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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

8 week old EBF baby vomiting

14 replies

Aquarius93 · 10/05/2024 17:24

Hoping someone might have some advice or be able to share their experience. We have been to the GP who said speak to the health visitor. The health visitor has now said we need to see the GP.

For around the past 4 weeks my baby (now 8 weeks) has started vomiting every other day or so. After feeding he will normally spit up a normal amount, which is manageable. But every couple of days he will be forcefully sick - it even comes out his nose and seems to be as much as a full feed. He seems to keep going until his stomach is empty. Yesterday he vomited four times. As he’s gaining weight fine the GP was not concerned but said speak to the health visitor as I’m breastfeeding and they’re not trained on that.

I had mentioned this at the 6 week review with the health visitor and we discussed whether it could be a possible allergy. They were unsure as it’s not after every feed and just said to keep an eye on it.

To add, he often goes days without pooing and when he does, it will be very watery and dark, almost a brown colour. He’s always been gassy so we burp him after every feed. We hold him upright for 30 minutes too but sometimes he will vomit over an hour after he’s fed.

He doesn’t have a rash but can get little red spots on his face after feeding and he often has red puffy eyes.

Hoping for advice as he seems so uncomfortable. When he’s awake he’s usually crying and at night he will often wake when laid down in the crib and only sleeps in two hour stretches.

OP posts:
Aquarius93 · 12/05/2024 20:47

Hopeful bump!

Baby has been even more unsettled today and crying during and after feeds.

OP posts:
PocketPhoenix · 12/05/2024 20:50

Hello! I didn’t want to read and run. Maybe try ringing the breastfeeding helpline? If you google the number will come up. It’s a puzzle if he’s putting on weight, and I don’t know a huge amount about allergies but the poos you describe don’t sound like. Perhaps go back to GP and ask for a paeds review?

PoppingTomorrow · 12/05/2024 20:52

I would ask to be referred to the local lactation specialist support team at the hospital/in the community. Breastfeeding support may be able to help you locate them if the Gp/HV can't

PoppingTomorrow · 12/05/2024 20:53

And have a hug/nod of solidarity - it's really hard when they're obviously unsettled and you don't know what's wrong or how to fix it.

Beginningless · 12/05/2024 20:59

So my EBF baby was like this and it wasn’t allergy, but I’m not sure it’s the same thing as she wasn’t that uncomfortable or unsettled, didn’t cry much.

BUT I’m wondering, do you have oversupply/strong let down? This was a huge issue for me and I used to joke it was like fois gras but the poor baby was literally gulping down the milk and sometimes she would just feed and feed until I think her tummy was literally full and it would just all be ejected. In torrents, all over me. Once it happened on my cousins bed, I felt terrible. Anyway, sounds like there may be more to it for you but just chiming in in case helpful.

Aquarius93 · 12/05/2024 21:10

Thanks for the replies, will definitely try some of those avenues. It’s definitely a mystery when he’s doing so well with weight gain and it also seems to only be every few days.

@Beginningless I did see this could be a potential explanation but as far as I can tell I don’t have a strong let down - sometimes he will unlatch at the start of a feed and I never notice any spray or leaking. I’ve tried reclining to feed anyway just in case.

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MoreThanRubies · 13/05/2024 05:45

Seconding the breastfeeding helpline.

How often is he feeding? Throughout her babyhood, DD would sometimes do the vomiting thing - she would forcefully vomit, seemingly in waves IYSWIM. Like a PP suggested, this was when she was overfull eg had a feed to settle her early in the night, but she was then feeding while asleep and just kept going. It was as if once she had taken on too much milk her body was triggered to totally empty her stomach. To address this I wouldn’t feed her until a certain amount of time had passed since the last feed, but DD was 6m at that point - it’s more tricky to pace things with a newborn because you don’t want to restrict feeding.

Good luck, it sounds hard

Aquarius93 · 13/05/2024 14:59

Thank you @MoreThanRubies. It may just be over feeding and I have been trying to spread the feeds out a bit more.

Funnily enough I’ve realised he always poos on the days that he’s sick. It’s like his body just has a clear out every couple of days! Hopefully it’s just one of those things that will improve as he gets older.

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IceCreamWoes · 13/05/2024 15:01

I had this with my EBF baby, and he had an egg allergy. In hindsight I think if I'd eaten eggs, it might have been the cause.

Superscientist · 13/05/2024 17:34

My ebf was like this by 17 weeks she also has severe silent reflux and spent 16-20 h a day being unsettled, crying and screaming.
For us it turned out to be a combination for multiple allergies, mild-moderate actual reflux and severe silent reflux. High dose omperazole and gaviscon managed the reflux and we needed domperidone as well for the silent reflux and I had to remove all the foods she reacted to from my diet. Our GP was pretty hopeless and dismissive. Our HV has supportive and encouraged us to keep reaching out to the GP but didn't pick up the allergy angle

I kept a food diary in the end and it was bloody obvious that 2 days after I ate soya meat replacements she turned from permanently unsettled to unbearably screaming. Based on this and a trip to paeds for something else we finally set on the path of allergies at 17 weeks and the paediatrician improved the reflux treatment.

For now I would absolutely be starting a diary and see if there are any patterns in behaviours and your diet and consider a trial of reflux meds and /or a dairy free and low soya/soya free diet. Half of babies react to both as the proteins are similar. In the first instance you just want to not have pure forms of soya e.g milk/yoghurt/meat replacements

Aquarius93 · 13/05/2024 21:16

Thank you for sharing your experiences! Did either of your babies have any issues gaining weight? It seems to be that the GP isn’t too concerned as little one is gaining weight well.

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OhForGoodnessSake1 · 13/05/2024 21:51

Worth tracking what you are eating. DS2 used to be sick from time to time and it took us a while to link it to my eating anything citrus (including peel in things like Christmas cake or mince pies). It stopped once I started avoiding citrus. By the time he was 15 months he had grown out of it completely and ate oranges without issues. He was putting on weight fine and HV wasn't worried but the local breast-feeding cafe and lactation specialist were much more help.

IceCreamWoes · 14/05/2024 07:27

Mine gained weight well and was massive, and stayed massive. His egg allergy just resolved itself when he was about 2

Superscientist · 14/05/2024 08:55

Aquarius93 · 13/05/2024 21:16

Thank you for sharing your experiences! Did either of your babies have any issues gaining weight? It seems to be that the GP isn’t too concerned as little one is gaining weight well.

My daughter happily tracked the 9th percentile and I was told no issues with weight gain she's just a 9th percentile baby. Removing allergens she went up to the 35th-50th percentile and has settled on the 25th. So no initial concerns with weight gain but she did still move up a percentile when allergens were removed

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