Seeking Help with 7 Month Old Who Spits up Constantly

Our spitter-upper is now 3 1/2, and we also saw Dr. Ogunmola with Cook's in Downtown Fort Worth. I'd have to agree that he is FABULOUS, and I'd highly recommend him to anyone that's dealing with these types of issues!

We had to switch to Nutramagin (sp) but every baby is different. Some of the suggestions that you've gotten are great - sitting up for 30 minutes, frequent burping, prevacid (we even did Mylanta!)... etc.

But - the best one is to call Dr Ogunmola!

Good Luck - it DOES get better, I promise!

J.

1 mom found this helpful

HI-
IS your baby gaining weight appropriately and/or in pain when he spits up?If he is ok,then honestly, it is a laundry issue!We dont like to use meds on babies if it isnt necessary and if he is spitting up but totally fine otherwise,then he will outgrow it.At his age,when he is on his belly trying to crawl and flip alot there is alot more pressure on his abdomen,which increases the spit-up.Once he is upright around 9-12 months he should outgrow it.THe medication people are talking about will help with pain and fussiness mostly and bethanecol isnt really used alot anymore unless it is SEVERE b/c it can have a lot of negative side effects.Are his stools normal?Is he overall a happy baby or fussy?If he is a happy guy and doesnt have overwhelming diarrhea or blood in his stools then any formula should be fine.The increase in his spit up lately is probably due to his increaed mobility.Also,it is really not receoommended to use goats milk -you can have a severe vitamin deficiency from using it.
IF you have any other questions,feel free to write back.I am a Pediatrician in Plano and also had 2 VERY colicky sons so I have been through it myself!!
J.

1 mom found this helpful

My daughter did the same thing. I put a few drops of anti gas in her bottle. The baby will soon get over it. Just hold on for a little longer.

L

I had 2 spitter-uppers! My ped. referred me to Dr. Jack An, a gastroenterologist. He was fabulous and eventhough my daughter didn't have superbad AR, he made up a 3 level plan to try some different things before starting meds. She eventually was put on Prevacid...which completely helped with her uncomfortableness and lessened the spitting up a wee bit.
Also, if you feed him his milk first and then cereal 2nd...that helps to keep it down.
Other than that..just make sure you warn whoever wants to hold him and hand them a burpcloth!
Good luck!

You might want to check with a pediatric specialist to see whether he has acid reflux. It's better to have it checked out just in case. My kid had it. We are very attentive parents, but we didn't realize that she had it and that it was causing asthma. She took medicine and both the reflus and the asthma cleared up. Because it was triggering asthma, we took her to a pediatric pulmonologist. She took medicine for about 2 years and she has not needed it since then. Sometimes pediatricians want to try to handle the problems themselves ( I mean nothing negative towards any pediatricians), but a specialist will know right away if there is a problem and how to treat it. There's a lot of acid reflux with kids in the DFW area (if that's where you are or other places with lots of pollution/allergins) because of allergies causing drainage in the stomach. I noticed that someone below mentioned honey. Honey should never be given to a child under 2 years old. good luck. :)

I agree with "its probably reflux" We didn't have that problem, but I've talked to many with the same complaints. I've heard mangosteen juice stops reflux instantly. Worth a try.

He could have acid reflux. My niece had a similar issue. Once it was diagnosed and she was put on medication, she was much better. And she did outgrow it. So I suggest you speak with your doctor and see if this may be the problem.

A friend of mine swears by the Dr Brown bottles she says they cured her baby not sure though?

keep the baby in an upright position while he's eating and about 30 min. after. The valve in his esophagus might not be staying closed. Also my pediatrician had me start putting rice cereal in with the formula to thicken it to stay down, i had the same problem with my daughter. Once we did that she was fine, it was just too thin for her and we had to switch to a soy formula. hope this helps.

Hi L.,

I'm sorry to hear what you've been going through. One of my close friends went through the same thing, to later find out her little one has Acid Reflux. This may be something to considering talking to the Pediatrician about. I know there is safe treatment and my friends baby has done much better since starting meds.

Good Luck!

Hello, have your child tested for acid reflux. Sounds like it.

Oh honey get a second opition. Many babies are born with acid relfux. You baby might be suffering with the relux everytime he eats.

