone around 9 months and honestly, once we got through it, we never looked back. He was mobile, sitting up and on more solids than milk. One day we just realized we hadn’t been using burp cloths anymore. Our second didn’t do it – so crazy! Sending all the blessings and virtual clean clothes your way. It’s coming sooner than you may think!

  2. Oh how I can relate. I have a 3 month old and he spits up faithfully. He has reflux but outside of making a mess of everything he is growing and happy. I have to remind myself he will grow out of this eventually. He is gaining weight but I still wonder how that is possible. He only drinks 4 oz and it seems 3 to 3.5 oz comes right back up 30 minutes later. I can recall the moment he threw up on his sister (13 years old) oh she was not happy. Lol and he smiled right after. She was not the only one as my mom, grandma got the same thing. And low and behold he smiles right after dumping hot liquid all over you. He is happy to get it out. It is now expected I get the burp cloth and blankets ready for the Bibs stand no chance. I am waiting for him to grow out of it. I love the infancy stage but come on solids I am done. Its like he burp and I am running to position the cloth under him…just in case. It is also a warning I must give after his feeding. Beware he will spit up and not a little but a whole flowing hot liquid mess. I would not get him dress for outings until the very last minute and pray we can at least make it to where ever before he becomes a smelly sour milk baby. As bad as it may seems I am happy to know he is still growing and smiling all the time.

  3. Ohmigosh I don’t know when this was written but it’s my life. Happy baby, always spitting up. After good, after naps, sitting up, laying down. It’s always there!!! Big brother never did and so it’s extra annoying. Ugh. 5 months and going strong. Can’t wait to finish this!

  4. I know this was written a while ago but we are shoulders deep in the spit up, 5 months and more than ever! She is the happiest little spitter too. Haha. We do the same, outfits we put on at the very last second before going out. You guys are my spirit mamas. No one I know has dealt with this.

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