3 Week Old Spitting up Formula - Is This Normal?

Some babies are just spitters. If she is gaining and is not
throwing everything up, I would think she is fine.

How much is she drinking? It may be that she is eating too much.
Or did you ask the dr to see if she has reflux?

After trying every single formula out there for my son, I found the BEST one out there is READY TO FEED SIMILAC ALIMENTUM. Of course it is the most expensive, but it was definitely worth it!

Hi J.,
My cousin went throught he very same thing. Her new born spit up after every bottle when burping him,,new kept his formula down which only meant he was taking a bottle every 1-2 hours,,She after severla week of this insisited to her pediatrician that there has got to be something else other than changing the formula every week, nothing seemed to be working. finally the Pediatricain Subscribed him Zantac 2 daily and now he is doing great sleeping more,,much ahappier,and not sipping up evey bottle. Talk to your Pediatrician it maybe a reflux problem and not a formula problem.

Formula is a foreign chemical substance. I would encourage you to give it another go with breastfeeding and get a lactation consultant. Or anther one if you already did. Very few women actually can't breastfeed. Your baby may have a dairy or soy allergy which is causng the vomiting. Good luck!

I started my son on similac and had the same problem. So, I switched to Good Start and he was fine. So, when I had my daughter 2 1/2 months ago, I naturally started her on Good Start right off the bat. She constantly had the runs. So, I tried enfamil because of my experience with the similac and my son. Her bowel movements became normal, but she had a lot of gas and was spitting up. So, as a last resort, I tried her on the similac and she is fine. I discovered that with each child, you need to try to find the formula that best agrees with that child. Good luck!

Babies do just spitup but if it seems like alot more then it should be you may be over feeding. talk to your pedi if only to make your self feel better.

First I would like to say CONGRATULATIONS!! On your baby girl. It is normal for babies to spit up as long as it is not projectile vomiting. One suggestion is to try to feed slowly and burp often. Sometimes when a baby is really hungry they tend to guzzle their bottle and spit up a large portion of it. If she is waiting the four hours and seems to be really hungry then I would either feed her sooner or make sure she does not drink to fast. Easier said then done mine would scream when I took the bottle out for burping so I guess you have to see how she reacts. I would also like to say I am sure the spitting up is not because you were unable to breastfeed. I know women who have breastfed and have children with colic, gas, and digestive problems as well. I must say the remarks of the poster below is upsetting to me. I did not breastfeed my children by choice and I have two grown healthy wonderful children. I also know many women who just couldn't breastfeed do it and tortured themselves because of people like the poster below implying that one is not dedicated enough. I don't think putting a bottle into your child's mouth verses your breast makes you less dedicated of a mother. Some women just can't do it!! I am sure nutritionally breast milk is best, however it does not mean you are not dedicated because you cannot or do not choose to breastfeed. I would not want you to feel bad about not being able to do it. Back to spitting up. If it continues and she is experiencing excessive gas, and is uncomfortable then I would talk to the doctor about the formula possibly not agreeing with her. There are so many other formulas you can try. My daughter had colic so I had to use Nutramagin and it worked like a charm. Good luck and enjoy your new baby.

Have you tried keeping her head up during and after feedings? I mean, don't lay her down after the bottle. Burp her for as long as possible to get the air out of her belly. It is normal for a baby to spit up. If she is not crying a lot then she is not going hungry. If she is fussy then she may need a different formula.

with my first i had to use similac alimuentum. that helped.. and now my second has good start soy.

All my babies were spitter upers. I have 4 and my youngest is almost 5 wks and he does spit up time to time. If you think that its too much or you are really worried you could always call your ped. Dont know why he suggested half powder and half ready to feed though never herd of that before.

Formula fed babies almost always spit up, no matter what formula you use. If I may ask, what was your problem with getting your little one to breastfeed? Did you contact a lactation consultant or a La Leche League leader for help? 3 weeks is still very early on and if you wanted to, you could still bring your milk supply back if it is already gone. I would give it another try, if I were you. I know it can be hard, but there's nothing you can't overcome If you are dedicated to giving your LO the best possible nutrition you can. A certified lactation consultant or a LLL leader will be your best bet. Good luck!!