My daughter did this byt hers was projectile I would suggest asking the pediatrician to test for reflux that is what she had and after a coupel years on the medicine she is all better.
M.

Call your pediatrician.

Is your baby growing? Even if he is call your pediatrican anyway. The doctor should be able to offer reliable help for this.

That sounds like either reflux or an intolerance/allergy. My son had both and continues to have a severe dairy allergy. He was on Nutramigen during the first year along with medication for the reflux.

Either way...call your pediatrician.

By the way...children with dairy allergy SHOULD NOT be given goat's milk. Very often they are allergic to both. It is not usually a viable option for severly dairy allergic children.
Good luck!

If he's ok for a month when switching formulas, I wouldnt say its reflux as everyone is so quick to diagnose although admittedly, I've never had a reflux baby myself. Three out of four of my children were spitters. The first two, we used goats milk. I saw the recipe here that says add rice syrup but we didn't do that, just gave them the milk and they gained weight and were fine. Our ped wasn't thrilled about it but said as long as you add vitamins, they should be just fine. Still a few spits here and there (that smell is something you have to get used to ;) but overall, they did great until they stopped taking the bottle completely. We also used the fresh goats milk instead of the powder. They are now 8 and 9 and happy healthy well adjusted honor roll girls so don't let them tell you that you NEED all of those harsh ingredients in formulas for healthy brain functioning. My baby girl is two and she was also a spitter but the goats milk didn't work well on her. We used the ceral method with her and it took a lot more than one tablespoon but she stopped the spitting. She gained a lot of weight too which is a natural effect of loading so much food into their little bellies but once she started walking she slimmed down to her perfect size :) It's trial and error sweetie. Just keep on trying until you find what works for you. I wouldn't keep switching formulas though, they're all pretty much the same.... in our experience anyway. I would start with the goats milk. It's natural and healthy and nothing processed like all the super formulas out there loaded with preservatives and chemicals. Oh, and don't worry about those relatives who wont hold your little one... the ones who are there for your angel will hold him regardless of the mess. It's their loss in the end :) Hang in there!

You have gotten alot of good advice. Let me address the fear of people not wanting to hold him first, don't worry so much about that. Your family loves that baby whether they are sprayed in spit up or not. If for some strange reason people don't want to hold him, then fine, the more you get to love on him! We went through the exact same thing and our daycare workers had to change their shirts and his clothes daily and so did I. Finally at 9 months, we had a swallow study done, which showed he wasn't handling thin liquids well and we had to thicken everything. It did get better when we started table food after he got over the gagging all the time. Boy was that one fun! The doctor also realized that he did have reflux and put him on Prevacid solutabs. We give him one around 5pm or so and he can chew it and it also dissolves really quickly to. After 3 days of taking the solutabs the spitting up stopped - completely! I'm sorry but I don't agree with the just let him sit up for 30 minutes to and hour or the just deal with it attitude. My opinion, but going through as much as we have gone through, my advice is to talk to your pediatrician about reflux. Ours told us that our little boy feels the acid coming back up and doesn't know how or what to do and the body feels the need to throw it up because it just sits between the stomach and throat. As they get older they learn how to cope with it but as little ones they don't know those things yet. The prevacid doesn't cure anything, it just allow the acid to not burn them when it comes back up and most times they don't feel the burn so they learn to keep it down. Sounded weird to me but it worked. Sorry this is so long. If you would like more detailed information, send me another email and I'll be glad to tell you in detail the other things we tried that may or may not work for you as well. I know it is frustrating, but you will get it solved! D. (____@____.com)

We have 4 children and our 1st child did that (he was even breastfed exclusively). We found that if you moved him at all after he fed he would spit up a BUNCH. (It seemed like everything we had just worked hard to get down him came right back up) Being that he was the 1st grandchild, it was hard to get every one to leave us alone and stay still for about 30 minutes to an hour but that is what worked. And when I did sit him up I made sure to hold him still and clamly for a while. I thought it was just because maybe his tummy took long to digest or something like that. He is 8 yrs old and healthy with no stomach problems.

L.,

So sorry for your challenges. I agree that it is likely a food intolerance. Since you've tried so many things already, perhaps you are interested in something more unconventional?? Here it is:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2005/1...

