Baby Spitting up a Lot

My son did the same thing expect I couldnt breast feed. But we found out that milk had to much iron in it for his tummy to handle so we used the emfamil low iron and he never spit up again or you can go to the doc and tel them and they'll more than likely switch him to low iron... I hope this helps C.

My second baby spat up so much I began to wonder if she was getting enough nutrition and I breastfed, too. She kept gaining weight, though, so the pediatrician told me not to worry. I hope you don't have to give up breastfeeding, not only because it is good for baby, but formula is so expensive! Good luck!

Jen

My son did this as well and they checked him for Pyloric Stenosis but he did not have that. It ended up being a sever Acid Refilux problem. I was breastfeeding as well and I tried to cut so much out of my diet to help him because diary was just a huge no no with him. I was very discuouraged, ended up switching to formula, helped a little but not much. The Dr. did give me Zantac for him but that didnt help at all. I say it went away around 10 months old, now if I can just find him soemthing he can drink! No Milk, soy gives him diahrea and we are now tring Rice Milk at 19 months, yyuuggh will it ever stop! :)
I feel for you, I remember how frusterated I would get when I was doing a load of burby cloths everyday and getting puked on every 30 minutes sucked! I felt like I was doing something wrong all the time even thoguh I know I wasnt.
Big hug!

A lot of the mom's have very good advice. And GERD is on the rise. I do encourage you to see your pediatrician. However, there is one suggestion I have first.

I work in the NICU so I work with babies everyday, mostly preemies but we get term kids too. I have also floated to peds quite a few times and in my observations as a nurse, there are a lot of parents that...forgive me for saying this...do not know how to burp their babies. It is not to say anyone is a bad parent. It's just that no one teaches parents the best most effective way to burp their baby. Most of the time parents don't run into problems because normal newborns usually don't have problems burping. Though parents, quite often, would wind up with less spit up and more sleep if someone was able to teach parents to burp effectively.

Quite often the breastfeeding moms forget to burp their babies and if anyone needs burping it's the nursing babies. They tend to be laying flatter than bottle-fed babies, so the air is more likely to trap in the stomach rather than rise to the top and reach the esophagus before the milk. If your baby stops sucking and isn't tired, more than likely he needs to burp. Most term babies will burp on their own if you sit them completely upright on your lap, not over the shoulder or against your chest. And count in your head to 60 - give them time to do it on their own, they usually will. Term kids usually don't need any patting or rubbing if this is done. Now if your baby burps fine over your shoulder or however you burp him then that's great. Though if you're not sure you heard a burp or he gave you a wimpy burp there is a great way to find out if there is still a burp in there: rub his upper back in a circular motion while he's sitting upright. If he just sits there, then he probably already got it out. If he starts squirming, then there is more than likely a burp still in there. So you could either give him another minute to try on his own or now you could try a combination of rubbing and patting. First pat his back. Now NO wimpy patting - don't try to break their back but their not as fragile as they look. Pat for about 30 seconds then stop, let them sit for another minute. Still nothing, try rubbing his back in a circular motion for 30 seconds. Again no wimpy rubbing, don't take the skin off off but barely touching him will not help. Let him sit again. If still nothing, don't wait inbetween, just rub for 30 then pat for 30. No longer than 2 minutes though. If still nothing just go back to feeding, you can always try again later.

If you know that he has had good burps and he's no longer hungry and is still spitting up, then see your doctor. It very well may be reflux (GERD) considering the amount he is throwing up. But I encourage you to try this today first. Even if you implement this into your burping routine and it does turn out to be reflux and your baby gets treatment, at the very least your baby will likely sleep longer. They can eat more if they get all the burps out, thus they sleep longer.

