Rumination Syndrome
Rumination syndrome, or Merycism, is a rare disorder that affects children and some adults. If your child has this condition, he or she will usually eat meals normally. But after about an hour or two, undigested food comes back up into his or her mouth from the esophagus. Your child will either rechew and reswallow the food, or spit it out. Typically this happens at every meal, day after day. Rumination is a reflex, not a conscious decision.

Facts about rumination syndrome
The word rumination comes from cows, or other animals that regurgitate food as part of their normal digestive process. Rumination syndrome used to be considered a rare disorder. It seemed to primarily affect children with mental disabilities. Healthcare providers now realize the gastrointestinal (GI) condition may be more common.

Although still rare, rumination is now being diagnosed in both children and adults. Researchers speculate this may be happening because healthcare providers are now able to recognize and diagnose rumination syndrome more frequently than in the past. Rumination is not actually occurring more often.