Spitting Up - Angleton, TX

Congratulations on your twins! And on breastfeeding! Wow!

1. The first question I have is if your little boy eats first? Or even first on a given side? If so, he could be ingesting more of the foremilk, causing him to be more gassy (top or bottom).

2. Some babies spit up b/c they are getting too much milk too quickly. If your baby gulps and gasps just after you have a let down, try taking him off the breast for a moment as the milk rushes down. Have a dipe handy to catch the overflow. Then let baby start nursing again as the milk flow slows to what he can handle. Some babies let the extra milk just trickle out the sides of their mouths. (Womanly Art of Breastfeeding p71)

3. How is his latch? When he eats/sucks he could be ingesting more air...Honestly, most babies swallow a bit of air until closer to 16wks.

4. When burping, rub/pat gently. This will help the air bubbles to rise slowly and give any milk on top of the bubbles a chance to slide off and stay down.

5. Is there any diaper rash? Depending on the type and severity of the rash, this could indicate a food sensitivity. If there are any allergies (dairy, wheat, gluten, nuts, etc) in your family, those would be the first suspects.

6. How many wet/dirty dipes per day? Newborns should be having at least 6 wet and at least 3 dirty. To clarify, a dirty for a newborn is a bm that is the size of a quarter/silver dollar. So if he eliminates once a day, but it's a blow-out, you have your 3+ dirties for the day.

7. I would call your local LLL leader. She can help you troubleshoot.
http://www.llli.org//Web/Texas.html
Even if there isn't a Leader in your town, you can call any Leader and get her advice.

HTH and please email if anything I wrote needs clarifying.

K., mama to
Catherine, 5.5y
Samuel, 2.5y
EDD 9/09

1 mom found this helpful

Hi T.
sounds like something you are eating does not agree with him but does not affect the girl- twins- bless you You might try him on formula and see if that makes a difference- and if not- you might have your pedi check him or a little obstruction- sometimes- newborns have a little gunk left in their bodies which can cause the spitting up for a while- unless it is violent- I would suggest just putting him on formula and see if that does not help.
good luck and blessings

I would mention it to the dr. My boy did that too, his weight gain was unaffected but he spit up ALOT!! It is probably reflux. Many babies get it and I have heard it is really common in boys. I told my dr. and he had a test done which showed relux and then prescribed him prevacid. I had to give it to him for about 5 months or so and then we were good to go. I don't think it has anything to do with your milk. Best wishes!

probably not this but just incase it is. our son would burp and then we would try to get all his burps out and he would end up spitting up. one burp at a time is all he was good for. but your situation sounds more like a milk allergie. ask your pedi if he keeps spitting up. good luck and congrats on your babies!

Thank goodness you are nursing. The formula would be worse and then smell awful too.

Breastmilk is the absolute best thing you can give him. All babies spit up, some a lot more than others. It really will calm down in a few weeks. If he is gaining weight and has 6-10 wet diapers a day and several poopy ones he is doing just fine!

i would ask your dr about reflux. my daughters started around 3-4 weeks. good luck!

I recomend baby probiotics and gripe water. They worked wonders for us.

It sounds like reflux. I would inform his pediatrician of your concerns right away. He might be crying a lot/colicky because he's hungry. The milk is not staying in his tummy where it should be.

My niece had reflux. She also seemed to be colicky, but later they found out she was just hungry and uncomfortable because of the reflux. The Dr. first had my brother and sil give her smaller, more frequent feedings and add some rice cereal to her bottle (my sil was nursing her). That did not help much. The baby lost over a pound. It was scary. Then the Dr. put her on Reglan and that helped so much. She is now a healthy and happy 2 year old that has grown out of the reflux.

My daughter spit up a lot and she had collic. There were days when we would both go through five or six outfits each because she would spit up on us. She was sensitive to what I ate. I could not have anything with seasoning in it. I could only eat a little salt and a dash of pepper. (The pepper probably made her spit up too!) If I ate anything with red tomatoe sauce like pizza or any past dishes with it she would just scream in stomach pain. Popcorn will cause her to cry and stop eating for a little while. It was very sad. When I told the doctor they said that it was common and babies grow out of it. She is eleven months now and is much better but she still spits up occasionaly. My best advise is talk to your doctor to make sure that it is not something serious and then develop a taste for bland foods.

Its just a little reflux. most likely. It should pass by 6mos. Just try to make sure after you feed him that he sits up. Burp him often. There is no need to put him on formula. If he is growing there is no problem. He is getting enough.

You mentioned both colic and spitting up. That, to me, says reflux. My son had it and he would spit up constantly and cried for at least 30 min. after every feeding. It was miserable for both of us until he was diagnosed and he got on medication. Then, he was still spitting up all of the time, but the pain was gone and he was a different baby. Don't stop breastfeeding. It is the BEST thing for him. Talk to the pedi about these symptoms and see what they say. My guess is he has reflux (it is even more common in preemies and I'm assuming your twins were probably a little early) and my son was diagnosed at 6 weeks old. I hope he feels better soon!

I love that you are breastfeeding your twins!

It is quite normal for babies to spit up--breastfed or formula fed! It is worth having him checked for reflux, but a certain amount is expected in babies--all their little sphincter muscles and digestive systems are still developing. If he is otherwise thriving and gaining weight, there is no specific need to add formula to his diet.

My daughter was quite "colicky" too, but immediately showed improvement when I removed milk from my diet (I was still able to eat yogurt and some cheese). She was spitting up after every feed, as well, but I am certain that was linked to my oversupply and milk intake (I was drinking a lot!).

