Need Some Advice!! - Marrero,LA

Yes, get the doctor to write you a prescription (or you can buy it at a drug store) for a thickener that goes in the bottle (one brand is called Simply Thick but there are others). The thickener helps the milk stay down. You still need to see the doctor and have this situation monitored. My daughter is 3 now and will still do it on occasion.

My son is now 3 1/2 and we went through this his entire first 11 months of life. We tried every formula on the market, goats milk, soy, and everything in between nothing worked. They put him on Zantac which did not help. My best advice is to keep him and you lots of clean clothing handy. I swore he threw up more than he took in but he gained weight, not a lot at a time. We weighted him every week on a scale at home and at 11 months he just stopped throwing up, I was at my wits end and had told the doctor the previous week that I could not be thrown up on one more time and the next week it was over. Most of his clothing had to be thrown away and so did mine. To help him gain weight and keep some down I put rice cereal in his bottle which helped a little. You can now buy formula with rice added but I don' t remember what it is called.

Good luck.

Sorry my response will be long and bounce around, but you should understand it. My sil is a nurse and went through terrible projectile vomiting with my nephew for awhile after he was born. My nephew was put on Zantac. They also had to try many formulas until they found one he was able to keep down the best. He had reflux and several allergies that took them time to figure out. Since he was gaining and not losing weight they just kept watching him. Today he is almost 2-1/2 and has so many allergies it makes you feel bad for the little guy. There are many formulas with different ingredients. It just may take a little time to figure out what is best for your baby. I know alot of people and doctors say not to put cereal in the bottle, but that was one thing my sil did to help my nephew. Try not to lay him down flat. Always keep him propped up, like in a swing, infant seat or bouncy seat. My nephew did much better sleeping in an infant seat in his crib. Don't be worried if he projectile vomits from one end of the crib to the other. It can be scarey, but happens with alot of babies that have reflux and allergies. My nephew did that. Just makes extra laundry and takes extra cleaning, and sometimes means exhaustion on your part. I know, easier said than done. Get help if you need it and you can get it. Some babies can not use powder formula, they need ready to feed or the concentrated liquid. Try not to worry too much and get stressed. Some babies are "easy" and some are "difficult". It's a process of elimination that can sometimes take months. If he was or is lethargic and not gaining any weight at all or losing weight, then they really need to step it up in diagnosing your son.

Best of luck to you and your son!

My baby boy was exactly the same and is now a perfectly healthy 17 year old teen! At around the same age he even went through a procedure known as a "barium meal" that can be tracked right through his entire digestive system. They could also not find anything wrong with him and, like you, I tried all kinds of medicines and different formulas, none of which helped! The only thing that I found helped a bit was when I thickened his formula with Baby no 1 Rice Cereal. Despite the fact that I was CONVINCED he was throwing up his ENTIRE feed after every meal, he obviously wasn't because he grew well! Take your son for regular weighings and, as long as he's gaining weight and the doctors have cleared him of any medical reason for his vomiting, he WILL EVENTUALLY OUTGROW IT!! The benefit I've discovered of having such a "sickly" baby is that he's grown into an extremely healthy young man! Good luck and have faith! It WILL pass!

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I feel your panic. You've been working with your dr, and that's good. The tests show nothing abnormal, and that's good. You've got some good recommendations. Try smaller, more frequent feedings, and keep baby upright after the small meals. It's very stressful when they are so small and you feel like you just don't know what to do. It will get better, and you are doing a great job! Hang in there!

Both of my girls had trouble digesting Enfamil for some reason. We switched to similac and they had no problems. We tried every enfamil formula and finally just switched out brands and it was like night and day. Here's hoping that your little ones problem can be solved so easily!

We went through this with our son. He had terrible projectile vomiting and after changing his formula many times and seeing the dr. a BUNCH, we ended up on a soy formula and he could tolerate it very well. When he was just over a year old and we wanted to wean him from formula we tried regular milk, but it made him also get sick. For a few years, he had to drink the powdered milk that you find near the flour/corn meal. Our daughter had to be on the formula Alimentum (spelling?). It's pretty expensive but she could tolerate it when all others failed. She didn't have the vomiting but terrible stomach cramps and lots of screaming. Keep trying different kinds and you'll find one that will finally work. It is a tough time with the baby when this is happening. Good luck!

