Spit Up - Lufkin,TX

My eldest son was a "happy spitter". He did the same as you explained but it never bothered him. All it did was caused some extra clean up. I never treated him for it and he grew out of it when he started sitting up. My youngest was a different story. He had silent infant reflux. Never spit up but was in terrible pain and required Zantac. I tried everything under the sun that was natural and nothing helped so I gave him the Zantac. It helped him SO much. Just as my oldest son once he was old enough to sit up, I weaned him off of the meds and he did fine.
C.

1 mom found this helpful

Your baby has reflux so take the medicine and if not better in a certain amount of time then a GI referral would be suggested. Especially if he chokes. I have 3 toddlers and 2 of them had to have surgery to fix their reflux problem.

Hello C.,
congratulations on your baby. I had a similar problem with my son, he would spit, gasps and choke so I always made sure I held him up for feedings (almost sitting position) I changed the nipple on the bottle and that helped alot. I would suggest trying different bottles using a nipple with the slowest flow. As long as he is healthy and gaining weight don't worry too much about it. Doctors sometimes give us medecine not because the children need it just to make us feel better.

My son did spit up a lot at that age. I changed his bottles to the Playtex VentAire and that helped a lot. the amount of air that he was swallowing was considerably less and because of that there was less spit. The spit up did not stop all the way but decreased a lot. I recommend those bottles for you to try.

Is he isn't in pain, then it may just be a weak muscle that still needs to develop in the esophogus that keeps everything from coming up. If he is happy and gaining weight then I wouldn't worry about it. If hhe is crying and in pain then I would worry. I babysat for a baby that would spit up all day long until she was 9 months old and then it just stopped. She had a week muscle in her esophogus that didn't get strong until that age. This baby I babysat for would spit up all day and I would go through about 6 bibs and I had to keep a blanket on the floor. If it is just spit up and not projectile vomiting then it is pretty normal. Some babies just spit up a lot. I think you would know if your baby needed different formula if he was in severe pain. My sister's baby didn't spit up but cried and cried. He ended up being a gluten and wheat allergy. Since your baby was so early it is probably just weak muscles that need to develop.

Little one's tummies are delicate. Being a premmie could be an issue where things aren't as developed or he may simply be a little more sensitive. Dairy can be a problem. Drinking or eating dairy can be a problem with your breastmilk and formula is not only dairy, but has chemicals that babies can't tolerate yet. If you avoid dairy in your diet and begin supplementing with goat milk, it could possibly cure everything. If not, it should at least help some.(Goat milk is the most similar to human breastmilk.) My niece had similar problems and we began her little one on goat milk and the spit up stopped immediately. You may also want to get a good bottle like a playtex with liners so you can get all the air out so there is no additional air getting into his tummy.

Hope this helps!

M.
www.squidoo.com/ifyourbabycouldtalk

I had the same situation with my first. My dr also recommended the Enfamil AR and it also constipated my daughter. But - we added a bit of prune juice to her bottles (per the dr) and she was fine from then out. It took a bit of trial and error to get the amount of prune juice right but it worked. I think it was maybe a teaspoon per bottle. It seemed odd to feed a baby that young something other than breast milk or formula but it's very little and never hurt either of them (I used it on my 2nd daughter at some point too). My dr also prescribed Zantac and I used it once or twice but didn't want to do it if I didn't have to. And spitting up is ok if they don't seem bothered. It's called a "happy spitter". My daughter was really gagging though. So I think 2 choices - use the AR and prune juice or just let him spit up if it's not bothering him and it's not so much that it's causing weight gain problems.

Oh my gosh. I have twin 8 month olds and all I do all day is wipe up spit up. My oldest one spit up all the time too. They're just born with immature little digestive systems and can't help but spit up. As long as he's gaining weight and having enough wet & dirty diapers he's fine.
I asked my pediatrician about medicine and she told me all it does is stop it from causing discomfort for the baby, it doesn't stop the spitting up. And since my girls never seem to be bothered by it, we've never gone the medicine route. I agree with you it seems best to keep meds away from infants.
There's an old saying that spit up isn't a medical problem, it's a laundry problem!
I'm sure you're little boy is doing just fine!

I'd try strictly breastfeeding and avoid eating milk and dairy products yourself to see if this helps. I had to do this with all five of my kids for perfect health. It worked. I wish you the best!! Congratulations!!

www.refluxrebels.com
www.marci-kids.com

Sounds like it could possibly be reflux. These websites have tons of info, and the RR site also has a link to a community forum of awesome mom's that have LO's who have/have had reflux. My LO has reflux, though he is now med free. He went undiagnosed for 4 months, and it was pure hell. His old pedi said it couldn't be reflux since he was gaining fine (he was 20 lbs at 4 months). She ignored me when I said he spit up, choked, spit up in his sleep, cried non stop, wouldn't lay flat and always wanted to be held upright, had frequent painful hiccups.... I wish I had changed dr's sooner, so he didn't have to suffer so long. We tried Zantac, it worked for only a week. LO's quickly build up an intolerance to it since it's an H2 blocker. PPI's (proton pump inhibitors) are much better at treating reflux. Prvacid Solutabs worked for my LO's reflux, but gave him insomnia. Nexium is what finally worked with no side effects. He's been med free now since 8.5 months (he's currently 12 months). The above sites have a list of reflux meds, as well as more info about them. I think the best thing you can do as your child's voice is to read up and know what the treatment options are, and talk with your dr about what is best for your LO.

Untreated, and also undertreated, reflux can do damage to the esophogus, and cause other problems. I would encourage you to talk more with your dr, as well as learn all about AR/GERD yourself, and find the best treatment for him.

Reflux can also be caused by an intolerance to dairy. So whether he's BF'd or FF, that could be aggravating it. The RR site also has more info about this. If you change your diet, you can continue to BF. Although my LO just had reflux, and changing my diet didn't help at all. I know for many it does help tremendously, though.

He also started wearing an amber teething necklace at about 8 months. Within 2 weeks of wearing it he was med free. Hazelwood is what's supposed to help ease relfux pains, but the amber has worked wonders for my LO. www.inspiredbyfinn.com is a great site to read more, and they also have info about hazelwood.

I hope you find some reflief soon for your LO! (((hugs)))

I agree with all the advice from Dori W. Look at the size of your baby's fist. That is about how big his little stomach is. Feed a smaller amount, more frequently. Go to strictly breastmilk. (Formula has proteins that may be hard to digest. Goatmilk worked for me - - but I didn't start using it until I weaned my first baby from the breast at one-year-old. 2nd baby nursed until age 2.) Keep working on the "latching on" part - - he will get it. Breast feeding is definitely a "supply & demand" enterprise. The more he sucks, the more milk you will produce. So, even if you feel empty and drained, and he still wants to suck, let him suck!

Along with what you are already doing try:

-Feeding him smaller amounts more often. That way his little tummy isn't getting more than he can handle at one shot.

-Make sure you are using a slow flow nipple.

-Try using a crib wedge when he is in bed. They fit snuggly under the sheet and can be found at babies rus for about $10.

-Make sure he is upright for a minimum of 1/2 hour after feedings.

-You can use a mayawrap to carry him upright on your shoulder to give you some hands free time after feedings. they have the demo ontheir website.

If you are feeding on demand, you may want to try feeding him on a schedule - usually about every 3 hours works for his age. That gives his tummy time to move his last meal along before the next one comes in. I have also found that the Mom To Mom - Sensitive brand found in Safeway works really well for spitters. I am a foster mom and the last 2 babies I had were major spitters on arrival in my home and were barely spitting at all after a couple days on the Mom To Mom formula and a strict eating schedule.