URGENT- 3wk DS keeps throwing up

[SANA]

I havent been worried so far, he usually pukes up a bit after each feed and will do so even after a couple of hours, he hasnt still recovered his birthweight

Last night his puke flew out of his mouth and it was def his entire feed

I have been keeping a eye on him today and he has not been projecting today but I am so worried but hubby does not think we should take him into hospital because he is alert, waking for feeds and filling his nappies, I did take him to GP last week and she told me not to worry ( ha ha)

I have been BFing him but for the last nihts giving him one formula bottle to try and help him gain weight, he puked most last night after the formula so dont know if it was this but am sure we did over feed him as he was first in my breast than bottle ( he has around 4ozs) and after he puked he had breast again

HELP how normal is vomitting??

[Laylasmum]

Some babys do vomit more than others but your husband is right in that you need to look at the whole picture iyswim and your ds is otherwise well. it may be that he isn't digesting the formula very well and thats why he's bringing it back. if i were u i'd probably stick to bf as this is much more easily digested and he can't guzzle so quickly so it allows more time for it to go down.

[psychomum5]

This sounds very much like reflux ('gastroesophical reflux disease' to use the proper term) to me. Three of my kiddies have suffered from this, and it is distressing to say the least. If not for the child, then definately for the mummy!!!

With two of the kiddies (DD3 & DS2) they have even had to go into hospital to have bariums and then be out on meds because I simply couldn't get them to keep enough food down for them to put on weight, and therefore they started to be classed as FTT.

I am not telling you this to scare you tho, so please don't panic from my post, I don't know how your son is enough for me to assume that he does have reflux, but it may be something you need to consider.

The signs for my kiddies were.....
Being sick lots after each feed. Sometimes projectile, but more often than not just constant sick for half hour to an hour.
Sleepy...They did wake, and when awake they were alert, but they did sleep much better and longer than my friends kiddies. (Got quite smug, till I realised it was simply because they didn't have the energy to stay awake for long times!!)
Very runny pooh, but not that much in the way of wee.
Crying lots for my DD3...she suffered heartburn cos of the constant refluxing of acid after she had emptied her tummy of milk.

Most reassuring now tho....DD3 is the tallest in her class after taking so long to grow. She was 8lb born, 15lb 11oz on her first birthday and still only 20lb on her second....she has caught up loads . DS1 grew out of it by the age of 6mths, then DS2 by his 1st b/day. He is still small, but has allergies so that would be the reason for that!!

Sorry for the long post , but I hope it helps.
If you are still worrying tho, go back to your health visitor..lots if needs be. It took 4mths to realise with DD3 what the problem was...then just 6wks with the boys.

[KathH]

souns like reflux - ds 2 (23wks) has it and is on medication from hospital. I would mention again to hv or gp again if it is literally projectile as may be a condition called pyloric stenosis altho i think with this they literally pump their milk straight out. ds can be puking 3 hrs after a feed! ds 1 had it as well - es now a great big 6 yr old - cant believe its the same child altho he wasnt sick very often he had the kind where they swallow the acid and it gets very painful. dds didnt have it.

[soapbox]

Is he only vomiting after formula?

Might he be allergic to dairy?

My DD was violently sick after a bottle of formula at 6 weeks and this was definately a dairy allergy.

[LIZS]

I'd say pretty normal. Could the formula disagree with him, especially when given on top of the bm ? He may well have just overdone the feeding, got a bit of trapped wind and then brought a load back. It does look like more than went in but probably looks worse than it is and doing this occasionally won't hurt him. he soudns fine otherwise so wouldn't be unduly worried unless it becomes a regular thing (ie large quantities several times a day).

With reflux he'd probably have other symptoms - crying/restlessness between feeds, wanting to be kept upright, perhaps regular vomiting or acid regurgitation. dd had it and was hard to settle flat - dh spent many a night cuddling her in a chair although we didn't know why at the time. The vomitting didn't start until she was a bit older so I think she had hidden reflux in the early days.

I'd tend to agree with laylasmum that it might be beneficial to go back to plain breastfeeding for the moment, feeding him at every opportunity he shows interest or you feel full, and that in itself could resolve the weight gain "issue" .

hth

[janinlondon]

SANA did the GP definitely rule out pyloric stenosis? I have a friend who's little boy had it. He was diagnosed and had treatment the same day, and within a day was feeding normally. They couldn't believe how much difference it made. He started putting on weight immediately.

[Jimjams]

sounds like ds3 (8 weeks) who I'm fairly certain has reflux. he is very sicky and often coats me.Often hours after a feed - and often projectiles the last bit of his feed up. As he's happy and weight gaining I'm not worrying too much aout it- should improve with age. if he was miserable, extra sleepy or not pooing/weeing then I would see the GP to try gaviscon or something.

[psychomum5]

Just to add to my earlier post..

My kiddies who had reflux also had dairy allergies. I breastfed tho, so in the case of DD3, it wasn't spotted untill she hit 6mths and I swapped her to formula..she then had to have Infasoy, altho the reflux didn't stop. With DS1, it didn't make any difference whether he had formula or breast, he still refluxed, but with DS2, he was very allergic....to the extent that I had to go onto an exclusion diet myself, and then when that didn't work, he got put onto 'plastic' formula...predjomin...which he still has to have now and he is 2.6yrs old! (I say plastic...what I mean is a pre-digested formula that is allergy free) I have to add here, that didn't stop the reflux, but he did start to finally gain weight, after getting 'stuck' at 10lb for over 10 weeks!!

[bensmum3]

I agree with the other posts here;Although he is still very young and sometimes small baby's take a while to adapt to being out of the nice cosy inside of mummy's womb.
What weight was and is ds?
I would;

1. get GP to check ds.
   
2. Avoid eating dairy products yourself for 2-3 days,and don't give the formula. you'll soon see if he has a sensitivity to dairy products,(ds1 and ds2 stopped p-vomiting almost instantly when I stopped all dairy in my diet) and can then discuss it eith GP/HV.
   
3. If cutting out dp, makes no difference, investigate reflux with Hv

[SANA]

Okay, I am going to stop giving formula and cut out dairy in my diet to c if this makes a diif, I am having him wieghed tomorrow 2 c if he has put on weight and if not will take him back to the GP to get him checked out, will keep u updated

[bensmum3]

SANA there are lots of other labels you need to look for to cut out dairy, inc lactose/whey,and do make sure you only do this for a maximum of a few days without medical advice. Good luck.