To want to wean DD earlier than 6 months due to reflux/spit up?

[Tjsmumma]

I know this is a sensitive topic but, i want to know, if you weaned earlier due to spit up/reflux and what you gave first, when, why please.

My DD is nearly 4 months, recently she is spitting up a lot more, like nearly after every feed.

She's EBF and seems like she's so hungry she's taking more in that she needs due to this and then just spitting it up again so i really think she is ready for more than just my milk.

She shows all the signs for readiness, looks at food, put things in her mouth, sits really well with support, over double her birth weight, grabs out for anything we eat and doesn't have the tongue thrust.

I know other DM who have weaned way earlier and their babies are fine and really enjoy it and showed the same signs.

I know i should contact HV but, i cant gwt through at the moment, ive left multiple messages to no reply.

i have looked into every option, researched a lot and i know its advised from 6 months but, a lot of people i know have from 3/4 months and all the pouches etc say from 4

I'm just confused and know they advise weaning early if reflux is an issue, she goes very squirmy and irritable and then spits up but, isnt crying or upset.

I would be very careful, if there is any chance the reflux could be related to food intolerances. If that is the case it will get a whole lot worse after weaning, and you will then be in a process of eliminating foods and then reintroducing slowly. I would have thought it was better to do this more slowly at 6 months when the gut is more mature.

My eldest had reflux- she would scream for hours if she was lying down, I ended up walking around with her in a sling most of the time. She didn't spit up a bit of milk - it was projectile vomiting and would cover the floors or whatever was in the firing line. It was like cottage cheese not milk she brought up.
She also had silent reflux without the projectile vomiting but I would fine yellow stains on sheets where she would bring up stomach acid.

I had the cot raised, learnt to feed her so she was more upright and had to keep her upright after feeds. She would have lots of small feeds rather than longer ones which was exhausting as she was still feeding every 2 hours though the night at 12 weeks.

She was under paediatric care for it and I weaned her at 14 weeks under medical advice as she wasn't putting on weight.

Wouldn't recommend it unless you have tried everything as she does have food allergies and intolerances which I don't know if she would have had anyway.

I can only speak from personal experience but I felt baby led weaning suited my kids better.

My eldest was a happy spitter in many ways. She was sick a lot and it did slow her weight gain but it didn't bother her.

DS was a different story though.

But both never really dealt well with purees. Probably didn't help they were also crawling.

And BLW can't be started until 6 months

To echo what Random18 says - my first was extremely sicky, huge vomits after every feed. I carried muslins everywhere and was paranoid about letting people hold him - even my NCT group looked at me in horror when he got puddles on the floor (not envy!).

Weaning made not one bit of difference. He vomited just as much, but it was now multicoloured and lumpy. He eventually began keeping it all down around 11/12 months, completely unprompted by any change in diet. So if it's just the sickness that's bothering you, be aware that weaning is far from a guaranteed solution and may (as per pps) cause more problems than it solves if done too early.

You have my sympathy though, the constant cleaning up and ever present smell of cuddles milk is not fun

Curdled milk!

My ds was sick loads as a baby, he wasnt in pain with it though just very sicky after feeding. He eventually saw a paediatrician at around 13 months who confirmed it was reflux but the being sick had stopped almost overnight a few days before we saw the paediatrician.
Weaning him didn't help as all as a pp said it just meant a different colour sick to clean up.

@QueenofmyPrinces ive read that they can have a 'happy reflux' too, see this is why im trying to get hold of a professional as all this research has got me so confused and everything says on thing and then another states another, so i thought coming on here and asking real life people may help.

@Tatty101 think ill definitely wait, obviously following other mums ive seen doing so at this age doesn't necessarily mean it is the correct things to do or safe for baby.

@Random18 haha thank you for your reply! Ill hold of then, i just read up it helps them is all! Don't want any more thick coloured sick and shes quite happy bar it making her cough/choke on occasions.

@TheSandgroper thank you! Seems relatively normal then, this is the problem aa i cant get hold of a Health care professional in playing doctor google and in turn worrying myself way more than i probably should. Sounds very normal then, no, definitely not projectile or anything near, it just rolls out and then shes all happy but still hungry

The gut isn't ready yet. Be patient :-)

@Tolleshunt ive also read that weaning early can help not give allergies 🙈 so im just awfully confusrd and very anxious is all.

@practicallyperfectwithprosecco thank you! She was like thks in the beginning but now, happily lays on her back (well if co sleeping) never projectiled like you say so i now dint think its indeed reflux. Sorry tk hear you had problems with DC though!

@BlackRibboner @user721 thank you! I read evidence either way so wanted to see what real people with real experiences said! Ill definitely hold of and wait!

We were advised to wean at 5 months with premature DD as her reflux was awful and she wasn’t gaining weight. This was a case of vomiting up almost all of the feeds and we had tried multiple medications to try and calm it. She cried pretty much constantly and it was awful. BUT the paediatrician would not give us the go ahead to wean until she was 5 months.

I’d get back on the phone and get some medical advice if I were you

@RainbowBabyDreams i will thank you! Just felt i was indeed going about it wrong as i know 8 other mums who have weaned way before 6 months, no reflux, no spit up, no problems just weaned earlier

My eldest had reflux, he projectile vomited his feeds all over the floor. And was miserable, crying. He ended up on reflux medication which worked a treat, at no point did anyone suggest weaning him early. We had to wind him really well and keep him upright for 20 mins after a feed and tilt his mattress. Babies do spit up or posset as they have small stomachs, and often their sphincter muscle between the stomach and oesophagus takes a while to mature and strengthen, it’s normal. The important thing is whether she’s happy, growing and having wet nappies. I wouldn’t wean early for anything you’ve said.