I want to caution you before you assume that it is GERD though. Unfortunately in this day and age, some doctors will just prescribe instead of determining the real problem. The only way to diagnose GERD is with a pH probe study, upper GI series, endoscopy, or a gastric emptying study. Signs and symptoms are just clues to the puzzle, you still need the proof. And if a child responds to medication without having one of these studies, they still are not considered to be diagnosed with GERD. So if your pediatrician thinks its GERD, he should be doing further testing to prove it. Insurance is more likely to pay more if the doctor did the appropriate testing anyway. Also, if anti-reflux medication is started, there can be negative side-effects. In some the side effects can include neurologic changes (seizures, sleeping problems, etc.). Most preemies have reflux, so our neonatologists (docs) take this into consideration before prescribing them. Definitely do your research and ask questions. There are also non-pharmacological methods to treating GERD. A wedge under the crib mattress can be used. Keeping your baby upright for an hour after feeding. There are beds for babies with GERD that work well (AmbyBaby.com). Thickening milk with rice-cereal (only with a doctors order). Using vented bottles (Dr. Browns's or BornFree). Any of these methods should be brought up with your pediatrician. Again if the doctor orders it and a study was done to prove GERD, insurance is more likely to pay for the things you need to prevent/inhibit the reflux (swing-bed, wedge, medication). I hope this information helps. I know it was a lot but this is your baby and you need to obtain all of the information you can.

This is a good website with basic information about GERD: http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/36...

Good luck K..

Addition Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007:
ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS, with any baby, keep a bulb syringe handy wherever you go. In the nursery, in the diaper bag, in the car. If your baby spits up/throws up, you will always have something to suction out their airway. Know how and when to use it. If you have a baby, you should also learn CPR. Better to be safe than sorry.

When I breastfeed my son He spit up everytime. I always thought it was normal. I knew to warn people after I feed him they should wait to hold him.

If your baby is projectile vomiting, have your pediatrician test him for Pyloric Stenosis, a condition that affects the gastrointestinal tract during infancy, isn't normal - it can cause your baby to vomit forcefully and often and may cause other problems such as dehydration and salt and fluid imbalances. Getting immediate treatment for pyloric stenosis is so important.

Pyloric stenosis is a narrowing of the pylorus, the lower part of the stomach through which food and other stomach contents pass to enter the small intestine. When an infant has pyloric stenosis, the muscles in the pylorus have become enlarged to the point where food is prevented from emptying out of the stomach.

We have had several male babies in our family treated for Pyloric Stenosis.

AS

Try removing dairy from your diet for a week and see what happens. This happened to a girlfriend of mine and as soon as she removed dairy, he was able to keep his meals down.

My daughter did that too and being a first time mom I took her to the doc. They automatically put her on meds for reflux. I used it for a tiny bit but then stopped. I think sometimes my old pediatrician was too quick to give meds. For my little girl it just eventually got better. The older she got the less and less she spit up.

Welcome to mommy hood again!!
I would sugest trying to burp him more often. Breast babies and bottle babies need to be burped and some babies need it more often because that is the way they are nothing is wrong with them they just need a few more love pats then another beautiful child.
Happy Burping
A.
www.romance2nite.com
just ask me about booking a party or becoming a consultant

The same thing happened with my daughter. I took her to the pedi and it ended up being reflux. She was put on zantac and has been problem free ever since. I would just take her to the pedi to be sure all is well.
Good luck to you and feel free to contact me if you need any info on reflux. Take care! :)

Maybe your daughter has an allergy to something? Dairy, wheat? Try cutting one of these out of your diet to see if it helps. If it doesn't, try the other one. I suggest seeing your ped.

First of all what you are experiencing may be TOTALLY NORMAL. Please don't get totally scared and freaked out yet.

One of the first things you should do is see a Lactation Consultant. If your baby is gaining normally (1/2 to 1 oz. a day), pooping and peeing normally (2-3 poops and 6 or more wets a day) it is very possible your baby is over eating. Babies are born with a great overflow mechanism. They get too full, they spit up, sometimes A LOT. There is a difference between "projectile vomiting" which usually included several heaves of the stomache vs. a large spit up. Both may come out the baby's nose... Bad visual, but still can be normal.

Does your milk let down fast or forcefully? Do you use 1 breast, or both with each feeding. Does your baby sometimes "choke" or cough while nursing? Does your baby always have yellow stool, or is it sometimes greenish? These are all questions that need to be answered in order for a Dr. or BETTER YET a Lactation Consultant to help you decide if this is OK or not.

One thing I'd recommend ASAP is for you to do a Pre/Post weigh session. We weigh the baby, you nurse the baby, and we weight the baby again. We can tell to the .1 of an ounce how much he is eating. Than can really put a mommy's mind at ease!!!

