Sicky baby - any ideas why?

[MarathonMama]

Hi all,

DD2 is 5 mo. For the last 2 months she has started to be really sicky after her breastfeeds and I have no idea why. We give her one formula feed a day (usually at 10pm) and she's never sick after that, only after the breast feeds.

I take Fenugreek, which my friend who's a midwife said could be the problem, but I was taking it long before she started to be sick and I need it as my supply has always been low. I also give her Infacol which I tried to stop but she got really grouchy so I started it again (it didn't make any difference to the sick anyway).

She's not sicking up the whole feed but it is quite a lot and I'm fed up of smelling of sour milk and other bodily fluids (we're currently potty training DD1, urrrrgh)!

Anyone got any bright ideas? She's only sometimes bothered by the sick but it's so blinkin' messy!

Reflux maybe? You could do with taking her to see your GP.

Reflux is the only thing I would know to suggest, I'd ask a doctor personally.

I doubt it is anything to worry about if she doesn't seem bothered herself.

reflux tends to improve drastically around 6mo so if it is that, hopefully you won't have long to go before you see an improvement.

I sympathise with the sick though, ds was sick constantly from 2weeks old to 6 months old, and I think I saw and mopped up enough vomit to last a lifetime - nearly drove me insane. :)

If it's reflux, wouldn't it happen after the formula feed as well? Maybe the bottle is a bit slower? It's a slow flow teat.

Maybe the formula is a little thicker then BF??

Reflux, can be affected by the position the feed is taken in, so if she is more horizontal or more vertical for whichever feed she is best with, that could be making the difference, as opposed to it being the type of milk iyswim. I found keeping ds upright for as long as possible after his feed - minimum half hour helped. She may be gulping more air with one feed or the other and so that will help push the food back up. You could try frequently pausing when bf'ing to burp and then carry on again, so you don't get a build up of air.

In reflux basically the muscle at the bottom of the oesophagus is not yet developed so the entire 'tube' throat to stomach is a free open passageway which allows food to go in either direction. this muscles usually gets strong around 6mo in most babies, then food is only able to pass (easily) downwards.

Also sometimes if the baby is starting to wriggle the extra movement and stronger tummy muscles can make the reflux appear for a while until the oesophagus muscle catches up. :)

I'm not sure if this is a general problem but I had a very sicky baby (it never bothered him but was messy) and I found that he tended to do it more if I'd had any caffeine that day. Could it be something you're eating or drinking more of in the last few months?

Good point Harry I too found similar though with me it was fizzy water. I was drinking like a fish but prefer fizzy water, however it is acidic compared to flat water, so maybe that made the difference (rather than the bubbles which would not go through to baby unless I was a bf'ing female Willy Wonka of course!)

Thanks ladies, I think I might start a diary of what I eat and when she's sick to see if there's any link. I don't have much caffiene (1 cuppa a day) but I do eat lots of chocolate

I'm also with Harry .... and, some babies are just little vomitting machines. More in boys than girls I've been told. DS is one of them and it also started "late". But as he is gaining weight as he should, it's just lots of washing.

MW suggested to use a dummy after each feed to help him the keep it down. Not sure if it helps but I'll give him one when we're out and about and I don't want to change him again and again etc.

I had a very sicky baby. Seemed like he was sicking up entire feeds most of the day (although never at night). As long as weight gain is good and lots of wet nappies no need to worry or medicate.