Projectile vomit in a 'newborn'.

[Mum2be79]

My son is one month old today.

He was exclusively breastfed for first 2 weeks. Then combi fed with expressed breast milk via a bottle and formula for next two weeks. From Saturday 28th January we are now exclusively formula (long story - please no lectures from the breast feeding brigade!)

My DS has been absolutely fine on combi feeding (needed help to bring up wind, sometimes a little unsettled, but no majorly so). Since Saturday, he has been brilliant - settled, no crying, sleeping well.

However this morning (48 hours after beginning exclusive formula) he decided to show me his projectile vomiting trick! He had only had 1 oz of milk, brought him up to be burped and he spewed everywhere. There was so much, it panicked me. He seemed hungry for more, took it (4oz altogether) but afterwards was still bringing up more milk and wouldn't settle. He had another 4oz at 11:30am and seems fine now.

Is projectile vomiting normal? If so, how often do I 'expect it'? If it is any help, he is on SMA gold and takes it from a Tommee Tippee bottle on the slow flow teat (0-3 months).

My son did it every time that I fed him until he got a bit older and his pyloric sphincter (?) muscle got stronger, or maybe it was just weaning that meant he ate less liquid. I would lay him down on an incline to decrease the chance of it happening - head raised. Usually occurred if I didn't wind him properly (although sometimes came up whilst winding him). Worth getting checked out at doctor as there is a medical complaint that has the same symptom so you would want to cancel that out to be safe. Other than being dead messy, my son was fine. Right guzzler so I think he probably took in as much air as milk.

My DD2 was formula fed from birth and she projectiled every time until she was 6 weeks old. I was told it was normal, and as she was 99% percentile weight I wasn't too worried.
Literally stopped overnight when she was 6 weeks old. She's never been sick since and is now 3 1/2 years old.

my youngest son had this last year when he was 5 weeks old but his was happening every single time i fed him. i went to the gp and they said it was gastric reflux, a couple of days later he was rushed to hospital and needed an emergency operation. he had pyloric stenosis which is where the muscle in the stomach is too tight and wont let any food go down, in effect my 5 week old nearly starved to death but please remember this is very rare. if it is happening every time you feed him, you need to get him seen straight away as the only way to fix it is an operation. first try mixing a bit of gaviscon into his milk (this tip was suggested to me by the hospital after his operation so it is safe!) to help him keep his milk down, if that doesnt work get him seen asap! it may be a number of things but its best to rule out the worst things!

hope this helps

I thought babies projectile vomit to stop them choking if they vomit while asleep or something?

Pyloric stenosis typically comes on at this time so projectile vomiting should not be ignored. Also, reflux can be quite serious but is very treatable these days. Of course, it could just be trapped wind but is well worth getting him checked out. And, don't forget, the acid from reflux causes pain as well as vomiting and you need some kind of H+ (acid) inhibitor to prevent the pain as well as the gaviscon to thicken the feed.