For a good reliable source of raw milk, visit www.randcdairy.com.

For more info on raw milk, see www.realmilk.com.

Good luck!

He may be eating too much. It may be that he needs to suck on something and over eats because of it. Does he take a paci? We always had our kids sit up after they ate and it REALLY helped! With our girls we used the soy formula (after trying several different formulas)and the spit up was minimal.

For the spit up stains, I used Palmolive dish soap (green). (NOT dishwasher soap.)

Hi L.,

I would call the pediatrician. Spitting up 'horribly' is not good for your little one. Have you tried soy or lactose formula's? How many ounces is he drinking in a feeding? He may need fewer ounces more frequently. Four ounces every three hours. Is he gaining weight? He may like the sucking but is not hungry. Does he have a pacifier or oral chew toy?

Hope you find the answer you are looking for.

Have you considered seeing a pediatric gastroenterologist? My preemie daughter had severe reflux until she was 1 and remained on meds until she was 4. She was in a lot of pain. Some kids are "happy spitters" meaning it does not cause them pain because there is not much acid in it...then it becomes an issue of motility. There are certain meds that can affect the muscles and motility. We also ended up having to thicken bottles with cereal to cut down on the volume of spit-up, which helped a little. Anyway, Dr. Kendall Brown at Medical City is one of the top pediatric specialists in the area. Best of luck!

I would seek the help of a great pedi Gastroenterologist. We see Dr. Ogunmola with Cook's in Downtown Fort Worth and he is FABULOUS! It sounds like your child may have reflux which is easily treatable and if untreated can cause serious damage. My oldest son has done so well under his care - we adore him! Good luck to you and your precious baby!

Just wanted to make a note of the danger of botulism for giving honey to infants under one year old. Someone suggested Simply thick (honey or nectar) to add to bottles. I'm not sure if the ingredients actually contain honey but just something to watch out for.

I haven't dealt with it personally, but I have a friend whose son had a major case of Acid Reflux and the symptoms are similar to what you are describing. She said that her doctor told her to watch her son after he had his bottle; if he started jerking his head to the left, it was a huge sign.

Anyway - your doctor may have already thought of it, but if not, then do some Internet research and ask about it.

Good luck!

We did the cereal trick and it worked well. My doc said when he starts walking the reflux will go away, and sure enough it did. Hang in there.

Hi L.! My 2nd had severe reflux & 3rd had minor. One thing that I kind of figured out for ourselves is that if they're spitting up within the first 30 minutes after eating, it's probably reflux. If it's beyond that - more like an hour or more - it's more likely food allergies/issues. If you're pretty sure it's reflux - is your son on solids yet? The weight of the food will help keep more down. Also, one trick that we did with our gastro's advice on my 2nd child to help with the reflux was to weight down his formula. Basically I added an extra 25-30% of forumla to the water. Of course, he'd eat less frequently because the food was heavier, but he was better able to keep it down.

My 3rd also appeared to have a small stomach - if she ate too much, she'd spit up almost immediately. We never got past a 4 oz bottle with her so she was feedng more frequently and not sleeping through the night because of it for 10 months. Should add - she's totally healthy and at 3 YO is in the 50-60% so it didn't affect her growth - was just another complication I had to watch out for (even happened when she was eating solids if she'd overeat).

HTH & good luck! It DOES get better!

When my son was an infant we went through th same thing. Come to find out he was lactose intolerant and he had to be put on an amino base formula that work well with is digestion it is calle EleCare and it he used it up until he was over a year old and it can be used for toddlers. Its great ask you Pedi for a perscription it will make all the difference and also hav the baby tested for allergies. Good Luck.

Acid reflux!, I've heard of a lot of kids who have this problem and It might be worth looking into.

I'm a mom of 10 children, seven biologicals, and our last three adopted. My first five babies had severe spitting up, like you described, only ours WAS projectile. I used flannel baby blankets for burp pads, so they would cover me better, because I knew they WOULD bring up their whole meal. My babies were very, very skinny because of this.
I tried everything that was suggested, but basically around 10 months when my children were upright more than laying down, and they ate more table foods, they outgrew it. Well, two of them still throw up at the drop of a hat, and they are grown now.
But NOTHING worked, except time. If your baby is like mine, in about three months or so, this will end.
By the way, I had a few grandchildren who also did this, and they had the same timetable, around 10 months, it cleared!

