Hi All - I'm hoping you can help. My 7 week old daughter throws up a LOT after feeding. She had really bad wind the first few weeks of life - mainly (I think) from the bottles she was getting in NICU (long story, but she's fine!) which we took home with us while I was trying to get her to latch on (they had a really fast flow on them). Now she's been breastfeeding exclusively for 5 weeks, and we give her Infacol before each feed (a European version of Mylicon) - the worst of the gas is gone, but now instead she will throw up quite a bit after feeds. Also, she's waking up about 2 hours after a feed sputtering and really need to burp and throws up as well. I asked my doctor about it, he said "positing" was normal. I asked a midwife, she said once the baby was gaining weight not to worry. But today she threw up so much I started to get really worried - she was really hungry and possibly fed too fast (I also have a fast letdown of milk), but I swear she puked up nearly all she ate! Then she also threw up older milk (the throw up that looks like cottage cheese rather than just liquid). So now I'm starting to wonder - has anyone had this happen to them? Is she just a "pukey baby" or could she be allergic to something (like the Infacol or the milk?! Could it be something I'm eating????) even though she continues to put on weight? We're so confused! Any and all advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated!
Sounds exactly like my daughter as an infant... As long as she keeps gaining weight and seems happy I wouldn't worry about it, she should outgrow by 6 months or so (hopefully sooner!)
I don't know what kind of issues your baby had when she was born - were they feeding issues that caused her to be in the NICU (I'm glad she is fine!!)? If so, she might just indeed be a pukey baby, and/or the throwing up is related to those issues. Regardless, some babies are like that. My youngest was a huge puker as a baby and even now, at 16 months, she sometimes still spits up! She also seems to throw up whenever she gets a little illness. She even threw up once in the summer after swallowing a little water in the baby pool out back. Anyway, if your daughter is putting on weight and peeing/pooping enough during the day, that is really the most important thing. I would contact your doctor anyway, but if he's not worried, try not to be.
As far as the question you had about something you are eating causing the problems, it definitely could be that. I had to almost eliminate dairy and anything acidic from my diet with both my girls, and that helped. I also found that stopping and burping very frequently with my youngest when she was nursing really helped prevent too much throw up. She hated me pulling her off but it did help a lot. Some babies just suck in too fast and suck air as they nurse, and their little stomachs can't handle all that milk at one time. Good luck - I know how tough it is when you are bracing yourself for the inevitable puke... it will get better as she grows larger. Hang in there!
We have what my doctor calls a "spitty baby". It's so not fun. She practically lives in bibs. One thing that I found that really helped was to make her take breaks. Oh she hates them, but it helps so much in the long run. If we are bottle feeding her then we make her stop and burp after every ounce she drinks. If she's breastfeeding, then I give her a break between sides or make sure to keep her vertical for some time after feeding. When bottle feeding we also found that keeping her as vertical as possible and the bottle as horizontal as possible was the best strategy. Good luck!
If her mood is fine, then she's just a "happy spitter". Both of my kids were. Buy a whole bunch of burpcloths and get used to smelling like sour milk. The best advice that I got was to measure out three tablespoons of water and spill it on the table. It looks like tons, but you know how little it is. She's probably getting 4 oz or so of breastmilk at a feeding (maybe more) so she's surely not puking all of it. Try to make sure she burps really well after she eats and hopefully she won't spit up all the time, but she might for the next little while. It gets better around 6 months.