@schafernaker ah see shes never ever had a problem gaining weight, always been around 80th/95th percentile for her weight so i now think itd just excess from comforting. Sorry to hear that and thanks for the reply

@BananaPlant thank you, yes! Seems that way, never had a problem gaining weight, rather happy etc. Need to stop googling things i think as worry myself for no apparent reason!

We did, but it was under the dietician as DD2 had CMPA and was on allergy formula which had sorted out the discomfort aspect of the reflux but she was still very much a "happy chucker" (which minimises it - it was more exorcist level puke - of Neocate which fucking stinks) after every feed. Dietician advised weaning onto mashed vegetables rather than sweet purees at 4 months which didn't reduce the puking but made the vomit more interesting (in the end she threw up to about 12 months and then it just stopped).

You could pretty much predict the point after a feed where it was going to reappear - at several points I did make sure MIL was having her "cuddles" when DD2 was primed and ready to blow so she got covered! (MIL was REALLY pissing me off at this point)

4 months is a really bad growth spur period. DD went from 3-4 hours between feeds and nearly sleeping through to near constant feeding, routing, and feeding several times through the night for a week at least.

She had silent reflux, so we used a mix of holding her upright after each feed for 1/2 hour, raised cot and a hard look at my diet to sort this out. I removed food like dairy, spices, acid, carbonated drinks and caffeine from my diet for over 6 months and it made a huge difference. Did you eat or drink anything new or unusual?

If you have lot of wet and dirty nappies, a constant weight gain and in general a happy baby I wouldn't wean. There is a reason for the 6 months recommendation and as others say, fruit and veg mush is hardly a meal so she still needs lots of milk to get the fat and calories and she may still have the reflex to push solids served with a spoon out of her mouth so it may be pointless to try baby cereals. You need to be careful that nothing contains gluten and baby rice is nothing but caloriefree powder.

This really does not sound like reflux. All babies bring back a bit of milk with their burps.
As others have said- projectile vomiting the entire feed across the room onto the wall is my experience. Along with constant screaming for about 14 months. Not sleeping for more than 30-40 minutes at a time ever.

At four months they have a growth spurt, and need more milk. Letting her feeds go longer will help you make more milk. Also, if you can rest more then that will help. Kellymom is a great site for bf advice, if you want tips on increasing your supply.

I think it's quite common for babies to bring milk up after a feed. Mine always did my GCs. Im not a doctor so have no idea how reflux is diagnosed or if your baby has it. But If she is not in pain, is happy and putting on weight I would leave her. I wouldn't give her baby rice to bulk out her food. Advice now is to wean onto fruit and veg not rice or rusks.
If you are worried I would try and talk to the doctor or health visitor before trying to wean her early. I know it's difficult now but Could you get a consultation over the phone

It’s rare for a child who is gaining weight well / without medical problems to have reflux from EBF. Your baby is probably just sickly. What helps me is keeping DS upright after a bf and burping him between breasts.

My baby is the same age as yours (to the exact date!) and is the same, he's sick a lot but never bothered by it. Plenty of wet and dirty nappies so I assume he's overeating and chucking up the excess. He is EBF also and like your baby has more than doubled his birth weight.

Ultimately it's your choice when and how to feed your baby, it sounds as though you've done your research. We started weaning my eldest at 5 months which was right for him, and just took it at his pace. No allergies etc and no aversions to food at 19 months.

Personally I'm going to hang on with my almost four month old...he's not in any pain with the vomiting so I just make sure I have plenty of muslins to hand!

My son spat up what felt like ENTIRE feeds every time for months, it was horrendous. We found out at around 7 months he was CMPI. Even though it was carnage he still put weight on and I was still glad we waited 6 months.

(He was EBF too)

I swear my first had the WORST reflux known to man, think I got to 5 1/2 months and it made not a joy of difference until she was 9/10 months.

However this is just my anecdotal experience, I’m pro following the guidelines to 80/90% and letting my own intuition take me the rest of the way. If I were you I’d give it another 3 weeks and reevaluate, at that babies change massively in that time.

@Kuponut sounds similar, i can tell when its about to happen! Its probably a maximum of two table spoons per feed she spits up think ill wait a while!

@reluctantbrit absolutely no change to my diet, i think i worded wrong i would still bw givint her normal milk and following her hunger cues just wasnt sure if a few spoonfuls would be beneficial or not as I've seen orhwr babies a similar age and smaller really enjoy and have no problems so thought i was doing it all wrong.

@KrakowDawn no shes never like that now, she was initially, hated being on her back brought up a lot of milk each time so we did exactly what you did after being brushed off by doc it did help and we still do everything the same just she's bringing it up still and seems even hungrier. Yes, i know about cluster feeding, growth spurts ans developmental spurts but this isn't like the normal.

@Nonnymum ive tried i keep being told its mot jrgent so not to come up and hv is absolutely crap.

@GrumpyHoonMain i do that i always have :/ still being an issue is all! Seems normal and i should stop being such a worrier