4 Month Old Constantly Throws Up

See the Dr. again, she may have an allergy to her formula etc.

I don't knwo if you are breast feeding or not. My daughter at that age did the same thing and I had to switch her to Soy formula. It did help a lot when I switched. Ask your Pedi about this. Good luck!

I would contact your local Early Childhood Intervention. I think in Austin it is Easter Seals, but you can type early childhood intervention and the name of your county in Texas and get the name and number. If she is in the 10th percentile, she may be delayed in other areas. ECI is a service provided by the state, based on a sliding scale, that helps with children that have a developmental delay.
As for the weight, I would contact a lactation consultant. They can bring a scale to your house to weigh your baby. They can weigh them before you nurse and after you nurse. It makes sense to me that they could do that to see how much she ate, and then weigh her again after she eats to see how much she lost.
Celiac's disease could be a reason for throwing up, too.

IMHO, she doesn't need any medications. Throwing up excessively is a way their little bodies are telling us that something isn't agreeing with them. She is more than likely intolerant and/or allergic to dairy - all dairy. IMHO, I'm not a big fan of giving them any solids until their digestive system matures for at least closer to 1 year old. Their bodies are so new and they've never had anything solid in their bodies before, so it takes time for their systems to acclimate to milk (nursing, etc.), then later to solids. I'd highly recommend at least taking her off dairy and holding off on solids until her spit-up greatly lessens. Hang in there mama!! Most pediatricians are not trained in nutrition and tend to hand out medications instead of looking at what the body is trying to tell us.

My daughter did the same thing. I was told that she'd stop at 8 months- when the flap naturally closes. She did...almost to the day. We wore bibs literally until she was 8 months old! I, too was worried about the amount being thrown up and my Pedi told me to get a measuring spoon and fill the tablespoon with water and pour it onto the counter. I was amazed at how much two tablespoons actually looked. My daughter is now 2...yes, we made it...and a happy, healthy little girl.
HTH

Have you tried feeding more frequently and sitting her upright for 30 minutes after feeding her? Have you altered your diet? You may need to start cutting out foods from your diet and keep a journal of her reactions to what you eat. Dairy is usually the biggest culprit when it comes to food allergies. Many babies who are allergic to dairy are also allergic to soy. Dairy and soy are in many different foods, so read labels carefully. It may take up to a week before you notice any difference.

If your baby is not gaining weight or dropping percentiles, she needs to be evaluated by a GI specialist. Most babies who have Gastroesphageal reflux disease, lose weight and because they are forcefully vomiting everything back up they can also cause damage to the esophagus from the acid. If your doctor feels it is reflux then you need to see a specialist. Make sure to let the doctors know that you are breastfeeding and wanting to continue. She does not need anything else right now other than your breast milk. I would take out all solids until she is 6 months.

I hope this helps and good luck to you.

Sounds like your pediatrician needs to re-evaluate your little girl. Our friend's son (who was a premie) had reflux and digestive problems for several years, but did eventually outgrow it all. I think he was on formula, but can't recall for sure. My friend put her son on goat's milk (at the doctor's directive)and he did better. I would definately ask for more tests to be done... just to be sure. You may want to ask about the possibility of her having an allergy to your milk (?)

Hang in there! This too shall pass...
Blessings and prayers,
M.

C.,

You mentioned taking her off the meds your doc prescribed for her, did they help at least keep the existing weight on, or did your doc suggest/recemmend taking her off the meds?? I know this can be scary, both my kids were really big spitter upers, and I was convinced they would never gain weight, they did of course! Good Luck!

my youngest daughter was like that when she was born, she threw e/thing up. i took her off from brestfeeding and started giving her the lactose similac formula, so try the formulas that are lactose free. she was able to keep that down. you can add a little cereal in the bottle with the milk, about a tsp or so, and shake the mixture very well you will have to cut the nipple so the cereal can come out easier. that shud help. she shud start to gain weight. my daughter did just fine and now she is able to drink regular milk, she will grow out of it.

