Help - new baby vomiting through nose and then having problems breathing

[Annie75]

Hi - my 13 day newborn has scared the bejesus out of me twice in the last two days. About 20 mins after a feed she's vomited massive amounts through her nose and mouth, then turned red and screamed the place down - seemingly finding it impossible to breathe. She eventually catches her breath and calms down, but it's really, really scary and I'm now worried about putting her down in case it happens again. She seems really distressed by it.

Any ideas why it's coming up through her nose and what I can do? Help gratefully received!

Reflux?

I think vomit tends to come through the nose when there is lots of momentum behind the vom, and if the mouth is shut - and I don't think it is uncommon either.

Make sure you put dd on her back as this will make her less likely to choke on her vomit.

Hopefully someone will be along soon with some better advice. DS was never a vommer, but he made up for it with his rear end instead!!

Congratulations on your baby! It's a rollercoaster, isn't it!?

Both my dd and ds2 would sometimes vomit through their noses, and that would distress them more than vomiting just out of their mouths did. I don't think you can prevent the vomit from going up their noses, it's just the way they are made and the fact that they haven't yet organised themselves enough to 'close' their nose while they vomit. It happens to adults, too, especially while they're drunk.

Things that can help are making sure the baby has burped after a feed and keeping her upright for a while after the feed. You can also put something under the head end of the cot (or take the wheels off the legs at the other end of the cot) so that she's lieing straight but tilted a little.

Hope it eases as she matures.

Thanks, all. Reassuring to know that it's not just my baby. I was beginning to think she had someone awful wrong with her. It's so distressing that I'm finding it hard to chill out after each feed and am ready posed with the sick cloth... I'll def try raising the moses basket at one end and guess I'll have to stick with the burping - though it's hard at night but I'm a paranoid mess with it at the moment so am staying awake ages after a feed

Hi Annie, I'd really suggest that if you're worried about this you should talk to your HV or GP. I got very worried about DS's bowel movements when he was very tiny and stressed for ages before I plucked up the courage to see my GP - he was lovely and said that with tiny babies, it's much better to make sure they're OK by getting a medical opinion than to be concerned about bothering the doctor. It really relieved my mind and I wished I'd done it sooner. Not saying there is anything really wrong but I know how worrying these things can be, especially with all the post-pregnancy hormones sloshing around...and especially if it's your first baby.

My ds used to do this as well. He had reflux, which was eventually treated with drugs (they work really well, by the way). Reflux can cause apnea/respiratory problems if the baby aspires it, so I would definitely advise talking to your GP if you feel he's having trouble breathing.

My DD2 was like this for a while (probably a couple of months). I think it come out the nose just because there's so much pressure on their little tubes.

Definitely keep her upright during and after feeding. And keep towels, cloths handy every time you sit down to feed. I found myself scared to get dressed until the last minute when we were going out! Not ideal when we had a wedding to go to at 4 weeks

Chat to your GP or HV about it. I'm sure it'll settle down in time though.

With dd I didn't go anywhere without burp cloths (aka muslins, prefolds, or even "grab-that-handtowel!"), and both she and I changed clothes several times a day. I think had she been myf irst I would have been a bit freaked by her continual chundering and dribbling, but she was my second so I'd lost some of my naivety .

My DD is 4 weeks old and she just spit up, what seemed like a weeks worth of milk, out of her mouth and nose. It seemed never ending. This is her 4th time doing it, and I'm extremely concerned. It's so scary to see her throwing up like that. I'm not sure what to do. She calmed down and fell right asleep, so I'm hoping she's okay. I'm going to her doctor in two days for her one month check up.