I know beast feeding can be very frustrating! I almost gave up too, but I managed to stick it out for three months. It might be worth another try if you were interested in doing it in the first place because it can take alot of the guess work out of feeding and ease some stress. A lactation consultant can do WONDERS with just a phone call. I will say also that when I switched to formula I ended up using soy based because I felt my daughter didnt respond well to regular. I gave it a try just to see and it worked for us. Good Luck!! Enjoy the ride:)

I found that my last two did not tell me that they were full and kept eating (and I was breastfeeding). So, trial and error, I had to figure it out. I gave a little bit here and here and kept the food down. Now, you can listen to what Rose said because she is a pediatrician, but I also noticed that if I kept them up 15 minutes to 1/2 hour upright after eating did help with the spitting up so much. So, you may want to try those things if you haven't already and do what the pediatrician suggested as well. Hope this helped. May God give you His Wisdom in dealing with this. We all learn about our babies over time.

Dear J., Congrats on your new baby. I nursed 4 out of 5 and the last was just as healthy. Are you taking enough time and burping often in between? Is baby eating to fast? I do not know much about powder. Hope other new moms can help you. Grandma Mary

Babies do spit up but how much is your baby spitting up? You might want to think about having her checked for acid reflux or try changing to a formula geared for sensitive stomachs.

Hi J.,

I am a pediatrician myself - there is absolutely no science to mixing half ready to feed and half powder. What is your pediatrician talking about?? Is he/she trying to drive you crazy?

A small amount of spitup in a baby is normal. All babies should do some spitting up (except breastfeeding babies, less so on average) - and that is because the muscle right above the stomach, that is designed to keep your food in your stomach, is lax, mostly due the hormonal effects that babies experience right after being born.

Normal spitup should be about a baby's mouthful or so, which is about 1-2 tablespoons. It should usually be right after a feed (the wet burp) or sometimes in between, especially if they were repositioned (ie you picked up your child from the bassinet, or you put her down, etc). It should occur a few times a day.

Once you get to the point where your child is spitting up frequently, vomiting (which includes forceful spitups), or bringing back up more than 1/2 the bottle that was taken, this is reflux that can be treated. There is actually a lot of controversy on what to do here. Some doctors treat with medications like Zantac or Axid. Some do not, rather they say elevate the head of the bassinet of crib with a pillow or rolled up blanket UNDERNEATH the mattress (never any pillows in the crib directly next to baby), feed upright and keep baby that way for 15 minutes after feeding, and thicken the formula with rice cereal (NOT mized cereals, just pure rice), about 1 tablespoon for every 4 ounces.

I say do both. The risk of treatment with medication is low - Zantac tastes awful (my son loved it though!) but aside from that is very safe to use. That, plus the other measures I mentioned above (elevation of mattress, etc) should help.

Now, three things - PLEASE do not waste any more money on ready to feed vs. powder or whatever. Pick one that you like and stick with it, unless a baby has really bad reflux (in which case the bubbles from mixing the powdered formula, plus powdered is thinner than the ready to feed) neither preparation makes a difference. Second, do not waste your money on picking the "perfect" formula (insider secret: they are really all the same, except for the specialty formulations) and even the ones for sensitive stomaches and what not, there is not science that they really work (and in my medical experience, they do not work). Finally, you are 3 weeks postpartum -- it may be possible to resume breastfeeding (if your pediatrician says no, you can't - don't believe it. You CAN). If you are really motivated, contact your local La Leche or the hospital where you deliivered, and they can teach ways to get your milk supply back up again. A lactation consultant can also tell you why you were unsuccessful with your breastfeeding in the first place. Good luck.

Be sure that you're using a very low-flow nipple and don't over feed.

Hi J.,
Yes, new babies do tend to spit up but it's not necessarily because they're formula fed. My son was allergic to milk based and soy based formula so I would check with your pediatrician to be sure that's not the case.