If he is really vomiting and not just spitting up ask them about pyloric stenosis. Some may say it has to be projectile vomiting - it does not b/c neither my son nor I did. Your son will need to have lost weight and strength also. I had this and my oldest son had this.

This is a condition where the opening from the stomach to the intestine has closed - it closes after birth. He may need a upper GI test - that is the only way to test for pyloric stenosis. My doctor had me change the formulas too and he kept throwing everything up. The only thing that stayed down was water. When I mentioned I had had pyloric stenosis when I was a baby, she immediately scheduled the GI test.

It does entail surgery but everything went just fine....I hope it is something else but I thought I would throw this out there b/c most doctors have no idea or even think about looking into that diagnosis...

If you have any further questions just send me a message.

My second daughter threw up projectile a great deal and often. She was in a good mood though and not in any pain. This was 23 years ago and there wasn't any alternative formulas. There as only surgery if needed. She was gaining weight so we just had to deal with it. We fed her often and cleaned her up.

Is your child gaining any weight? You can feed smaller amounts, burp often, make sure the baby is sitting upright as much as possible, put a little cereal in the bottle to make it stay down better and usually your baby will continue to grow even though it's messy, expensive, and scary.

My son has reflux, and Zantac didn't help him much. And the taste was terrible. So his Dr. switched him to Prevacid, and the difference has been amazing. He was a different kid after that. About the vomiting...if he continues to gain weight, he is getting some nutrition. If he's not, the Dr. will be concerned, I'm sure. They say when a baby spits up, it looks like a lot, but in reality it's only a few tablespoons. I'm hoping that's all your little guy is losing. Saying a prayer for you!

My daughter TWINS are 8 wks old....and one has severe acid reflux...diagnosed by an UGI , her pedictrician put him on "Ranitidine" 1 cc by ____@____.com elevated 20 minutes after each feeding. This has helped some and has changed her formula to one that has Rice Cereal in it to help keep formula down.. ..before this he was starving and searching for his bottle like a baby bird does....sad....he had not gained weight in a week.....Dr. has never mentioned NUTRAMIGEN, but then again maybe because its so expensive, so i hear...Our prayers are with you and hope all works out well..

It is really easy to freak out when you have a new baby, but don't drive yourself crazy if your doctor's are seeing nothing wrong on the tests. There was a time when my daughter was 4 months old that I spent every week in the doctor's office because I was sure that there was something wrong with her. Finally, the doctor looked me in the eye and said, "There is nothing wrong with your baby. Go home."
I agree with what Page said. It might just be spitting up. My daughter was a spit up machine! It seemed to never stop. You might try Mylicon drops after a feeding. They help with gas, which might help with the spitting up or vomiting, whichever it is. But he is probably far from starving. If he is thriving and happy, he is going to be ok. I hope you have a good appointment tomorrow. Your baby is going to grow up so fast. Enjoy him while he is little and don't let the little things make you crazy.

First, rest assured that he won't starve. I know it looks like even more than went in is coming back out, but as long as he's growing and gaining, he is keeping enough down. Half as much twice as often is a rule of thumb for these babies. When his tummy is full he's more likely to projectile. Sit him upright on your lap to feed him, burp him well, then sit him in a bouncer or his car seat and keep him still and calm to let the feeding settle. I didn't go through different formulas because my daughter was breastfed, but I didn't see any improvement with the Zantac. My baby was a screamer with her reflux. I had to hold her close and sit and bounce on an exercise ball when it was really bothering her. A friend swears by Prevacid for her reflux baby.

Is he actually vomiting, or is he just spitting up? Sometimes they will spit up a good portion of what they drink.

I don't think a baby should be put on Zantac. You may want to get advice from another doctor.

My son did the same thing! Zantac didn't remotely help. Baby's tend to vomit if they have been overfed. I cut down the amount of formula he had with each feeding and increased the numbers of feedings he had. It did help with the amount that he would vomit but did not eliminate the problem entirely. He will grow out of it and if he is gaining weight and seems happy and healthy, don't stress yourself over it. I know your baby isn't probably to this point yet but, my son never drank over 4 ounces in a single feeding the entire year he had a bottle!