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8 week old constantly spitting up, won’t be put down – reflux? At our wits’ end :(

10 replies

Jellybean200 · 05/03/2026 21:15

Looking for some advice or reassurance as we’re starting to feel a bit desperate and would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been through something similar.

Our son is 8 weeks old and since about 6–7 weeks he has started spitting up milk after most feeds (sometimes curdled). At the start there were a few episodes of projectile vomiting, but now it’s mostly frequent spit-up after nearly every feed, sometimes a small amount, sometimes quite a lot.
Since around the same time he has become very unsettled and seems uncomfortable much of the day. He really doesn't like to be put down and will usually only settle if he’s being held or in the bath. He hates the pram, car seat, play mat and Moses basket. Overnight he struggles to sleep after the 2am feed unless he is sleeping on me or my husband slightly upright.

Evenings are particularly hard as he becomes very irritable and often won’t feed properly.

He’s exclusively breastfed apart from one formula bottle at around 10pm. He is otherwise feeding regularly and producing normal wet and dirty nappies. We haven’t noticed blood in stools or a rash. He had been gaining weight well, although I haven’t had him weighed in the few days which is when the symptoms have seemed worse.

We absolutely adore him and he is so precious to us, but we’re finding things really hard at the moment. He seems unhappy and uncomfortable so much of the time and we are desperate to help him be more settled. It’s also very exhausting as he needs to be held almost constantly to calm him.

Does this sound like reflux to anyone? Or could it be a cow’s milk allergy? Is there anything that actually helped your baby (positioning, medication, diet changes etc)?

We’re planning to speak to the GP but would really appreciate any experiences or suggestions in the meantime.

OP posts:
Doggiejamz · 05/03/2026 22:00

My youngest son has reflex (he's now 14). It wasn't just spiting up I would feed him and he would projectle vomit pretty much the whole feed back up. He did loose weight and in the early days they queried blockages and stuff but was just reflux. He was mostly settled with it. When he was weaned he would bring up his food too. The doc did suggest it would get better coz food is heavier but he would just bring it back up. He was under the hospital until he was around 2 years old. He had gaviscon, ranitadine and domperidone prescribed and that did help. He has suffered with reflex ever since with bouts of random vomiting. We just use gaviscon now.

He could have colic my eldest had that although he's 17 now and hard to remember what we did for that!

Hope all is OK and you get some answers/treatment soon xx

Jellybean200 · 05/03/2026 22:17

@Doggiejamz Thank you so much for sharing your experience, so helpful. Do you remember if you waited for a GP to prescribe Gaviscon and the other meds listed? I assume I'd need a GP first to suggest that right? Just figuring out what we can do and what the GP will need to do.

And I did wonder if it's colic, but isn't colic if there is no reason for crying? I assumed due to the spitting up etc. it was reflux. Finding it all little confusing, can you tell?! 😕

OP posts:
Doggiejamz · 05/03/2026 23:41

The GP prescribed gaviscon but the other meds came from the consultant although then the GP was happy to prescribe after that. We stayed under the hospital until he was 2. The gaviscon was in powder form and you had to mix it in the bottles. I think we tried that for a bit before the other meds were added they were liquid and just given in a syringe.

Aw yes maybe re the colic I thought it was trapped wind in the abdomen I think we got some infacol drops for him. Which defo helped!

Defo see the gp tmw if nothing else will help put your mind at rest either way. 😊 If it is reflux and I can help at all just ask, 😊 We found it manageable once we started all the meds the most annoying part is all the washing and the unpredictable vomiting, which my son still gets depending on the food or how much he's eaten and how close to bedtime he's eaten.

Jambags · 06/03/2026 00:05

Sorry to hear your really going through it! This stage can be so hard, we went through similar with our DD. we waited longer than we should of to go talk to the doctors out of fear sort of - of just being told this is how it is.
Get yourself a GP appointment asap with little one. We were offered solutions to try straight away, although the solutions didn't work fantastically for her, she did grow out of reflux quite quickly after - but the best thing to do is start with a doctor. Best of luck

Gettoachiro · 06/03/2026 00:15

Definitely go to see the GP, ours tried fobbing me off but I told him I wasn't leaving the room until he'd prescribed my daughter the Gaviscon.

That worked thank heavens.

Rayqueen2026 · 06/03/2026 00:22

If he is being bf all day then given a bottle late at night that will not help at all mixing it late. Don't forget he will lose weight it's normal at some point as they go thru stages

daisydreamies · 06/03/2026 01:35

My son had cmpa and he cried endlessly. His poos were fine, but he did have a rash that looked like he had acne.

Cmpa can give them reflux iirc (it's been almost 4 years since my son was a baby). It can also take 1-2 months for symptoms to clear. My son was prescribed omeprazole to help him.

cannynotsay · 06/03/2026 02:01

My son is 7 weeks and started with the same, but his is the silent reflux version. Just started infant gaviscon and he’s so much calmer now and I can put him down again. Just call the GP

TinyMouseTheatre · 24/03/2026 19:36

How are things now @Jellybean200?

Jellybean200 · 26/03/2026 16:55

Hi @TinyMouseTheatre - thanks for following up! It's been a busy few weeks trying to get to the bottom of it, the GP confirmed he was struggling with both colic and reflux. He got the Gaviscon sachets and is on 4 a day which helped instantly, apparently may need to take until 6 months or so, however, alongside that he is also definitely a "velcro baby" and wants to be held constantly! So although the spitting up has greatly improved or crying and not being able to settle, he still is very upset with his Moses basket/play mat/cot etc. and isn't happy unless held by mama (almost 24/7 it feels).🙃We've since invested in an Artipoppe carrier as the Ergobaby carrier was pulling on my back, not helpful when a baby needs to be held, and this has helped me massively too. Talk about trial and error!💛

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