If your baby is not peeing or pooping enough you do need to get help ASAP. Dehydration obviously not a good plan.

Feel free to contact me! J. @ Every Mother & Child
www.everymotherandchild.com

My son did this, and it really scared me. He would throw up multiple times a feeding, and it was a TON of food! I took him to a gonstead chiropractor on Grand and Bell Rd. His name is Dr. Kirk VanMeter. Turns out my son was all out of whack from the delivery. He had put one arm out, and had to be pulled out in a weird way. After the chiropractor worked on him for a while, he was like a brand-new baby! I also took him to Dr. Kail, a naturalpathic Dr. who desencetised (can't spell.. sorry) him to food alergies in my breastmilk. It's weird stuff, but works. It also helped if I fed him less, more often.

Is he eating too much at one feeding?

My daughter had acid reflux as well, but she was formula fed. Here's our story....Her cause was the trauma she suffered during birth. She was stuck on my pelvic bone and could not descend so they had to use the vacuum. She should have been born about a month early and ended up being 9lbs 8oz. Around 3 months or so she started spitting up more than normal and overeating to keep the stomach acids down. On top of that at 4-6pm every day she would cry and scream uncontrollably.

I took her to our doctor and she was going to put her on medicine. I did not give her one ounce of it. In my mind there is no reason a baby whose diet consists of formula would require a medicine for adults that eat greasy, spicy foods. I talked to a friend of mine who's husband is a chiropractor and told me to bring her in. She got adjusted 6 times and has not had one symptom of it since.

Sorry for the long-winded story.

Hi K., Please this is something that you don't want to asume it is just nothing or over eating, When he spits up like that powerful the chances that it can go into his lung can be very high. That happened to my first son and that alone almost killed him because when it gets into the lungs it causes an infection. I have two boys and they did the same thing, this caused both of my children to stop breathing while they were sleeping and that is becase it is ver unconfortable and can be painful for them so they hold their breath to try to keep it down, I found my first son at 3 weeks old choking and turning blue because he had spit up (threw up) while he was sleeping he was then hospitalized and put on meds he had reflux, which helped so much. My secound son I knew when he would eat a little while later it would come up and shoot across the room and he was about 5 weeks he was then hospitalized because it was soo bad to the point he would stop breathing and set off his monitors, they ran a few test and he is now on 3 meds and he just turned 1 but I tell you if I forget to give him even one of his medication then he will start crying and his mouth starts to smaell funny and he spits up so much. You have to make sure your baby is safe and confortable, this is something that they can grow out of usually by the age 2. My daughter also had reflux and she was my first child so I didnt really know at the time but she would spit up soo much like it would fly out of her mouth and one day when she was about 6 weeks she was in her swing and I looked at her and she was blue , she had held her breath to keep it down and when I picked her up it ALL came out. There again she was put in the hospital to run some test and put on 1 med. that really helped and she only needed it until her 2nd birthday. If you get your baby in soon this might not happen to him. Please see about getting him to feel better... Trust me I have been threw this 3 times , It is a small thing that can be fixed or if ignored it can have a really bad outcome. Good Luck R A

WEll hi there, My ex sister in law has a son who does the same thing, but he has a acid reflux issue, you might want to have you baby checked out by a doctor just to make sure there isn't anything serious going on.

Hi there. I have one year old twins and I breastfed them for a bit. One of my girls would constantly spit up and it turned out to that she had gastric reflux. She had to be given medication for a few months and then it went away. My sister--in-law breast fed her son for about 6 months and he always spit up - he did a lot of what you described your son to be doing. He ended up having reflux as well. You might want to check with your doctor . . .good luck!

You should definitely see your doctor right away! My best friends' little boy had surgery when he was 3 weeks old because a muscle wasn't contracting to let the food down, so it would just come back up. And they described it as "exorcist" style. Apparently, it happens very often in males. It's a simple operation, they just cut the muscle so the food can get down.

I've also had a lot of friends who have babies with acid reflux, that could be a possibility too. If it keeps happening so bad like that and you can't get in to the pediatrician, I would go to urgent care.