Spit Up

Updated on March 18, 2008
B.M. asks from Hayward, CA
19 answers

I am breastfeeding my 5 month old baby girl and she spits up after every feeding and continues to spit up even before her next feeding. I was told to feed her only one breast at a time every 3 hours. She still continues to spit up and seems like she's hungry all the time. I don't pump and I don't know if I should invest in a pump and if that will help with the spit up. I noticed she gulps and chokes during the first morning feed. What should I do?

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M.M.

answers from Fresno on

I'd talk to the doc. Maybe she has GERD where they spit up every time they eat. A friends newborn had that and they had to try different techniques.

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C.W.

answers from San Francisco on

My daughter is 10 mos. old and she still spits up when she is crawling or sometimes if it is really soon after a feeding and she does something to jog her stomach. I think it is normal for babies to spit up at that age. I would just keep her upright for a little while after you feed her and see if it helps. I would think she might be more hungry if she spits up quite a bit.

C.

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A.F.

answers from Fresno on

I had a daughter that did that, I eventually figured out that it was that she was lactose intolerant and I was drinking a ton of milk. May be its something in your diet that is not agreeing with her tummy.

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S.R.

answers from San Francisco on

I am a mother of 4. This same thing happened to me with my first born. The Dr's said to keep feeding her. She would vomit so much it was projectile! And quite scary. After a while I decied not to listen to them and take her off of milk and give her soy. This was the solutin for her. Turns out she was then and now lactose intolarent i suggest speaking to some one from la lechec league or the wic program. Moms milk is the best but not if it is making your child ill. My child also has a very sesitive gag refelx and was always choking. It has gotten better with age but came in handy when she got to the stage of putting things in her mouth, she would just spit up what ever it was she was choking on. My child always acted as if she was starving so after trying several brands she took a pacifier. That was the best thing that ever happend to me, I was finally able to get some sleep. I do not suggest stoping the breast feeding till you speak to a proffesinal but at least you may get some ideas from others to take with you to the dr. There are ways to get a pump on borrow from kaiser or from wic. I have had the same one wich was givin to me from wic since my child was born and she in 9 now. I currently use it with baby #4. So they are a good investment if you choose to purchase your own. I wish you nothing but the best. I feel for you since i too was there. Good luck!

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K.O.

answers from Redding on

I had the same problem with my first. It turns out that my let down was too fast for her, and everything would come right back up. It seemed to work itself out over time. I did a scheduled feeding with her as well, and she was starving all the time, and when she ate she was voracious and gulped too much. With my second I fed her when she was hungry, not on a set schedule. I didn't have any problems with her. You might want to talk to a lactation consultant for help. Also, I found this web site to be a great resource: http://www.breastfeeding.com/

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E.V.

answers from San Francisco on

sounds like she may have acid reflux. it is common and nothing to worry about, really just a laundry issue. my son had it and one day he just stopped spitting up! it was great!

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J.L.

answers from Chico on

My son is going to turn 5 months tomorrow and he also spits up all the time. In one of my many baby books, "Great Expectations Baby's First Year" it reads "If you've got an urper on your hands, it's probably because the valve at the upper end of his stomach that holds in the milk-the esophageal sphincter-isn't closing tightly enough yet and needs more time to mature. As long as your baby is gaining weight normally, spitting up is nothing to worry about..."
My pediatrician recommended starting him on rice cereal to help but I'm goning to hold out on that until he turns 6 months per my "Super Baby Food" book. In the mean time I carry around many bibs and wash clothes when I'm out and about. I've always been told to feed baby when s/he is hungry aka on demand. For me that's breastfeeding about every 1.5 hrs until 2pm and every hour after that. He's a very happy little guy:-)

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J.B.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi B.,
My daugther did the same thing. I was advised to pump a little first until my milk let down (or hand express) and then let her breast feed. It worked wonders! Not only did she stop spitting up, she stopped having "exlosive poos." The only thing to be careful of is getting an oversupply of breastmilk by pumping too much. This turned out to be my problem and I had tons of clogged ducts and 3 bouts of mastitis.
Good luck

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L.C.

answers from Modesto on

You might check with the Dr. to see if she has GERD. My son is 4 months old and is on formula with the same problem. We discovered a few weeks ago that he has a bit of acid reflux, which is very common in babies, and have been giving him medicine to help. So far so good. He still spits up but not as much as before. We had switched from regular formula to a soy based formula for the same reason. Good luck!!

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C.W.

answers from Bakersfield on

B., my second son choked a lot on my breastmilk when he was an infant. At first it scared me but I just got used to sitting him up and tapping on his back a few times. He grew out of it. As to the spitting up, does it seem to bother her? I definitely don't think you should pump and bottle feed because she would swallow more air that way. Maybe you should talk to her doctor about her swallowing mechanism. Sometimes their muscle is weak and esophagus doesn't stay closed off. That is my very un-professional opinion of course. Keep breast feeding!

