Spitting Up - West Burlington,IA

I also had a super spitter... who gained lots of weight, but felt so bad that he was always spitting up and we would go through so many clothes and blankets. I tried everything that the others are posting, but after that didn't work someone finally said is he sensetive to dairy? So I stopped eating all dairy and he stopped spitting up, it was amazing!! Well I hope that you'll be able to work through all the wonderful posts and one of us will have been able to help.

T.,

I had two out of three that were spitters :) They were 100% BF (no bottles, no formula). My last was the worst.. she spit up all the time!

I talked with my Dr., and we agreed that as long as she didn't seem to be in any pain (from reflux), and was gaining weight ok, that we wouldn't worry too much about it. It was more of a laundry issue :) My MIL was appalled that I didn't have her on anti reflux medication, but she finally out grew it around 9 months. She never spits up any more.

Good luck!
Jessica

Hello.

Both of our kids were big spitters. I usually had to change their outfits at least once a day and they always wore bibs..... I breasfed our first till 6 months. Our second exclusively till 9 months and then he started food and we continued breastfeeding till 18 months.

I'd say it lasted about 6 to 9 months with each child. I brought them to the chiropractor regularily to help. I saw a small improvement but they still spit, A LOT! The chiropractor will show you where to massage on their belly to see if that will help.

I never really saw a difference in when I burped the kids or not so I rarely burped them. With breastfeeding they really don't get the air they do from bottles. I also only breastfed one side at a time. My kids would take about 10 to 15 minutes to eat and then be good for 2 to 6 hours.

The chiropractor is my only suggestion. He will outgrow this and as long as he is gaining weight I wouldn't worry too much.

Ugh, the spitter upper. My first was a huge spitter upper, but was gigantic and had NO problems gaining weight. He had colic as well, but the reflux meds only made it a little bit better. If your little guy isn't upset about the spitting up, then he probably does not have reflux. If he's gaining well, then it's true that it's not an issue. It seems like wasted effort when they spit up all that milk, though, doesn't it? Good luck (and happy laundering!),
Amy K

He might have acid reflux. That means the thing that closes off his throat when he swallows is not completely developed yet. So he can't hold things down. It helps to keep him as upright as possible. My AR kids always liked the swing, and sitting upright in the bouncy chair. There is also medication available. The verdict is still out about how much that helps. I know it's kinda scary/sad when he spits up. But your dr is right, as long as he's gaining weight, he is still keeping enough down to stay healthy. It's just not fun.

Hi T.. My daughter was the same way. Our Dr said that it was most likely because she was eating too fast, which I agree with. She was a rather ferocious eater (still is) and she'd take in too much too fast. I'm not sure what you can do about it other than unlatching if you see this occurring and burping more often. Good luck!

My son was the same way except he cried quite a bit so they diagnosed him with Reflux. he still gained weight so we weren't too worried. we did try some medication for a bit but that did not seem to help much. One thing that was recommended to me by a lactation consultant was trying a different nursing position which seems to help a lot. Try having your son straddle your thigh on the side you are nursing...he will face you head on to nurse with his back being perpendicular to the ground...basically you are working with gravity to keep the milk down. Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions! Oh yeah, and i should add that my son just stopped spitting up, magically one day when he was 6 months old and was sitting up and eating cereal and baby food.

Spitting up is in my opinion a normal part of babies life unless it gets to the point of vomiting or Gerd. Spitting up is usually a little bubble of air that will cause a bit of milk to come up at the same time. I would suggest maybe burping him more often so that his tummy doesn't have a bubble causing the issue. This usually works itself out by 3-4 months old. I wouldn't worry too much about it since he is gaining weight and everything else seems normal.

Your son is totally normal. Both of my kids were breastfed, and they both spit up a lot for the first 6 months or so. As long as he's gaining weight, he's fine. Babies' digestive systems are pretty immature at first and it takes time for them to finish developing. That's why you breastfeed or give them formula and not cheeseburgers when they're newborns. :)
After he starts eating solids, it should get better.

T.-both my kids are breastfed, my daughter never spit up and I rarely burped her. My son is a horrible spitter and I forget to burp him. I think burping helps, it seems like he has a bubble and spits when I forget to burp. He is 8 months old and it has gotten a lot better over the months. It doesn't seem to bother him and he is gaining weight just fine. I would never put my baby on medication unless there was no other option. I'm sure your little man will be just fine. Congrats!

Make sure you burp a lot, but it could just be that he spits up a lot.

You might try keeping him upright as much as possible when feeding and for a while after feeding. I heard a mother at La Leche say that it helped some with her super spitter if she nursed reclining a little in her recliner.