Hi C.,
First of all, my heart goes out to you as a mom. I have a 15-month-old, and I can only imagine the stress you must be in. My mother had a similar problem with 2 of my 5 brothers. They were both breastfed--like your daughter is--and one would throw up almost everything he ate. However, rest assured, he did outgrow it. He is now a strong, healthy 23-year-old who is planning on joining the Navy. The younger one also outgrew it, and he graduated recently from high school at the top 10% of his class.
I know it's hard to watch them go through that, but as long as your daughter is gaining some weight, she will eventually be fine. However, if you are still really, really concerned about her, I would recommend going to a specialist. Sometimes another doctor will also have different ideas from the one you're currently going to as well. Hang in there! I will be praying as well!

Watch what you eat. No acidic stuff like tomatos, no alcohol, etc. If she has acid reflux you may be doing damage by not giving her the meds. The extra acid inthe stomach backs up into the esophogus. This, over time, can cause esophagial cancer. If it doesn't cause cancer, it will cause damage to the esophagus. I have acid reflux and so does my 15 month old. Be careful in self treating this. I would take her to a stomach specialist that treats this. There isn't any meds that we have been given to stop the vomitting. I end up in the hospital regularly with it.

My daughter has managed to gain weight when I took her off of formula and put her on 2% organic milk. I also started her on fresh fruits (non-acidic) at 3 months. I started with fresh peeled apples. Put them in a double boiler and steam them, then puree in a blender. Also, bananas mashed up or pureed in the blender (add a couple tablespoons of water for a thinner consistancy) is a good thing. Stay away from processed foods like jared baby foods even if it says organic. Making your own is a lot cheaper and there will be more nutrients for baby. We adopted so nursing was not an option but that would have been easier to digest than formula.

My son also had this plus projectile vomitting. I was forever cleaning carpets with him. They usually outgrow this by 3 yr old. At least that is what the pedi tells me. My son lived on pb&j until he was 3. The only milk he could drink was canned goats milk. You might try that too. He did not have an intolerance to milk, just acid reflux and a the valve that is suppose to hold the food down, did not work well. His weight was so low he was "failure to thrive". When he was born he was 22 1/2" and 8#. He is now 15 and 6' tall and wears a 13 1/2 shoe. So, there is hope! Good luck.

My son did the same thing at that age. Turned out I was feeding him too much formula. Unfortunately you do not know how much yours is drinking. Maybe just cut her back when feeding. I know it sounds harsh but if it stops the throwing up then its worth it.

have you tried changing your diet?

Could it be an allergy??

My Daughter did the same thing - we switched her to Enfamil A/R and it worked great. The formula needs to sit after it is prepared for approx. 5 min. so you may want to prepare a few bottles and keep them in the fridge for a quick feed when you have a fussy hungry baby! We did a prescription med for about 4 months. Then no longer needed it with the new formula - it is made for kids that frequently spit up - my daughter would throw everything up. Good Luck and try Enfamil A/R.

Try lactose free milk, my son now 16 months old had the same problem. we too were given med for reflux and going to lactose free formula made the difference for us. Hope she feels better.

My first child spit up quite a bit for the first 3 months. Four months seems too long to be having this problem. Contact La Leche League. Wait at least 30 after feeding your baby before you put her to sleep and be sure and burp her well. Try putting her to sleep on her tummy at least in the daytime. I wish I had put my first child to sleep on her tummy more because I believe it would have lessened the problem she had of spitting up so much. She threw up so much, I oftentimes had to just start her feeding over. I also breastfed. La Leche League may be more helpful than your pediatrician. Good Luck!

I would think she would have been diagnosed with failure to thrive due to the small amount of weight she is gaining. I would take her back to the doc. Are you comfortable with the pediatrician? Is the doc willing to look further into it? To see if there is a mucus blockage or pyloric stenosis, etc. It probably wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion (maybe from your family practioner). Good Luck.

Maybe she isn't ready for solids. The new thinking is to hold off on solids until 6 months. You could try starting a bit slower by only giving her one or two bites of food at each "meal" and see if she holds that down. To help with the weight issue, try making those little bite have high impact by offering foods like avocado.

