Vomiting on Formula

[Delly]

Dear All...first post

My little boy is now 9 weeks old. We are breast feeding but have had to give top ups with formula on 3 occasions. At first I thought it was the recent heatwave we were having that was making him vomit but on the third occasion (and a different formula) we had him in our room and woke up just before he was sick. The sight of him projectile vomiting 4 or 5 feet was gut wrenching and very scary and we have not given him any more formula since. First it was SMA gold then Aptimil on the 3rd time. I have bought Cow n Gate and Farleys but the ingredients are almost exactly the same and so I have refrained from giving it to him. I'm hoping that this is not uncommon and that he is not lactose intolerant/allergic to dairy. Does anyone have any suggestions about what I might feed him instead of these types of forumla. Many thanks in advance. D

I think babies are more likely to be sick on bottle feeding than breastfeeding as it is far easier for them to take too much too quickly on a bottle. Also when they first switch to the bottle they have to learn to pause more frequently as milk is there constantly. As long as ds keeps down the vast majority of his feeds, docs/HVs don't worry too much even about projectile vomiting if ds is putting on weight OK. You might like to try SMA staydown or omneo comfort (omneo comfort makes for bad nappies apparently ) Check with your HV/GP before trying out any soya/lactose free formula.

My ds was also more likely to vomit after a formula feed than after a breastfeed, but it did settle down. Have you tried Nanny formula? It's made from goat's milk, rather than cow's, so may be more digestible. Have you tried a different teat? I'm not terribly experienced with teats, as my two only ever used newborn ones, but possibly he is drinking too fast so needs a slower teat?

Delly, I would first check the teat (to make sure it's not too fast). If possible, switch to the slowest teat you can.

Also, don't let him slurp down a whole bottle in one go. Stop half way and burp him. I know some people say not to do this but if he is being sick, it may be that he has one huge wind afterwards rather than having lots of little burps in the middle. When breastfeeding they often stop and start but with bottles, it's very easy to just eat it all up.

Also if you are topping up, make sure he's not having too much. It's so difficult to know how much to give them on top of breatfeeding but their tummies are so small, if they are too full, it quite often all returns with avengeance!

I'd try this before going down the allergy/intolerance route.

Thanks for all your comments guys.

I'm not sure it's the teat....like Candles, mine has been on newborn teats continuously and he wolfs his normal milk down fine from a bottle, when Dad gives him his pre midnight feed, without any vomiting problem at all later on. The vomiting has always been when he's had 1 0r 2 ozs on top of his bottle (Daddy feed) and usually happens after an hour or so. Someone else has suggested the Nanny formula. Where can one get it ? I tried Holland and Barratt but no joy ? Thanks again in advance.

It really does sound like he is throwing up because he is too full. What happens if you don't give him the 1 or 2 extra oz?

I used to get Nanny from Revital, the local health shop. I'm pretty sure that they have a website, but, sorry, I don't know what the url is. Bliss (chemist) also stocked Nanny - they might have a website as well.

What Foxinsocks says makes sense, and reminds me that we had to burp ds before, during and after feeds - he didn't like it at all, but he was the windiest little thing ever, and if we didn't burp him so much he would either throw up or be in agony a few hours later.