What to do when baby spits up while pottying

EPISODE 231: What to do when baby spits up while pottying

Hello, and welcome to the Go Diaper Free podcast. I'm your host, Nicole Cheever, Go Diaper Free Certified Coach and mama to three kiddos who all went through EC and potty training at different ages and stages.

Hello, hello. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm Nicole Cheever with Go Diaper Free. This is episode 231, What to Do when Baby Spits Up While Pottying. You can find the show notes at godiaperaperfree.com/231. The transcript is over there, all the links to everything I will mention today, and you can leave a comment and any questions you have on the blog when you're finished listening. Today we have a question from Katherine. Let's take a listen.
Katherine: Hi, my name is Katherine and I'm in Massillon, Ohio. My little baby boy is almost four months old, and my question is almost every time I hold him over the potty or the sink, he will spit up, especially when he is pooping and bearing down, which is fine when we're at home, I can clean it up, but when I'm out in public and I'm taking him to go to the bathroom, he will drench his clothes. I'm wondering if there are any recommendations you have to overcome that or if that's just something that I need to deal with in this phase of EC.

Nicole:
Thanks so much for the question, Katherine. It sounds to me like you're most likely holding your baby in what we call the classic EC hold where he's facing away from you, you've got your hands under his thighs, his back is resting against your chest, and you've got him in a good, deep squat position. Spit up is common. Many people just accept that as a part of life with a baby, and it could be because baby hasn't been burped very well. It could be a little bit positional, which is what it kind of sounds like for you. That sphincter muscle at the top of the stomach, where the stomach and esophagus meet, is immature at birth and so can be a little bit leaky sometimes, as people say.

I'm not a medical professional, of course, I'm an EC and potty training coach, but from my understanding, sometimes babies can have some medical issues, so first and foremost, make sure you rule out any medical issues. Both of my girls were born very quickly, and apparently spit up is common with babies who have a fast delivery, and I experienced that with both of my girls. We decided to resolve that with a little bit of body work. We did myofascial therapy and some people do chiropractic. Whatever feels best for you and your family and your situation, but addressing it with a medical professional could be something that could help you. There are also other things that babies deal with like reflux which of course you would want to have addressed by a medical professional.

One of my babies also had a pretty significant lip and tongue tie and until that is dealt with, either through some kind of body work therapy, stretches, or even a release of some kind, babies can have a little bit of trouble latching while nursing or being bottle-fed and that can cause more air and that can cause some of the milk to come back up and spit up. So, just try to rule out all of those things if you can first or at least any that sound like they could apply to you.

And then we want to address the position, of course. So, if the in-arms position is just not working for you and your baby, you can definitely switch it up. At almost four months, I would imagine he's probably holding his head up pretty well and it could be time to transition him to a Mini Potty rather than the in-arms position. If you're still wanting to hold him in arms over the sink, we use the sink a lot when I practiced EC with my youngest, you can try the classic cradle position where you shift the body instead of resting against your chest to resting in the crook of one of your arms. So, you're kind of cradling him like you would just if you were rocking him, but holding him over the sink or even the Top Hat Potty.

If you own Go Diaper Free, you can go into the book there, there's a positions gallery and it shows you all the different positions, and we also have podcast Episode 39 on how to transition from in arms or the Top Hat to a Mini Potty. What you could do with a Mini Potty is have him sitting on it facing you. I like to do this in the car when we're out. You can also try it in your lap or in a chair next to you discreetly if you're out and about. So, take a look at that. Take a look at the positions gallery in the book and see if there might just be another position that doesn't put as much pressure on his stomach and doesn't encourage that food to come back up as easily.

Another thing, when you're out and about especially, is try to dress for success. Try to use a bib or bandana, anything that you can think of that might help to catch anything that might come out. Just like we're going to dress for easy access to get the diaper back-up or the pants off when we're practicing EC, it's a good idea to prepare for anything else we know might happen, like if baby is going to maybe try to be reaching in the potty when they get a little bit older, or in this case possibly spitting up. Bringing wipes with you, bringing changes of clothes, whatever you might need to take care of that if and when it does happen.

Andrea made a note on this that said, "This should probably pass once solids are in the mix." We had a lot of success after utilizing some body work to help release any tension in the body that was causing some of that spit up, but you might see him growing out of this as well. If there's no underlying medical conditions, if there's nothing else that needs to be addressed, it sounds like once solids are in the mix, usually for most babies between six months to a year, this won't be as much of an issue for you.

While your baby is still young, you can take a look at our Golden Window Newborn EC Program. That's for babies zero to four months. That also has a lot of advice in it and videos on how to transition into different positions for EC, and it might be worth it to go through some of those videos and check out what would work best for you and your baby. Also, check out our private support group, poll the parents and the coaches in there and see if anyone else has any suggestions for how to deal with spit up while practicing EC.

That's it. It's a pretty short and simple answer for you today, Katherine. Thank you so much for calling in. Now I want to hear from everybody else, did or does your baby spit up while using the potty? What are your tips for preventing or managing it? Please share with us over on the blog godiaperfree.com/231. Thanks so much for listening today. I'm Nicole Cheever with Go Diaper Free and we'll see you next time.

Thanks so much for listening. This is the Go Diaper Free podcast at godiaperfree.com. We'll see you next time.