I second the pyloric stenosis thought. I know there is a surgery that I have read is not too bad that can fix the problem. My son had acid reflux and previcid took care of it so I think if she is not gaining it could be something else as well. I think I would talk to the dr. and see about getting her tested. It is probably nothing serious and can be nipped in the bud. Take care!!

We had the same type of situation with our first child. He was refluxing very often and would spit up at any time, not just after he ate. We did an Upper GI test on him with Barium and it didn't show anything but the doctor we had wasn't happy with the test results. We went to anoter hospital for a more intensive Upper GI series and the radiologist was really good. They did the basic test and then had us wait a bit, to allow the liquid to go further into his intestines. When they brought us in for that last part, they found out that he had a malrotation of his lower intestine between (sorry, I know I'm going to spell it wrong) his duodinum and his jijunum. They explained to us that many people are walking around with this condition, undiagnosed.

We went to a pediatric surgeon right away that decided to wait on surgery but to have us thicken his formula. His pedi kept telling me to thicken his food, so I did...and then I let him wash it down with a nice bottle of formula. Stupid me, didn't realize that I should have been thickening his formula with rice cereal the entire time. We had to slice open the nipples of the bottle to allow the fluid to escape but it worked great! If for some reason, I would be out and forget to add the cereal, I knew almost immediately upon him finishing his bottle because I wore everything he had just drank. By the time he was one, he was just about all grown out of it.

I would highly recomend that you resume use of the medication because the stomach acid, even though your daughter is happy, is still wearing away at her esophagus. My son used to be very happy upon ending a reflux episode as well. You may want to request that your doctor prescribe an Upper GI Series with added viewing of the Barium moving through the lower intestines. If the doctor is resistant, you owe it to your daughter to seek a second opinion. There is even something called Pyloric Stenosis (spelling?) that could be causing this and that is fixed with surgery. Until further testing is done, you will not know what you are truly dealing with.

I remember that just prior to and shortly after the diagnosis of my son, that I felt like I was the only mom in the world with this problem. Most people, when you told them about the constant emptying of stomach contents just tell you that you are overfeeding your child and put a bib on to catch it all. It was much more stressful than that!

I wish you the best of luck and would love to know what the outcome is. If you have any questions or would like to talk, you are more than welcome to email me at ____@____.com.

Are you still breastfeeding at all? Is she on formula? She no doubt has allergies to foods. I would highly recommend some food allergy testing. This imbalance may be temporarily "fixed" with medications, but we all know they're extremely dangerous, especially long term. For starters, and until you can see a specialist, take ALL grains (wheat, oats, barley, rye) and milk derivitives (cows milk, cream, cheese, casien, etc.)out of her diet completly; if your nursing, out of yours too. I know this sounds harsh, but I'm speaking from a lot of experience here! Best of luck to you.

My 3 yo threw up her milk, formula, and anything made with these until she was on regular foods...It was my first time dealing with this. I was sure she was not getting enough to keep her healthy as it appeared that everything that went in came back out.

When I took her to my pedi...she was given a reflux medication but that didn't help. I was then told to give her increasingly smaller amounts at a time and increase the frequency of her feedings (i.e. her 4 oz bottles were to be given 1 oz ever half our, or 2 oz every hour..her 8oz bottles broken down to 2, 3 or 4 oz increments)...Honestly, all that did was help her keep a little more down as she didn't throw as much up, but she still threw up every feeding...

The doctor watched her weight and while my children have ALWAYS been on the small side of the scales (usuallly not even on the charts until they hit 6 months or so) the doctor chose to watch how much her weight increased from visit to visit (which was weekly at first then monthly as long as her weight gain progressed) versus where she appeared on the charts.

I hope any of this has helped you out in some way. Good Luck with you little one!!! ;-)

If she is not gaining weight...I woould have a Scan done at the Docs office b/c she could have a blockage...my friends baby had that and he was not gaining weight...once he had the short small surgery for ix the blockage he was gaingin weight so fast! /I would just keep an eye out on that...it could be noting but if not gaining...I would look into something further.

