Difference in spit up and throw up

[winterbabies3]

Just like the title says. There was a stomach bug going around my house last week and now I'm conerned dd had it or it might be reflux. What's the difference? She has been coughing and trying to catch her breath lately and is also spitting out her drool...but today after she fed (from both sides and quit a bit) she threw up or spit up. She is always trying to clear her throat like something is bothering her. Poor baby I feel so bad.

 

[Misskitty10]

I think when the spit up its just dribbling out their mouth and doesn't seem to bother them, when they are sick it's like a whole gagging reflex from the stomach
Edit as I just found this which explains it better!
Vomiting vs Spitting Up
First of all, there’s a difference between real vomiting and just spitting up. Vomiting is the forceful throwing up of stomach contents through the mouth. Spitting up (most commonly seen in infants under one year of age) is the easy flow of stomach contents out of the mouth, frequently with a burp.

Vomiting occurs when the abdominal muscles and diaphragm contract vigorously while the stomach is relaxed. This reflex action is triggered by the “vomiting center” in the brain after it has been stimulated by:

 

[Babybump87]

DD2 was projectile vomiting after her milk I mean it was everywhere. Then cry for more. She would constantly wriggle after winding her and wanted to be upright.

Doctor prescribed her gaviscon and since then she has been fine just spit up when shes burping etc.

I would slightly tilt her cot/moses basket and keep her upright for a while after feeding. Hope shes better soon ! X

 

[noon_child]

Some amount of small spit up is normal in all babies. Reflux is a concern when it disturbs the baby (i.e. wakes them from sleep, makes them cry) or causes so much milk to be lost that weight gain doesn't happen (so it can be quite a lot of milk coming out in severe reflux).

If it is a tummy bug there's nothing you can do about it, unless she's throwing up so much she's getting dehydrated.

 

[RaquelDee]

My bub was always a bit refluxy and on some occasions would spit up quite a bit, but when she caught a stomach bug the difference was really obvious - really forceful vomiting and a lot of it. The vomiting happened multiple times over the day and every time I fed her almost the entire feed would come up immediately. She also got quite lethargic and lost colour, which are signs of dehydration. I would say that if you aren't sure whether it's just normal spit-up or actual vomit, it's most likely spit-up - it was very clear to me that this was something other than normal.