Experiences Dealing with Throwing up at Bedtime

First of all I would check with the doctor just to make sure he doesn't have something wrong with him (reflux, easy gag reflex, etc.) Then you are going to have to get back in control of the situation. Marc Wisenbluth deals with this in his book Happy Baby healthy sleep habits. You can get it at amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Sleep-Habits-Happy-Child/dp...

Basically, the baby needs to learn to go to sleep on his own-- i.e., being put down awake and learning to fall asleep by himself. He has figured out that if the throws up, you will come rushing in and get him, pick him up, etc. You are going to have to develop a better bedtime routine, and get him out of the habit of vomiting-- even if that means he has to sleep in in a couple of nights. I know that sounds harsh, but otherwise he is in control, not you...

I don't envy you this task. Mine is the same age and can be very stubborn too... but we "Ferberized" him at about a year, and it only took 3 nights for him to learn how to fall asleep on his own. It was a rough 3 day, though. Good luck.

This sounds gross, but is he just throwing up the BM or is there actual food in it too? If he is just throwing up milk then maybe he just needs to be burped still, or at least make sure he burps before putting him down. Has he ever had any issues with reflux? That could be it too. How about a stuffy nose or any kind of congestion? It's probably nothing real big, but I would call the doc anyway and explain what's happening. My son is 11mo and still needs to burp after his nighttime bottle or he gets bellyaches. See what the doc says!
Also, who cares about the BF falling asleep thing, don't feel bad about it. He will only be a baby once, so if you don't mind that's all that matters! Good for you for keeping up with the nursing! :) I still rock my son to sleep every night too, and believe me, there are LOTS of mommies who do the same thing! Just not a real popular topic these days! :)

I'm not sure if I am understanding your note entirely-do you mean he "works himself up" as in crying so hard he vomits? Or does he just vomit? I'll answer as if he's crying, and I apologize if I'm way off track.
If he's crying hysterically at bed time, and you or your husband are there at 16 months, it probably means he's not secure falling asleep on his own and has developed a really strong way to resist. The vomiting is nothing more than a physical symptom of the severe crying. The only problem with soothing kids to sleep, is that they become trained to need it.

We always did a fun bedtime routine and then walked away. Yes, we wanted to cuddle all night, but we wanted the kids to feel good by themselves at bedtime, so they cried it out a little in the very beginning and that was that. We also avoided "feeding them to sleep" based on warnings that they would need to eat in order to sleep. Actually, my son (15 months) often takes a bottle to bed (I hand it to him and walk away), but not always, and he rarely cries, so I didn't see it as an issue, he tends to wake up hungry during the night if he hasn't had a late night bottle and if we've been busy and had a light eating day.

However, if your son is used to having someone with him, and he's used to nursing himself to sleep, you have to now make a choice.
A) Stay with him and sooth him and nurse him to sleep and wait until he outgrows this.
Or
B) make a change and deal with the strenuous adjustment. It will change if you persist.
The most important ingredient to kids sleeping all night is being full. But not just right before bed, they need to be fed to total capacity-even when they don't seem hungry-all day long. It takes several days for the body to understand it's fully fed, and then kids who have been waking up during the night suddenly sleep straight through.

You should increase his feedings all day, and try to wean away from the night time one. Or at least, nurse him before bed, but not to sleep, and then burp him thoroughly, and wait a half hour or so before putting him down. Then Walk Away. YES, he will scream and be inconsolable, but this is because he is breaking a lifelong habit you helped him build. Once he gets through it, days, weeks (probably not more than a week) he will be able to go to sleep on his own. You'll even be able to go back to nursing him to sleep if you want sometimes, once he gets it that he can sleep securely on his own, and screaming and getting worked up doesn't produce a parent to sooth him to sleep.

Don't think of the "mean" aspect of letting him cry. Think of the greater good of him sleeping peacefully when he feels secure on his own. Good luck whatever you choose-and GOOD WORK nursing so long!

If nothing helps and you can find no answers at all for this there is a rare type of problem that this could be. Epilepsy. I seen it on the discovery channel, it is a real show, and the types of seizures are very rare, in that they manifest commonly by throwing up. Nothing invasive is done, just a sleep study is done while running an EEG machine, and they half to get the part where he throws up on the EEG. Now please do not freak out and rush right to the emergency room, but if they don't find anything wrong at all with your child, this could be something to check for.

Since you asked for similar stories I will share mine although I do not think it will be that helpful. My daughter slept in her own crib/room from 12 wks to 11 months. Then all of the sudden at 11 months she would get so upset/hysterical when I put her in her crib she would throw-up. After 3 nights of this she finally trained my husband and me NOT to put her in the crib! She then slept with us until she was 4 1/2yrs old. (I nursed her until she was 2 1/2 years). I personally had no desire to do the crying out method and I figured she would eventually move to her own bed, which she did. They are only that young and needy for such a short period of time. Good Luck!