I agree w/ Wendy W on the pediatricians & the no solids!!! If you're nursing...give up dairy or any new vitamins/meds for awhile. If formula, change to soy-based. I would make sure her diapers are saturated or there could be a dehydrating issue...worse than not gaining the right amt of weight! Also, there could be a slight twist or hernia in the digestive tract/intestines that could cause a prob...not to scare you...just have checked out. Hang in there...but do NOT NOT NOT allow any doctor to blow off your concerns. If you don't get an answer that satifies you, don't just assume they know what's best. Go to a specialist. I let down my guard one time w/ my pediatrician and it affected my youngest son for life (skull development issue). So, be your baby's best advocate!!

The same thing happened with my son. He was 8 weeks old, when we went on our parents 50th anniversary cruise. (They had bought us tickets, before we knew we were expecting).
The doctor incouraged me to take him, and said that the rocking motion of the boat would help him to rest & sleep better, so I did.
What amazed me, was that he did not throw up or spit up the entire time!!! I had clean clothes for almost the whole time!
He slept better, ate better and acted better than he ever had.
When we returned, I told the doctor about it.
She asked me what we did and did not eat on the cruise. I was nursing him.
We realized that no milk products had been served to us.
The doctor had me get off milk products for a week as a test.
Sure enough, the little guy never threw up or spit up.
Then when I tried something with milk, or soy, he would throw up.
I realized then, that babys absorb what we eat.
Make a list of the foods you eat. Two hours latter, feed him and see what the reaction is. I could always tell when I feed him two hours after eatting something I shouldn't have.

He had been diagnoised with reflux, but the meds did not help one bit. Only when I was completely off milk, did he stop.

I hope this helps.

There is also a rare birth defect, where the outlet of the stomach doesn't drain into the intestants completely, and is partially blocked.

Hi C.,,,
if Dr is so concerded i think i'd want a second oppion i'd call and have her appointment moved up ,,, and talk with him about it because something is not right at all and you and the Dr both know that the sooner you get it fixed the faster she will get better
mt prayers and thoughts L.

If you are really concerned you should take her back to the doctor. It is okay if she is still in the 10th percentile as long as she didn't have a jump down. (Meaning she wasn't in the 90th percentile last time and now in the 10th.) Normally if they continue to gain weight and they aren't in pain, it is okay. My daughter has always been in the 5 or 10th percentile and she spit regularly until she was a year old and continued to spit up some until she was almost two. She is healthy and I haven't seen any spit up for at least five months now.

It sounds to me as if your baby could have pyloric stenosis and in order to correct the situation, you will have to return to the pedi.
All the best.

My grandson (who I babysat everyday until he was 2) did the same thing from the time he was only a few weeks old. I don't remember how long it took for him to grow out of it, but he is still on the small side, which I blame on the reflux he suffered from in the beginning.

We used to feed him and then hold him in an upright position (absolutely NO LAYING HIM DOWN for at least 30 minutes after eating). This worked only partially, especially if we didn't religiously burp him between ounces.

I know this is very frightening and frustrating for you, but many babies have this exact same condition. I don't know why it's so prevalent these days. (My daughter who is 30 had projectile vomiting at six months--turned out she was allergic to milk at that time!)

Anyway, since you're already breastfeeding, you are doing all you can to give your baby a healthy eating experience. Just follow the doctor's suggestions, and know that this will not go on forever.

My grandson is now five years and eats like a horse--no more problems at all--and hasn't had any since he was about 1.

Hang in there. This, too, shall pass.

At 3 weeks old my son was diagnosed with Pyloric Stenosis--we were immediately sent to Texas Children's for surgery. Good news is that it is normally cured 100% by the surgery. It is not as common in girls as it is in boys but I would definintely bring it up to your doctor (before another 2 weeks goes by-that will seem like an eternity with all that vomit!) and see if they will test your daughter. For my son, they did an ultrasound and an upper g.i. Good luck and keep us posted!

My daughter is 4 months old too and we are going through the exact same thing. The Reglan, and Previcid don't seem to be helping. She is growing soooooo slow. People think she is still a month old. We have another appointment too. I'm curious as to what works. Let me know what you finally figure out if anything.

