Throwing up When cries...Help

My daughter who is 18 months is the same way. It's awful. She has done this since she was an infant, so the doctor says it is not that she is doing it on purpose. It's that some babies have a very sensitive gag reflex and throw up very easily when upset. She will vomit and vomit and vomit everything out of her stomach until she is dry heaving. We cannot do any sleep training with her...we just gave up on that. She also is tall and thin so it worries me (her dad and I are tall and thin BUT her brother was such a chunky baby). The doctor says some kids just do this and she says most grow out of it by two and a half. I HOPE SO. I have had a couple people on this site tell me they had a "puker" and it continued through much of their early childhood - anytime they were really upset they would throw up even in grade school. ugh. OK, I'm going to read your other responses now.

Both of my kids do this, my son more than my daughter. My son was to the point where he would throw up 3-4x's a week. He even throws up when he eats too fast or if he sees something gross. I was the same way as a child too. I just think he has a sensitive gag reflex. My son just runs to the toilet or the trash can when he knows he's gonna vomit. But he does throw up everything that's in his stomach, and is totally fine after he vomits, he can even eat and drink right after. My son is not a small kid, he's in the 95% for height and weight, so the vomiting hasn't affected his growth. I don't think that vomiting once a week would affect your son's weight too much anyways. But definitely bring it up at his 18 month check up.

I have a friend whose kids have very weak cardiac sphincters. That's the circular muscle at the top of your stomach that squeezes shut to keep things from coming back up. It opens up again to let burps out, to throw up, to let food in, etc.

It really sounds to me like this could be a problem for your little guy. If he lays down and food just comes out, that would trigger vomiting, I would think.

I'm not a doctor, but I did extensive studies in human anatomy and biology. I also have three kids and babysat regularly. This is NOT normal.

I babysat a boy who would throw up when he didn't get his way. When he threw up, he got all sorts of attention. His mom really screwed that kid up, in my opinion. She'd tell him no, you can't have something, so he'd cry really hard, and then she'd pick him up, say she was sorry, hug and kiss him, then give him the thing he wanted. When he threw up, she gave him more and more and more. My sister and I, just from babysitting him frequently, stopped that behavior by making him clean up his own barf (he was only 2) and not giving in to him.

You don't sound like that kind of mom.

And sliding down the weight charts is NOT okay. My husband is very tall and skinny (6'3" and 180 lbs) and none of my kids have changed their percentiles pretty much since they were 1 month old. I have one who is 75% on height and 50% on weight, the second is huge at above 97% on height and 85% on weight, and our skinniest is 90% on height and 50% on weight.

Frankly, I would change pediatricians. If you are worried about your kid, your ped should be, too. I have another story to share about that.
My second baby was the huge one. I breastfed all my babies. When he was 3 1/2 months old, I started taking the mini pill. Baby Z stopped flying through his clothing sizes like he had been (he was in 9 month clothes at the time) and cried a lot. When I took him to his 4 month check up, he'd dropped in his weight percentile. But because he was usually in the 85th %, and he dropped to 50%, I was really worried. But the doctor wasn't, because he was still 50%! I didn't feel right about it, so I followed my mother's intuition. I stopped the pill and suddenly, DS shot out of his clothes and started sleeping more and crying less. He'd just been hungry! He popped right back to the 85% and has stayed there for 5 more years.

Kids should not be changing their percentiles. Mine have stayed constant. I guess the story would be different if your other kids didn't stay constant.

I have a pediatrician now that defers to me most of the time because I have three kids that turned out great. He asks me what I have done with the other boys, if they talked early, etc. He listens when I have concerns and draws medical diagrams to explain things to me. I think everyone deserves a pediatrician like mine, although I think he's a rare gem.

time for a different doctor. When you go in, take a written list of your concerns. 2nd opinions rarely hurt.....

First off you are not alone.

My brother used to throw up all of his bottles. This was 20y ago before there were special formulas and baby reflux, etc. My mom would make him 2 bottles. Feed him the first, wait.... he'd throw up, she'd feed him the 2nd and he'd be fine. He has always been skinny and towards the bottom of the charts. He is now 22y, 6'2, and weights 150lbs soaking wet.

I always thought that he was having a problem with the formula, but my mom never saw any specialists.

From what you describe, I would have him seen by a pediatric gastrointernologist and an allergist. There could be an internal physical reason - his stomach flap is weak from the reflux, etc., and there could be an allergy reason, which would explain why he throws up like that. My son used to projectile t/u like that. I have BEEN there! For my son, he had a pear allergy that his body was fighting.

As for the opinion that he has learned to throw up to get his way, this is entirely possible. I know a 10y that does this. He has a very weak gag reflux and only takes a few minutes for him to make a mess.

It might be time to get a referral to a pediatric gastrointerologist. If nothing else you can get a diffent perspective than the pediatrician. My son was very similar to yours, but it took trying three different reflux meds to get his reflux under control. Now he is almost two, and we still take the reflex meds, but it really took going to see the GI doc to get someone to take my concerns seriously. Maybe they can help you guys too.