Relfux and/or vomiting 5 wk old

[fayeelle]

I feel so terrible for DD. Since Friday morning she "spits up" at least 1-2oz of breastmilk over an hour after nursing. Its horrifying to watch because it seems so extreme. She seems fine afterwards. Sometimes she wants to nurse right after, other times she naps.

Friday afternoon we saw her pediatrician because she had been very fussy after nursing and never seemed comfortable. I cut out dairy, garlic, spicy foods, onion etc. I will have maybe a 1/2 cup half caff coffee right after our first morning session and no caffeine otherwise. None of that helped and she actually seemed worse. Her pediatrician Rx'd Zantac that we started Friday night. She definitely seems more comfortable now thankfully but she its still bringing up a ton of breastmilk a couple times a day.

I nurse with her head elevated and more against me to make sure she isn't taking in a ton of air. She eats pretty quickly only nursing 20 min max and I only offer 1 side. She usually takes herself off when she is full and has been nursing like this for a few weeks now so thats no different.

What the hell is happening to my child? Has anyone else dealt with this? And tips if so?

I don't know if this is related to the reflux or something totally different. Her pediatrician didn't seem concerned about the episode the morning of her appt because she seemed ok, still wanted to nurse and has had plenty of wet diapers. But damn, this is happening a lot more. I'm running out of places to put her during the day because I'm washing everything.

Sigh. I hate this.

[curbsideprophet]

DD was a happy spitter. Our pedi called it a laundry problem. So that is possible. Not sure what it means if she is on meds but still spitting up, sorry.

[Deleted]

My nephew spit all.the.time. He never seemed bothered at all by it. A lot of milk though not sure of actual volume.

[melsamoony]

First of all ((hugs)). DS was a huge spitter and very uncomfortable. Know that it takes a week for dairy to get out of your system and 2-3 weeks for it to get out of your baby's body so that may be contributing to the spitting.

If your baby is happy, comfortable, and gaining weight try not to worry too much. Easier said than done.

[toutsuite]

I can commiserate. We had the same issues though I had been combo feeding since my supply was never enough to meet demand. I tried eliminating the foods you mentioned and we got the Zantac prescription which worked for a few days. Ultimately we ended up switching to Prilosec and gaviscon for the reflux. Ds was then diagnosed with dairy sensitivities so I ended up switching to eff. The formula was still really thin and he was still having pretty big spit ups (like he was losing weight he would spit up so much) so we started adding rice cereal to his formula based on our pedi's guidance along with gerber probiotics. Honestly, the rice cereal which thickens his formula only slightly has made a huuuuuge difference with the amount of spit up and how often he would spit up. We also always have ds sitting or sleeping on an incline which helps too.

Rice cereal and other thickeners aren't usually popular around here but I will say ds is now gaining weight and is keeping his food down. If you are ebf, this may not be the best option, but it worked for us and I have no regrets. He was absolutely miserable until we got the reflux under control and is now a happy and easy-going baby. It is a night and day difference. We started around eight weeks and he had no problems with digestion. We were also at our wits end and willing to try anything to make him more comfortable.

What you are describing is common with reflux babies. I can assure you though that you aren't doing anything wrong and sometimes it just takes a bit of time to get things under control.

[vcubergirl]

Our DS was a happy spitter for several months, and man did it suck. Then suddenly it started upsetting him, and so we put him on Zantac. Then we discovered he is sensitive to milk proteins, but even after we cut out all dairy, it didn't really change the spitting or the discomfort from it. We did thicken his formula with rice, and that seemed to help him keep it down, and tried about a million different types of bottles (we ended up using Dr. Browns) and found that if we fed him, burped him a lot, and then immediately rocked him to sleep and then held him for about 20 min, we could get him to keep most of his food in. It was quite a process, but it helped.

[carfar]

DS was on Zantac for a bit. Dr said it wouldn't stop the spit up, just make it less acidic and painful to reflux. As long as they aren't losing weight because of spitting too much, or projectile vomiting greenish bile, and seem happy, it's annoying but nothing to worry about, from my understanding. Good luck, it is alarming and annoying.

[undecidedowl]

Both my boys spit up like crazy. DS1 needed zantac which helps with the pain but not the actual spitting. DS2 doesn't seem as bothered by it. Yes, it's a major laundry problem. Daycare goes through about 4 bibs and 3 outfits a day for DS2. As far as the timing with your LO, I did find that it got worse a couple weeks in when they started eating bigger quantities.

For the most part, I just keep lots of burp rags handy, warn people before they hold him, feed him upright with kid of burping, etc. I also hold him upright for 20 mins after eating at night before laying him down. Oh, and avoid pressure on his belly. But yeah, lots and lots of laundry.

[specialk]

DS had this problem early on. We tried Mylanta, which didn't help. The doctor said it was just because his digestive system needed to grow and develop and he did outgrow it. He still spits up, but not like he used to. Sleeping in his RNP kept him more comfortable at night. We kept him sitting up for 15-20 minutes after each feeding.

[fayeelle]

Thank you all. Maybe she is a happy spitter? It just seems like a lot more than spit up which is why I'm so bothered.

I keep her elevated for about 30+ min after eating but she still spits up anywhere from 30 min to an hour after that. She has always hated laying flat and almost always sleeps at an incline. Usually its in her swing and shes spit up in that the last 2 days. Its so much it spills down her and puddles in the bottom of the seat. I tried setting her in a bouncy chair-same result as well as her carseat. Also once sitting on my lap. The only place that has been safe so far is on my chest and I'm sure I'm running out of time on that. I'll try the RNP and also elevating the bassinet pad this week. What do I have to lose, right?

I'm guessing I just wait it out until her appt on the 1st and see what her weight looks like since peds isn't concerned yet.

I was coming up on 2 weeks no dairy and this morning DH tried to be helpful and make me a bowl of cereal. I was 4 or 5 bites in before I realized he used regular milk instead of almond milk so I get to start over again. Yay me?

[vcubergirl]

Just an FYI, we had a lot of trouble with any kind of seat (bouncy seat, swing, and car seat). Something about the way it would bend DS would make him spit up so much. We didn't take any road trips for a long time! But we did have a lot of luck with elevating his mattress.