AIBU to be frustrated by four.month old spitting up and just want to vent?

[Aberforthsgoat]

DS has reflux but we managed it with thickened formula. He wasn't a big spitter when original breast feeding it was more discomfort and back arching etc.
Since he hit four months and started drooling and showing signs of teething the spit up has been relentless. After every feed, not much usually a little dribble after a wet burp, usually just milk.sometimes curdled milk never yellow or green acrid smelling vomit. Sometimes 1-2 hours after a feed. So much worse on the really drooling days

I know it's just something babies do, I know people have it worse and he could be projectile vomiting etc but I am so sick (!) Of finding my hair stuck together with spit up or having my shoulder damp or the back of my neck/down my top spit-upy and having to change his clothes because he won't tolerate bibs.

I hate worrying about it because it always seems so much more than it actually is (I've actually tested the tablespoon of water on a babygrow etc)

I'm hoping it's related to teething/drooling because that would mean it's just a phase. Did I also read that 4 months is peak spit up time? (She says hopefully)

Not really sure what i want out of this post other than to tiredly complain about something thats probably not that bad really.

But any tips gratefully received

Hiya I feel your pain
I had spitty twins and I fell apart with the constant clothes changing ( mine and theirs) and the smell, which frankly put me off having people round to see me and the babies. It was really hard. I found using dummies helped straight after a feed, is the only thing I can honestly say worked, as well as the usual keep upright blah blah which I'm sure you know. Mine were so bad I used to fashion puke ponchos out of muslin cloths, I'd snip a whole in the centre and they'd wear them. We nicknamed them the Mexicans. If it's any comfort it improved on weaning to solid food massively. Not long to go!

@Bubbletrouble43 the puke ponchos really made me laugh. Thanks for your reply it helps to have a bit of solidarity!

I am probably no comfort but dd puked constantly. My dm commented that both I and a brother threw up until 8 months so I decided to just suffer it (I have floors that I don't care about). I knew that if I took her to the doctor, she would just be given something/anything and I didn't want that.

DM was right. At 8 months and two days, dd went from constant to about 4 times per day and three days later she was fixed. She just didn't do it anymore.

I had an endless supply of cloths, nappies, all sorts draped over my shoulder, the pram, the car seat, the high chair. She wasn't a projectile vomiter, though. I don't know what I would have done then.

I am sorry but I really struggle with this phrase, spit up or spitting. Its not spitting if its reflux, its involuntary regurgitation. Teething is unlikely to be happening at 4 months and does not cause reflux. Many babies with this proble improve when they are on solids, and there is justification in some cases to introduce solids before the WHO 6 months( hopefully they have revisesd this by now)
If your baby is growing and thriving, it is a temporary situation. Tedious but not worrying

One of my twins did too. I had extra bug muslins and used to double them over and tuck them across the cot mattress where her head lay so I could just whip it off and change it without having to change the sheet every day.

Interestingly, aside from the super spit ups as a baby,, she has never, ever vomited in her life. Shes13 now.

@NoMorePoliticsPlease I know it’s not technically correct but I was using the term people would recognise
The paediatrician at our hospital said teething does irritate reflux because teething creates more drool which is more acidic which in turn causes further reflux issues but obviously won’t actually cause it if the baby didn’t have it previously.He’s not actually teething but he has the gum pain and we were told this is down to movement in the gums so just going by what we were told.
Agree though it’s tedious but not worrying, some days it just drives me to distraction.
He’s less than two months -just- away from weaning now so hopefully that will make a difference! Interesting about the weaning early it’s not something I’ve considered or been advised about so won’t be trying it but I do know a few parents who have

Yes op my twins were weaned at 5 months. I don't take guidelines too seriously as my first baby was born in the 90s and the health professionals were adamant she should try solids at 3 months and made out it was weird she still wasn't interested at 5 months. Fast forward 18 years and there's been a complete policy u turn.

My DS2 used to bring a lot of milk back up after every single feed but because he was gaining weight along his centile line and was a happy content baby, no professionals really reacted to it. He wasn't thought to have reflux or anything, they just said he was "greedy". It's quite a few years ago now but I remember having dozens and dozens of muslins and bibs, some days we would get through all of them and I would have 2 full loads of washing in the machine. I bought some neoprene bibs in the end which stopped his clothes from getting soaked. I would get through so many changes of clothes and people were reluctant to hold him because he would invariably be very sick on them (this was very hurtful at the time, as he was a really gorgeous cuddly little baby, although I did see their point). Looking back I did find it very draining having to remember to keep him upright after feeds and asking people not to jiggle and bounce him around. Also people's involuntary look of slight disgust when he was sick (again) on me or them. It did stop after he began weaning and he has not had any problems since.