2 of my 3 were spitters too. Maybe consider feeding only 1 breast at a time and feed more often (every 1 1/2 or 2 hours). I have a 7 week old and am doing this. It seems to lessen the spitting up. With my 2nd, she seemed to spit up everything and still gained just fine...amazing. Good luck!

does he also have gas, green poop, fussiness??

make sure that when you nurse your baby is nursing long enough on each side. they tell you 10 minutes on each side, but really, just nurse until the feeding is finished. if baby is still hungry, switch sides. but theres no need to cut a feeding short on one side; it actually hurts because it can cause that breast to not get emptied, causing all types of problems :P one is a hindmilk imbalance. hindmilk is the more fatty part of the milk. you should massage your breast, the outlying area of it, from your shoulder blade all the way to under your armpit! this will help the hindmilk let down. :)

try www.llli.org and find a local or nearby la leche league group! they will be able to help you! :)

OK, here is my advice. My oldest son was a spitter also. We used to put the towel across our laps and it would seem that he spit up as much as he took in. He was happy and healthy though. Our pediatrician said the same thing as yours. Some kids just spit up more than others. My third was another story. He seemed to cry every time we burped him, and he didn't spit very much. He actually ended up with Acid Reflux. Just something to watch. Good luck.

My daughter spit up rivers, and I mean RIVERS. I would be covered head to toe when she was finished. Oy, the laundry!
She gained weight just fine, it was never an issue. She was a very efficient eater, done in 10 minutes, sometimes less. It was so funny, because I was so sure she just wasn't getting enough because she would be done so quickly, and then she would spit up a ton. But she gained weight like a champ, no problems.
You're doing everything great! It's a hard stage to go through, because you're washing everything all the time, but it'll be over soon, I promise! From what you say, your son is gaining weight and thriving, and that's the most important thing.

Hi thersa

My little guy is the same way. He is now 9 months old but has been a very spit uppy baby ever since he was born he used to spit up so much you could about measure it. Now he still spits up but it is not as much and not as often. We tried the acid reflex meds and they did not make a differance in how much he spit up so I quit using them. My doctor has just stated that some baby's just spit up more then others and will go out of it, it is just kinda annoying... hope this helps good luck.

You can try burping him mid feeding. Sometimes that will help.

Otherwise...he might just be a spitter!

I have had two children that "spit up". My youngest was extreme. I knew something was not right but the Dr's and nurses thought she was fine. She would throw up and everything would need to be changed, me, her, the bed, etc.

They best advice I received was that if it ever looks a little green go to the ER. (It was just a light greenish hint to my daughters) We caught my daughters volvulus at 2 weeks. She spit up alot, was gaining weight, because she was weighed before the spitting up, and looked healthy.

Volvulus is the malrotation of the intestines so basically she was getting very little milk through her system. It was caught in time, due to the lactation consultant that I talked to the same day we took her in. If left undiagnosed it can lead to part of the intestine being strangled... which means having a bag for excrement the rest of her life. She had surgery within 4 hours of arriving at the ER- quit scary.

A mother's instinct is often correct!

My kids were all "spitter uppers," but my son was the worst. As I understand it, boys are often worse than girls. As long as the the doctor isn't concerned about acid reflux or weight gain, I wouldn't worry. As others have suggested, try burping him more often during the feeding. That can help some kids. Also, keep him at least semi-upright for about a half an hour after a feeding. Just keep lots of bibs and burp rags handy, and you'll both be alright! Be glad you are nursing! Bottle fed spit-up smells a lot worse, especially once you get into some of the specialty formulas!

My daughter threw up, not just spit up, at almost every feeding for the first couple of months. She was never uncomfortable from it and was always in the 90-95 percentile when we went to check ups. She was 100% breastfed and my guess is just that she took in more than her belly could handle. I always took about 10-15 minutes to burp between sides, too. That helped to some degree. As long as he's gaining weight and doesn't seem like he's upset or hurting when he does it, my vote is that he's just fine.

T., I am so sorry your little son is going through this. I felt so bad when my daughter was going through the same thing. Her family practice doctor also said she's gaining wait not to worry you and her will just have to change your clothes and clean your carpets/furniture alot. I am also nursing her and think this was a lot to do with my let down. I had a very strong let down which occasional made her cough/choke. We did try some zyrtec but this did not seem to matter. She finally quit spitting up when she was about 3 months old and started daycare and taking the bottle of breastmilk.

So T. I wouldn't worry about it unless he just doesn't seem satisfied and is not gaining weight. You will just be washing alot of clothes and cleaning alot of carpets/furniture in the next couple weeks or so.

My BF daughter spit up after every feeding. It's perfectly normal and as long as he is gaining weight, nothing to worry about. It will gradually decrease until at about 9 months he'll be done spitting up. Buy two dozen cloth diapers to use as "spit rags" and always have one handy! They absorb well and wash up easily. You'll be changing his clothes (and yours more often, too.