I wish you luck.

I suggest stick with the breastfeeding. Formula won't necessarily make things any better. You mentioned colic and spitting up but not the specific symptoms, duration etc. Iw ould suggest to discuss all the symptoms with your pediatrician. If it isn't very severe they may recommend and over the counter remedy like Mylanta or gas drops.

As a former infant caregiver in a daycare and a mom myself I can tell you that some babies are just spitters. It doesn't seem to matter what or how much they eat, some babies just spit up. Also it always looks like more that it is, to show you that take a teaspoon full of milk and toss it in the sink. You will see that 1 tsp looks a lot more than it is, so if his symptoms are not too severe I would not stress about it too much. Just keep on breastfeeding!!!

My son had pretty bad reflux and I continued breastfeeding. The worst of the symptoms only lasted a few months and he grew out of a majority of them. He spit up less as time went on too!

I would wait before starting the formula and talk to your doctor about another solution first (could be reflux) because if he has a problem he would spit up with the formula too. I am sure a lot of the moms here are going to give you good tricks to try. My daughter (who is BF) was very colicky and we tried every product we could find and nothing worked. When she turned 3 months she grew out of it/her body adjusted however you want to call it, but she became a totally different happy baby. I became desperate to try and find a solution those firsts few months but sometimes the only thing that works is to give them a little time to grow.

T., I too have GB twins (mine are now 4 yo) and my female twin had the same problem you are describing. My doctor kept telling me to decrease how much she ate at a time but to increase the frequency of the feedings. This did not help either and she always acted as though she was not getting enough to eat. I had a problem that required moving her to formula from the breast sooner than I would have liked, but the problem remained regardless of whether it was breast milk or formula. Even giving her soy and the special formula that is pre-digested or whatever they call it to make it easier did not help.

The doctor gave my daughter reflux medicine, all this did was lower the amount she spit up. My daughter continued to gain weight at a healthy rate, so my doctor said to wait it out and hopefully she would grow out of it...

She did...when she was put onto baby food and less formula per day, the spitting up decreased and then just went away. I will admit it was a long haul and I am VERY sorry for ANYONE else who has to endure it, cause you constantly worry if your child is getting enough in their feedings to thrive... make sure you goi in for regular weigh ins with your son and if he is thriving and gaining weight appropriately, I promise you it won't last forever.

Good Luck...

talk to your dr about reflux that is what my son has, He can be put on reflux meds to help him out. Is he gaining good weight and potty well cause it could be more but not likely

Formula is not better for him. He's not spitting up because of breast milk. If breast feeding is working and they're thriving, keep going!

Colic may be due to a difficult birth? May be due to something that happened in the womb with him? My baby boy was also very colicky. He would projectile vomit and scream constantly. It was horrible, so you have my total sympathy, I've been there and know how hard it is.

Take him to a cranial osteopath without delay. Must be CRANIAL. This is the gentlest best treatment for babies. His colic will be cured. My son's was cured totally in 3 weeks. Be patient, changes are gradual but consistent.

Osteopathy works by gently manipulating nerve endings. Our nervous system is connected to our musculosketal system, and indeed all our systems. By manipulating the nervous system deep changes in other systems can be managed, helping his body to correct the cause of the colic.

GP's will only treat the symptoms, if indeed they see any problem at all.

My sister switched to bottle for the same reason. She swears the baby was better but my niece was throwing up every time I saw her even on the bottle (IMO not enough improvement to warrant using formula.)

My daughter (born at 32 weeks) had serious silent reflux and I fed her very small amounts frequently and gave her Reglan and Zantac and that helped a lot. When my next babies started having it I knew right away what it was and was able to give them meds. When my last one was doing it she was breast fed and I cut out dairy from my diet because she had excema. Not only did her excema go away, but she stopped having reflux as well (I still have almost ALL of her reflux meds!)

So try taking dairy out of your diet (at least milk) and see if that helps.

S., mom to 4 girls on Earth and 5 Heavenly treasures

Formula won't help and might make it worse! Check your diet for things that might be causing the colic. In any case, he'll outgrow it. All babies are so different, but breast milk is still the best possible food for them for many months. Good for you nursing twins! Keep up the good work, you're doing the best possible thing for your babies.

There's no harm in spitting up. My daughter used to LOVE to nurse and would over eat a lot--which caused her to projectile vomit milk--which was great fun lol! No--the best thing you cna do is keep them on the breast. Don't give them a bottle if you can help it until breast-feeding is well established at 4 months. Bottles are easier to drink from because they don't have to wait for let-down so it's easy for them to develope a preference--then you're in trouble cause they will fight going back on the breast. For my son, all it took was a 3 bottles and he didn't want the breast anymore and I wound up having to give up at 6 weeks.
As far as the colic goes,often times it's a reaction to something you're eating. I would try eliminating dairy and wheat/flour (which are the main ones) Then if there's an improvement--bring only one back into your diet. If the colic comes back--you'll have your culprit and know what to avoid eating.
Best of luck!

It sounds like reflux. Take him in to the pediatrician right away. There are meds that can help him. And - if it's just how he is going to be you'll know that too. Don't give up on the nursing! Bottle or breast won't matter when it comes to spitting up. Good luck!

I have twins as well. Both breast fed. Both of my twins had colic. Twin A threw up ALL the time. Twin B, she spit up very rarely. My Dr. said that as long as she is gaining weight there was no problem. We did a lot of laundry; make sure you have something to catch the stuff. We laid blankets on the floor at certain places where we would feed her. She eventually stopped I think around 8-9 months. They are almost 6 now, so it's hard to remember.