My son was doing a fair amount of what I would call projectile vomiting - not "straight" out as my doctor said it would be if it was reflux, it was an arch. Nevertheless, it all stopped when I stopped breastfeeding and put him on soy formula. After a couple of weeks we tried milk based formula because it's cheaper - two bottles and out it all came, so my husband declared the experiment over! It's worth a try (cheap and easy!) to either back off of dairy products yourself or try soy formula for a week and see if you see a difference.

Good luck,

Try keeping her upright after feeding. When she nurses, change positions so that she's sitting more upright to eat. Then sit her up in a bumbo, swing (not moving), or whatever for about half an hour. Even wear her in a baby bjorn or sling in an upright position. Don't shake or jossle her around too much - kind of try to keep her still and upright. Don't even try to burp her - just let it settle!
Good luck! :)

There is a difference between growth rate and weight gain. If your daughter started out at a much higher percentile and has recently dropped into the 10th, that would be alarming. Combined with the vomiting, I can certainly understand the concern. However, your doctor is not THAT worried if you are coming back for a weight check 2 weeks apart.

Are you noticing anything out of the ordinary with her bowel movements? Greenish coloration or foaminess (along with the vomiting) would indicate a milk imbalance--you may have too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk (which is where the bulk of the fat is located). If you suspect this, you should try only nursing her on one side at a feeding. After she detaches, put her back to the same breast and get out all that good fat. You may find that you are nursing more often, but the quality will be better. I found that this helped my imbalance in about 4 weeks.

I would avoid the solids, they are likely to exacerbate any underlying problem.

To ease your own mind, go to the sporting goods store and buy a fishing scale. It has a hook that you can attach to a sling and weigh your child weekly. I found it very reassuring since my daughter could finish nursing both sides in 12 minutes--I had firehose let-down!

I also had to eliminate ALL dairy for a few months. It greatly decreased her gastrointestinal distress.

Above all...listen to your instincts. Get a second opinion if you don't feel as if your pediatrician is taking your concerns seriously. Also, consider attending a La Leche League meeting and getting a referral for a lactation consultation.

Good Luck!

My daughter had the worst reflux. We came home from the hospital with over $100.oo in perscriptions for her to take. I did some research and found Infamil AR formula. My daughter wouldn't breast feed so we were stuck using formula and that is the only thing that worked for us. She would still spit up some but didn't lose everything that went in.

Also, we broke up her feedings. We'd let her drink half of a bottle and then we'd make her rest for a few minutes before giving her the other half. This helped some.

I hope this helps! Good luck!

I have a now 21 mo. old daughter. She had horrible reflux as an infant. She, too, spit up ALL THE TIME!!!! Our pediatrician at the time prescribed something (I can't remember what it was now) and that helped enough to notice, but not enough to curb the colossal spit-ups. When she was old enough, we were told to keep her as upright as possible for as long as possible after she ate. It helped a little, but not much. When we moved to Texas however, her new pediatrician prescribed Prevacid and that was a dream come true! While she still spit up a bit, it wasn't anywhere near what it had been. And, it just became less and less over time. We would dissolve 1/2 tablet with a little water and feed it to her through a syringe. When she was old enough to eat table food, we would just give her the pill (she liked the taste & it dissolved in her mouth immediately). Also, our pedi told us that once she started standing upright and walking around more, it would slowly go away. Now, while we still have Prevacid in the house, just in case, it is extremely rare that we see her spitting up anything. With everything we tried, the Prevacid was the one thing that made an obvious difference and the difference was HUGE! You might want to ask your pedi about prescribing Prevacid.

My son went through this. We had upper GI tests and every other tests known to man before he was a week old.

He would not breast feed so he was on formula. We had him on milk based formula then moved him to soy formula and he still threw up EVERYTHING. THey ruled out allergies.

Nine months later, they tested him and he was allergic to BOTH soy and milk. He ate the expensive stuff for till he was a year and then drank rice milk for 2 years. Now he is 11 and he drinks milk and has soy products now.

If you have not considered this... you might. Good luck!