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K.W.

answers from San Francisco on

Does it seem like your daughter is losing weight? My 5-week old was once diagnosed with pyloric stenosis. It is simply a narrowing of the passage between the stomach and small intestine. He had the same symptoms (behavior), always hungry, and lots of spit up. Because he was so young, he quickly lost weight and it was very noticeable. He soon became dehydrated (within a couple of days). His doctor first thought it was a virus, but he was later diagnosed by a pediatric surgeon with pyloric stenosis. Have your daughter checked out soon. The solution was a simple surgery through his navel. The problem was repaired 8 years ago...now he's a ripping 8 year old!

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A.S.

answers from Salinas on

My daughter would also gasp and hardly latch on for a while after my milk came in. I've been reading alot about breastfeeding since then (she's one now), and I'm certain I was overproducing. It sounds like this may be what is happening here. My suggestion would be to invest in a pump, and pump for a few minutes before nursing your daughter (you can also hand express, if you don't want to get a pump). This will get you past the letdown, and will most likely help with her gasping as well as the spitting up.
Best of luck to you!
A.

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L.A.

answers from Redding on

Hi, I had this difficulty too with my son. He is most likely spitting up due to swallowed air. When the air starts to rise, it pushes milk up with it. One thing my husband and I had to do was hours of burping a day. Really, I know it is exhausting, but he needed it and it made a difference. Burp often during feeding ... I mean every five to ten minutes. Also, a good part of the reason my son swallowed so much air was because I had a strong let-down (a lot of milk all at once, especially at the beginning of the feeding). I don't know who advised you to only do one breast at a time, but I strongly disagree. The breast that is not being nursed is primed (so to speak) and builds up "pressure" so that when you nurse next, it is increasing the strong let-down and fast flow, which causes more air to be swallowed. So I recommend feeding with both breasts each feeding. If this still doesn't help, my lactation expert recommended pumping off a little milk right before a feeding so my son wouldn't be so effected by the strong let-down.

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S.K.

answers from Modesto on

hello. I feel your frustration. When my daughter was an infant, she would vomit ALL the time. After every feeding and even inbetween. My doctor reassured me that she was gaining weight, so there was no danger. I put her on soy formula and breastfed at night(I had trouble making enough milk). With those changes there was still no change in her(I sill kept her on soy). My doctor then told me that some babies are born with an under developed "flap" that is the "shut off valve" to your stomach. (I forgot the name)He told me that as she grew so would the "flap"and she would grow out of it--as long as she continued to gain wait she would be fine. He was right, as soon as she was about 10-12months old, she stopped. She as been fine ever since. She is 9 years old now, but does still have a bit of a sensitive stomach. Good Luck..Lots of laundry!!

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B.V.

answers from Fresno on

I had three children that I breast fed. And my daughter was alwasys spitting up. She never loss any weight, she just spit up more than the other two kids I had.

Have you talked to your doctor about this?

Good luck.

Blessings, B.

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D.K.

answers from Modesto on

My son also did this. My doctor always checked to see if Jake was gaining weight and eliminating well. Neither were ever a problem. The spitting up was in small amounts, but as you say, rather continuous. My doctor felt Jake had an immature epiglottis (the flap that closes the stomach) and that Jake basically had what amounted to heartburn. By the time Jake could sit up on his own and started eating solids, the problem pretty much had cleared itself up. Jake is now a strapping 17 year-old with a healthy appetite. D. K.

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A.U.

answers from San Francisco on

Oh I feel your pain! My daughter did very much the same thing as a baby. Our pediatrician diagnosed her with GER (basically a light version of acid reflux). We would keep her upright for 30 min. after a feeding and that seemed to help. Also supplementing some formula in her rice cereal helped too. She outgrew it and is a great eater and healthy girl now! Personally, I would nurse/feed her when she's hungry, even if it's less than 3 hours...she's losing a lot spitting it back up; but talk to your pediatrician and follow the professional advice. Best of luck! :)

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L.W.

answers from Stockton on

Good luck! Both my girls spit up until they were over a year old. The first I breast fed, the second I bottle fed. The doctor said that it was something that wasn't all the way developed. So just beware...you can try everything...but sometimes you are just going to get a peuky kid! ;)

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T.W.

answers from San Francisco on

My son had the same problem. He spit up so frequently that he was not even gaining weight. It turned out that he required zantec for acid indigestion. Talk to your doctor, you may only need over the counter Mylicon drops for gas. Also, be mindful of your diet. Certain foods you eat may be gassy for the little one.

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