Projectile vomit.. mouth, nose... and runny poo

[Fluxboxuk]

Okay, its official.. i have a faulty one, where do i go for an exchange... just kidding.

Our boy is now just coming up on 8 weeks, and has been through some serious crying spells, and changes of formula, now on some disgusting smelling SMA Althera stuff which doesnt even look like milk when mixed, buts its what the doctor ordered. He seemed to respond to it at first (3 weeks ago), but has now started regurgitating some of it up each time. It's not restricted to the SMA food though, my wife is still breastfeeding, and he seems to throw some of that back also...

Well, last night was horrendous, vomited up pretty much every 30 mins, had more clothes changes than a Las Vegas showgirl and cried on and off all night.

Seemed to clam down a little this morning, but has been fussy throughout the day... around two hours ago, the world exploded though, we had fed him 120 ml of the SMA gunk and had him lay down on the play mat, he was happy as Larry, chuckling away and coo'ing at the zebra which doesnt look like a zebra (thanks to fisher price), then all of a sudden, out of the depths of his little body came projectile liquid vomit, came out of nose and mouth, there was so much of it, it may of also come out of his ears...

Suffice to say, i was concerned, the last time i saw something like this was in that scene from the exorcist, and things didnt go well for the child in that movie...

We spoke to the doc earlier in the week and she gave us some infant gaviscon, which he didnt like at all, was very reluctant to take the milk with it in, and threw up shortly after. I considered hiding it in a piece of cheese, it worked for the cats, but the wife says i have to stop treating him the same as the pets.

I guess what im starting to really get worried about, is that there might be something more seriously wrong with his guts... the serious crying early on, with stomach cramps, and now extreme vomiting followed by laboured breathing (sounds all snotty, prob vomit in his head still)...

We have an appointment on the 27th for his 8 week checkup, but were seriously considering an earlier appointment or a visit to A & E... i just want the little man to be a little happier, but he really seems to be struggling...

Bless you! Although your description really did make me laugh. I would definitely give the out of hours a ring. That sounds like a lot of vomit.

I would definitely consider A&E for such a tiny baby displaying such violent episodes of vomiting. That goes way beyond baby reflux that gets fixed with a little Gaviscon.

Has anyone mentioned pyloric stenosis?

I read about Pyloric Stenosis last night during my 4am research session into why his bed was covered in the 3am feed... it hasn't been suggested by any medical professional thus far, but im starting to have my doubts over their use of the word 'professional'. I seem to find more sensible and detailed explanations of things on the first page of google, always reluctant to go to page two, as its usually porn.

Iv just used our GP's new fancy online system to snag an appointment tomorrow morning at 9:10am, cant possible imagine how im going to get up in time to attend (wink wink)...

The vomit seems mostly watery and upset him (and us) considerably, but once it passed and he calmed down a little, he is now fast asleep on my mums shoulder (came down for xmas, and stayed for vomit)...

Have you considered possible milk allergy?

It’s rare but you need to rule it out, considering it’s so projectile.

As in cows milk

Hi, how are you sterilising the bottles/teats etc?

The SMA gunk is actually one designed for baby's with mild cow milk allergy, so that's why we thought we were onto a winner (also it was prescription, so quids in with the bank account)...

As for sterilising, we purchased a tommee trippier expensivee electronic steamer, which is used to sanitise things after iv washed everything out with warm soapy water...

Whole family is now washed and dressed and ready for a trip to our local drunk filled A&E department, it's the outing we all look forward to each christmas... my wife is feeding him one more time, were gonna see what he does after this one.... (insert countdown music here)

Annoying thing about this test is that were giving him expressed milk instead of the SMA wallpaper paste, so this could be a pointless conundrum...

If he’s much less sick with the brestmilk is there any need for him to have formula? Would exclusive breastfeeding not help the situation or is that not a possibility?

Is your steriliser completing it's full cycle of steaming? Ours wasn't.
It should've worked 11 mins but didn't. We didn't notice at first because i always used those minutes to run round doing other jobs.
Baby got ill, projectile, squits many x per day. I was actually waking baby in the night to give rehydration drinks.
Hope you and baby are all sorted soon.

If he has CMPA (cows milk allergy) he will still react to that milk as there is still cows milk protein in it. Worth a talk with the doctors as his symptoms sound similar to my daughters who has CMPA

This sounds very similar to my daughter who has severe reflux (no 10 months old). She is taking Althera but has been on about 6 other formulas! This is the only one she will take. She also takes ranitidine and omperazole daily to help keep it under control. She can not lie flat - ever!!!! We have wedges in her bed and she was so severe we were told by the consultant to keep her in a car seat to sleep overnight as she had to be upright. My biggest issue (despite the constant changing of clothes etc with continuous vomiting!) was she choked all the time and wasn't gaining weight well. It was frightening.
In the end the only way I was listened to after she choked every 30 mins for 5 hours was a trip to a&e and to see the consultant who was amazing and actually told me I was right - my daughter was ill!! Hurrah!!! She was actually scheduled for surgery when the medicines were increased in dosage and we finally controlled it.

That was 7 months ago. It took me that long for someone to listen. I feel for you. It's exhausting and frightening. Oh and she had CMPA , soya allergy and since weaning I'm pretty sure is sensitive to gluten and celery!

Update... now sat in A&E waiting room... no drunks, just a broken hand and a lot of older folks... and the worlds most expensive vending machine...

