When do babies get past the newborn digestive issues?

[Atticus500]

At my wits end with nearly 14 week old DD and her constant vomitting (call it what you like - possetting or spitting up doesn’t really seem to match the amount of liquid I get covered in), farting, explosive poops and constant burping are really getting to me. It’s such a silly thing to get so worked up over, but I really need to know when these sorts of things get better. I understand we all burp and poop; but when do their digestive systems mature enough to get better at all this?

The spitting up and burping soon. The poops, sadly not even yet for me. They get less frequent and more solid but they are still foul.

I would have thought before 14 weeks, unless there’s an intolerance. Usually 10-12?

When they go onto solids

What you're describing sounds like an intolerance to me. How is her sleep?

At 16 weeks I was getting such terrible sleep we called a sleep trainer, who got me to keep a diary of everything I ate (I was breastfeeding), every nappy, vomit, nap, etc for ten days. It was really clear there was a direct correlation with her vomiting and me eating eggs and dairy. She also had reflux.

That being said, even with medication for reflux and no allergens we never quite got on top of the digestive issues till 9 months: basically when she was very competently crawling and it strengthened her stomach muscles. But everyone talks about 'spit ups' and I think if you feel it's more than normal, investigate it. She was a 'happy spitter' so we went too long before recognising the problem.

I'd consider trialling going dairy free as many of these symptoms match a cow's milk allergy. If you're BF it would mean you removing/reducing dairy from your diet or if FF speak to the GP about trying a dairy free formula.

I didn't realise that DD had a dairy allergy until she started eating and reacted to yoghurt. Now looking back I do wonder if I could have saved her discomfort if I'd removed dairy from my diet.

(DD wasn't vomity but averaged 12 dirty nappies a day and was very very windy which sometimes caused her a lot of distress).

The most important thing is to monitor your DD's weight gain as if she's vomiting a lot I'd want reassurance that she's getting the nutrients she needs.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I’m not sure about the diary intolerance as she’s gaining weight brilliantly and she poops on a fairly regular schedule (I can set my watch by her morning poop) but it’s the spitting up (she brings back enough to soak the muslin and my skin) and her gassiness that really bother me. She sleeps very well at night and doesn’t seem in distress at all, so I guess I had decided it wasn’t related to any intolerance. Keeping everything crossed it all passes soon - does 4-6 months sound about right?

My DS can be like this. Hes 5 months old. I find it gets better if I make him slow down with his formula feeds. Does your DD guzzle milk really quickly?

Weaning onto solids and sitting up for longer periods solved it for my baby, so around 5 months onward. At 14 weeks she was still very sicky despite being medicated (it didn’t stop the sick but did make her less bothered by it). At 16 weeks she had a really bad bout of gastroenteritis (both ends!) and my carpet still has the stains to testify to the projectile tsunami of vomit.

When we introduced yogurts at 6 months it became clear she actually had a mild lactose intolerance, which may or may not have contributed to her digestive issues. Cutting out dairy for a while might be good idea (if you can cope without cheese!) to see if there’s an improvement.

Digestive issues in babies are such an annoying one. They can be so difficult to get to the bottom of. My little one had definite problems and I think it was a combinations of things. Immature gut from being a little early. Reflux (gaviscon from the doctor helped but made it harder for her to poo). Trapped wind (just her age). Colic. Possible dairy intolerance (I stopped dairy and it helped a bit but still couldn't say definitively she had an allergy or intolerance). Are your baby's poos normal? If it's an allergy they may smell bad, look green and/or contain mucous. But could still be an allergy/intolerance without these things!!

But in answer to your question, my little one is just approaching 6months and I would say she still has gut issues but things significantly improved from about 4months when she was more mobile (was rolling to sleep on her front which helped), passing wind better on her own and I expect just had a more mature gut by that point. Before then gaviscon for the reflux and sitting upright helped. And possibly cutting out the dairy. I'll be honest I didn't find the health visitors or GP to be much help but maybe because I didn't push the matter enough.

I'm hoping starting solids makes a difference!