Hi L.,
My littel girl used to have the same problem... our pediatricain suggested that we were feeding her to much. The tummies are small and can only hold some much milk. He suggested we give her smaller amounts at a time. It was hard at first because she was always wanting more... but he assured us she was getting plenty of nutrician. It might be something to consider.

I'd recommend a pediatric gastroenterologist. It could be much more that keeping him upright after feedings or adding cereal to the bottle. There are other formulas out there besides Gentlease that have hydrolyzed whey as its protein source such as Alimentum and Nutramigen (very expensive but with it).

I'd give your pediatrican a call because sometimes it can be more that a weak immune system. Lactose intolerance or even an allergy can cause spitting up.

I work for a pediatric gastroenterologist so I would highly suggest seeing one.

Hi L.,

I would definitely talk with the pediatrician again & consider finding a new Dr. if you don't get results.

If it's a reflux problem, it should be addressed asap. I would also ask him/her about goat's milk formula. I know, it sounds crazy, but goat's milk is actually closer in its composition to human breast milk than cow's and therefore easier to digest than regular formula. Some doctors know all about it, some don't. I know several moms who have used it very successfully with their babies when other things wouldn't do.

Let me know if you'd like the instructions. I'll email a friend & get them for you.

B.

Ask (or demand) to see a pedicatric gastro doctor. If switching formual hasn't worked thus far, it's time for a specialist. This is not something you want to wait on and can become very serious. If you don't need a referal, then go...if you do then demand a referral.

Hi L.,

I have a daughter that spit up as well. For months I was told that she had acid reflux. At 5 months ago they finally did an upper GI on her and found out that she was not digesting food. They put her on medicine and within months she had almost completely quit spitting up.

Also, are you using ready made formula or the kind where you add water? Using the ready made is easier on the babies stomachs and should help with spitting up.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

Wendy

Your post could be in my own words! In the last two weeks my son's reflux has majorly improved but it was AWFUL. To a point where I was crying over it and wondering if my little guy would be plauged forever. I had visions of a 5 year old spitting up! I had the same fears although it never bothered anyone else. I understand the mess and carrying burp rags or kitchen towels everywhere! Here is what FINALLY helped us:

- Regular formula thickened with 1 TABLESPOON rice cereal per ounce. I was ALL AGAINST IT, but finally tried it and it was a miracle. At your baby's age (same as mine) it is ok and the doctor actually told me I had to start doing it because my son was not getting enough. Use playtex bottles with the tricut nipple. Burp a lot, like 4 times per 6 ounce bottle. Keep upright after feeding for 30 minutes. You WILL see an improvement in a few days. My son didn't have any constipation issues but feed prunes for breakfast if you are worried. After about two weeks, switch gradually (one bottle a day) to Enfamil AR. If you need to keep one bottle a day with cereal for a while, go with it.

- Demand that your doctor preform the tests required to rule out more serious medical problems. My son had this test where he swallowed glucose water and they watched to see if his gastro system worked fine. It was not invasive and very fast. It revealed severe reflux.

- Talk to your doctor about trying Bethanechol and Rantidine (two prescription meds) that help with reflux.

- try putting baby to bed on an incline but this is a losing battle for us now that our son is mobile.

Hang in there! It WILL get better! Message me if you have more questions. I would be happy to help any way I can.

L. :-)

L.~
My oldest son had the same problem until he was about 13 months old. We found that placing him upright after meals helped tremendously. When he was just an infant the bouncy seat was what we used. As he grew older we relied on the exersaucer. As far as him spitting up on other people....let them know what his "history" is and let them decide if they want to chance it. I think you will be surprised that a lot of people don't care. My son, Logan as soon as he was upright...walking...the spitting up(he had projectile and we thought he had acid reflux) subsided. He has not had any acid reflux problems since 13 months old. He is now an intellegent, athletic 11 year old! Be strong, L.. I know that the laundry and stains on carpet and upholstery is daunting.....but this too shall pass!
V.