He is on the formula cus my wife (not for lack of trying) just cannot produce enough milk for him, from day one we struggled, and she's now taking donperidone, which has helped a lot, but still can't get enough out to fill him throughout the day...

We went from actimal, to cow and gate and now to the SMA mind milk powder, which I still can't get over the colour of !!!

Annoyingly, as usual, when we show him to anyone in the health industry, he starts smiling and cooing, I'm about to be very embarrassed in front of a trained professional...

I really hope you get this sorted out soon. It’s excruciating watching your baby suffer. You sound like an awesome family though. A good sense of humour goes a long way in a crisis and it sounds like you’ve got one in spades!

Update #2

NHS 1 family 0... have been assessed by emergency staff who checked his vitals and have considered him fighting fit and referee us to GP on duty, who then promptly said they didn't want to see a baby so young and referees is back to the emergency dept... I have new respect for a yo-yo, back and forth in a pointless life mission...

I don't think anythjng is going to come of this, but I'm gonna try my luck and see if a paediatrician is on duty tonight, maybe get some more specialist interest.

Otherwise, who's up for a whole night of playing guess who over Mumsnet with me, there may be long pauses while I reload the washing machine.

Do you have a children's a&e where you are? That's where we were diverted to (in the same hospital as a&e) and we were seen by paeds consultants from there. I had to be very persistent though as my DD acted like nothing ever happened on that visit!

Luckily at my next appointment she performed perfectly and the consultant got to see the whole show!!!

Hope you don't have to be there too long though

Hi Op,
As someone mentioned your post really did make me laugh, I'm so glad you can keep a sense of humour through this, however projectile vomiting is hard going especially if it's your first and everything is completely new.
Have you tried BioGaia drops probiotics? I think the reviews are mixed, my friend tried them on her premature baby as he was constantly vomiting in the early days, which for a premature baby can be normal to some degree. She said they didn't make a great deal of difference, but I know other people thought the drops really helped. It's something you can follow up at the hospital or docs?

Didn't want to necessarily mention another formula but for what it's worth hipp organic is great, it's broken down so gentler on little tummies, in fact my little girl had issues with her formula was moved onto a CPMA formula (pepti aptimal) and symptoms improved a little, but as I was slowly introducing dairy under a dietician's advice and as she was fine, I moved her onto Hipp and she was much better plus symptoms disappeared. Hipp organic's milk protein isn't broken down like the other specialist formula's but given the formula you are using is still causing issues, thought I'd mention it.
Also the vomiting just maybe be one of those things that eventually subsides and you may never really know what caused it for sure?

Are you on FB there is a great group that might help called Slient reflux, reflux, CPMA and intolerances in babies.
Good luck you sound like a wonderful family x

Sorry probably should add that I was at weaning stage of 6 + months when introducing solids and switching formula.

Update No. 3

Alas our local hospital doesnt seem to have a dedicated children's a&e, so we just took our chances with the standard one.

After being bounced from a&e to an out of ours GP practice, who refused to see us as he was too young (go figure), we were referred back to the emergency room, and ended up seeing an actual paediatric assessment unit specialist. With all possible respect to the NHS and the impossible jobs they are doing, it was nice to be in the hands of a medical professional who didnt seem to be trying to get us out the door before we had walked in it...

We were at the hospital paediatric unit for around 3 hours, heal prick test performed to check for the stenosis thing i cant spell (waiting on results), but based on symptoms, doc doesnt think its likely. ATM, she has prescribed some 100% broken down cows milk feed, which is apparently even more unpalatable than the SMA stuff, so who knows how successful this is going to be. And we have a script for ranitidine, none of which i have collected yet, as we didnt leave the hospital until around 1am.

After getting home and sorting something out for myself, wife and grandmother for the latest dinner i think any of us have ever had, i set about creating a baby vomit station in the nursery. When the wife was approaching the due date, i started getting anxious about the water breaking during the night on our fancy mattress which i purchased to save my spine, so invested in a waterproof mattress protector. This never saw a drop of liquid, and got consigned to a box under the bed, but has now been chopped up and made into a shielded area for feeding.

This mornings feed proved my 2am work worth while, as half way through a 120 ml bottle, he threw the lot over my legs (washable) and the rest over (what would have been the carpet) the mattress protector (washable).... who new i could be so happy to see vomit on the floor :)

Were on a 2 week plan now of change in formula (again) and ranitidine, then a paediatric outpatients follow up... suffice to say, its not going to be the most relaxing christmas. But, when has christmas ever been relaxing :)

Try smaller more frequent feeds until he settles?
Try not supporting him in sitting position post feed but letting his legs dangle so his stomach isn’t scrunched up. Sort of upright position but obviously held firmly still or laying flatter so his stomach isn’t scrunched whilst feeding.
Gentle stomach massage to relax the stomach muscles before feeding.
Don’t wait until he is crying to feed him - crying means air swallowing and more vomit.
Accept some babies vomit a lot!

Truly projectile vomit from pyloric stenosis is usually obvious from birth and can sometimes reach the othe side of a room. It also tends to be familial.

Did they give you Alfamino by any chance? That was the best one for stopping the sickness and horrendous nappies but in the end my DD was taking less than 12oz a day of formula as she hates the taste!!

It does get easier and the meds do help. I know it's a way off for you yet but weaning also really helps. My DD was weaned earlier on consultant advice as she just wasn't getting enough nutrients from the milk as she vomited all the time.

Hopefully you can try to have a less sicky more fun Christmas!