Hi C.,
I would call the doctor & get her in. My son was a big time vomiter & had reflux for the first few months. Like one of the other mom's said, I had a towel on hand to catch it all. But he always gained weight. If she's not gaining weight I'd get her in to see the doctor right away & tell him you want to get to the bottom of this. Here are a few suggestions to try in the meantime. Maybe you can stop eating dairy until you get her to the doctor & see if that helps. If it is a dairy issue, that would likely help. Try the Earth's Best organic baby cereal. It's free of genetically engineered ingredients. Also you could try feeding her less at each feeding, and making her feedings more frequent. Maybe she's getting too full at each sitting?
I hope it gets better. Good luck!

My son had all the same symptoms that your little one has and for many weeks I was told he had reflux and would just "outgrow it" I would definitely ask your pedi about the possibility of pyloric stenosis, especially if you take her back and she has lost weight. That is what my son ended up having. The bad news is it requires surgery to fix.. the good news is that it is a quick surgery that will have her back to feeling good in no time. My son was 1 month old when he had this surgery laproscopically. He is 2 years old now and you'd never know he was so sick at one point in time!! Good Luck!!

Sorry but if she is in the 10th percentile and constantly throwing up I would go back to the doctor before 2 weeks, I'd make an appt. as soon as they could get me in. She is still so young and I would hate for her to be malnourished for 2 weeks waiting for an appointment - or I would at least call to ask, explaining her symptoms to the doctor (but that would not be enough, I would want her to be seen). If she was gaining weight, I would not be so quick, but if not, there is something wrong.

My son spit up a lot to the point I had to have a big towel on hand after he ate to catch it all, but he was always chubby and gaining weight.

Don't be hesitant to be aggressive about finding out what is wrong, she is still so young and vulnerable.

Good luck!

Hi C.,

Since you're breastfeeding, it could be something in your diet. My second child was very sensitive to what I ate, and I started keeping a food diary. He got screaming colic every time I ate chocolate, and he threw up any time I had any citrus, whether fresh fruit, juice, or even citric acid, which is used in a bunch of things you wouldn't expect as a preservative! He also got eczema if I had any pork product (ham, bacon, etc.). My oldest never reacted to anything I ate except nuts (colicky).

I suggest keeping a food diary, and possibly try eliminating common offenders (dairy, acidic foods like citrus or tomatoes, cruciferous vegetables, and less commonly wheat, soy, or nuts). It's a lot of detective work which may require some restraint on your part once you figure out what she's reacting to. Also, La Leche League is a great support.

Hope this helps!

See another Dr. for a 2nd look at whats going on. She needs help fast.

Sounds like it could be milk protein allergy or lactose intolerance. Not very common in infants but I've heard it can happen. My little one had a transient lactose intolerance after a stomach virus. The doctor said to change to a lactose free formula for 2-3 weeks and then switch back to BF or milk based formula. My baby is a little older (5.5 mos) so I don't know if that makes a difference. We're a week into the lactose free and he's doing much better, two more weeks then we'll switch back and see if his tummy can tolerate milk again. In the meantime, maybe you could pump to keep your milk supply up or do half and half and see what happens...but I'd run it by your doctor first.

You didn't say if she was always in the 10th percentile or if she has dropped significantly. Also, the charts are based on formula-fed babies, and a breast-fed baby can drop percentiles without there being a problem. Our doctor said babies can start out bigger but then go to where they will naturally be (especially true if you are slim). My second, a girl, started off in the 70th at 2 weeks, was around 50th by 2 months, then 15th by 6 months. When she was 2, she still only weighed 21 pounds (not even on the charts), but by 3 she was back to the 10th (where she still is). Now she's almost 4 but still doesn't even weigh 30 pounds. She never had any problems with reflux and she eats like a horse! Our doctor said as long as she was eating, she wasn't too worried (only said to keep her on whole milk even after she turned 2). While it seems like your daughter is throwing up everything, she is most likely still getting some nourishment out of what she eats, and as long as she's gaining some weight (even if not staying in the same percentile) and is happy, there probably isn't reason to worry too much. Hope that helps.

C., I did not have a child myself who projectile vomits, but I do have friends who do. One friend was told to put cereal in the baby's milk bottle. That helped for her, but the other two had to have some type of minor surgery done. I do not know the details but I will try to find out what the doctors told them it was and what type of surgery they did. Good luck!

Concerned mother trying to help,
K. P