My son was a spitter and I thought once he sits up it will stop well no such luck. Finally when he started walking at 10 months it stopped. There is hope in sight hang in there.

my daughter had/has this. she began spitting up after every bottle. her pediatrician diagnosed her with relux. they put her on zantac and the spitting up decreased significantly for a few months. her system must have gotten use to the zantac because she started back with the spitting up again. they have now switched her to prevacid. she still spits up but not as much

My son did the same thing except it was projectile. The pediatrician had me give him his formula mixed with cereal for every feeding and he quit spitting up. I would give it to him in an infant feeder. I had to make it pretty thick like pancake batter and he was about 5 months old when I started this but it did work. As he got older he was able to go back with regular bottles. Also try lacto-free formula. I had to use that on both of my daughters. Good luck and I hope this helps any! Hang in there it does get better!

I had the same problem with my first born , his spitting up also came with a tummy ache. I know you don't want to hear change forula but I found that the Iron in my son's formula was upsetting his tummy and he did much better with one that was low in Iron content.

Did you try putting your son on soy formula? My little boy had the same problem & soy solved our problems. In fact, the Walmart store brand worked best for him.

Sounds like GERD to me (reflux). My 6 month old daughter has been on Prevacid since she was a month old for spitting up "puddles" (and it caused her a lot of pain too). I can always tell if we somehow forgot her meds one day because the next day we're changing her bib and clothes more times than usual & cleaning up puddles from the floor (or exersaucer etc)

Try Little Tummies Gripe Water. It is suppose to work wonderful on spitting up.

We had the same problem. Eventually we tried Simply Thick and it worked wonders. You may want to ask your pediatrician and give it a try. Also, for all the spit up stains try Totally Toddler prewash. It works great.

Hello L.,

My name is Dr. V. Longoria and I am a local Chiropractor specializing in pediatric and prenatal care. You should consider bringing your child in for an evaluation. Many of my patients with similar symptoms have benefitted from being under regular chiropractic care. It is safe and gentle and will help to improve his digestive problems. Something as simple as a spinal misalignment can cause interference to the nerves that control the digestive tract. Also, you might want to consider feeding less, more often.

I haven't read through everyone's responses, but you might want a second opinion. I saw several people address keeping him upright or on his side to help with the reflux.

Have you also tried cutting back the amount of formula he receives at a time? Try cutting back his feeding by 1 oz to see if he holds it down better and is still satisfied. (At home you will be able to gauge how he is doing and if he is still soiling the proper amount of diapers. If you have to cut back 2 or 3 oz, keep extra close tabs on him... and get advice from doctors office.)

Has he started on solids? Is he only spitting up the formula or the food, too? That might be another clue.

I also read that some babies do better on just add water formula vs powdered. (Although if you are avoiding BPA, then you might want to avoid any liquid formulas since BPA is in the can linings.)

An ounce or more of spit up at a time at least 5X a day could be a medical issue. Less than that is probably a bit of overfeeding. Dr. Harvey Karp talks a little about this in "The Happiest Baby on the Block".

I was also reading that several milk allergic babies are also sensitive to soy. There are supposed to be hypoallergenic formulas, too. Failing that goat's milk does work. It is available in powdered form and in quart size part of milk section at most grocery stores. Smells awful, but the babies drink it and if you and baby aren't wearing it you won't smell it as much. Both of my nephews used goats milk and vitamin supplementation rather than formula. One was 6 weeks early and the other was only 4 weeks early. My sister is allergic to certain antibiotics so the stuff they gave her wasn't safe while breastfeeding. The boys both went to goats milk once her clean breast milk supply ran out.

I used to keep powdered goats milk on hand for my daughter, too. I breastfed her, but I didn't have a good pump that worked past 6 months... so if babysitter or daddy needed to feed her, that's what they used.

This is not normal at this age (should have outgrown it by now)! This is probably acid reflux! your dr. should treat it as that and not as a formula issue! Therefore, the dr. should prescripe baby prilosec (or comparable) and not recomend changing formulas.

Both of my kids had acid reflux as babies though they did not spit up much-theirs was more pain and cough from acid! They were both on generic prilosec and it did wonders for how they felt! I would suggest it as it is safe, cheap, and was effective for my family (we all have acid issues so it was not a surprise to me that they had it as well)!

Good Luck!
T.