Question
My baby is only a few months old and has been exclusively breastfed. The other night, when we went out, the baby accidentally caught a cold and started to cough a bit. I noticed that after the baby eats milk and then coughs, she will spit up. I want to know what’s going on?
Answer
Children have a period of refusing to eat. Now, you can offer her complementary foods such as rice porridge or congee. She might prefer these, as my child particularly loves rice porridge, and it makes her feel fuller. Generally, it’s normal for children to eat every three hours, indicating that she has started to eat on a schedule. It’s normal for a five-month-old baby to eat five to six times a day, as long as she doesn’t cry or fuss and is in good spirits, there’s no major issue. The spitting up might be due to her moving around too much while eating, eating too fast, or poor digestion in the stomach. This isn’t a big deal. My child doesn’t spit up much either because he moves around a lot while eating and has poor digestion, but as long as he grows and develops well physically, there’s nothing to worry about.