I've got a spewer as well. Best bibs I've ever found are these:

www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/himmelsk-dribble-bib-00319526/

They're fleece on the back and the are brilliant as it stop the baby's clothes from getting wet!

@timtam23 you've just described DD3. She's been sick on the floor in public numerous times which is slightly embarrassing. Also can't move her when she's asleep otherwise the sick starts up. She's such a happy baby though and so gorgeous so I forgive her for all the extra laundry

@Aberforthsgoat
The WHO guidelines wer only brought in around ten years ago. The data used was based on all babies worldwide, developed countries and less developed. The guidelines were considered to be largely protective in undeveloped countries in an effort to promote more prolonged breast feeding and to discourage weaning with unclean water. Within a very few years it became apparent that it was not very practical for big western babies many of who were showing strong signs of needing more than breast milk, for example waking during the night when they had been sleeping through and being very hungry. Some babies with reflux also improved if weaned between 4 and 6 months. It is my understanding that the 6 month guideance is under review for these reasons. I have heard paediatricians agree . I am retired now so I dont know if this advice is hanging on. We can only work with the research of the day, and emerging evidence can change

That's really interesting!

Both mine were like this. It improved for one just before she was weaned, and for the other about a month after weaning (both weaned at 25 weeks)

(weaning guidelines have been 6 months in the UK for nearly 20 years btw) and no new evidence to suggest babies need weaning any earlier)

DD was a very sicky baby. She'd spit up 20+ times a day but was perfectly happy. It just suddenly stopped one day. She's now 14mo and apart from one burp that went wrong, hasn't been sick since!

We got through a lot of muslins though!

Well lemon my eldest child was born in 1998 and the recommendations then were that weaning was to be introduced at 12 weeks. Ask anyone with a child that age.

In 1994 the official recommendation was 4-6 months. In 2001 it changed to 6 months.

Oh OP, I feel your pain - have had two like that, my eldest the worst by far. I was embarrassed to take him out in public

Weaning made no difference (except to the colour!), but eldest stopped about 1 and my youngest seems to be out of it now at ten months. And then you'll forget really quickly how arduous it was!

Vomiting after feeds can be a sign of Cows Milk Protein allergy, wonder have you looked into this?

I hear you, my 5.5 month old sicks up for England but is a happy upchucker. I am looking forward to weaning to see if it helps.

@giftponderings we did look into this when he was originally diagnosed with reflux but because he didn't have any other symptoms and wasn't spitting up much then it was ruled out he's on the same formula he's always been on so we haven't changed anything there. He has got.a bit of a rash around his mouth ah the end of the day but it looks very much like a drool rash and he is drooling a lot at the moment while chewing on his fists

We also didn't have any of the tell tale allergy nappies or weight loss issues when we switched to formula

Not sure whether we would be able to look into it now as our doctor is only really seeing urgent patients and he's still gaining...

We were told to look out for excess vomiting as a risk factor for another condition but this doesn't seem like actual vomiting and actually most of the time isn't that much (we don't have any projectile experiences this far either)

Well lemon no-one told my health visitor or gp. I can assure you in 1998 I was being told to introduce solids at 12 weeks by the professionals around me who raised eyebrows at my dd refusing solids at 4 months still.

Fwiw I do believe 12 weeks is far too early! All 3 of mine began properly enjoying solids between 5 and 6 months, the attempts to feed dd1 from the 3/ 4 month advised age were fruitless, incredibly stressful and I would rather not have been doing it! I was a young first time mum and listening to the advice from the professionals around me. 18 years later the advice does seem more sensible, but a couple weeks short of six months I do not believe will do any harm.

My daughter was like this. She was sick, projectile after almost every bottle of milk, especially during the night. I remember one night I'd just had enough as I was drenched through and just chucked all my clothes off and slept naked with towels on me. No point in wearing clothes.
She would spit up all the time too. I started to wean her at 6 months and she couldn't tolerate any lumps at all. Even something as small as a grain of rice would make her vomit. This went on until she was a year old when suddenly it all went away and she was able to eat and drink normally. It wasn't fun!

I totally understand bubble. I was pressured to wean my dd at 17 weeks by an Hv (in 2010) - I think she thought it would make my life easier but personally I preferred to wait and follow the guidance. I think some hvs stick to what they know ...

Oh Iovetea that has reminded me of picking up ds after a nap and immediate having to wash all his bedding, everything he was wearing, and everything I was wearing, down to my socks.