I need advice ! My newborn is spitting up her milk!!

[highheavenn]

First of all - it's the weekend so health visitors aren't at work so I called 111. The GP said she isn't concerned about my baby because she has a lot of wet nappies and isn't in pain etc.

My concerns are : my daughter is 3 weeks old today and the last two days she's developed a cold. Most likely from me as I was ill recently same symptoms. Typical nose running etc but that's not my concern. She's doing well just a runny nose and more needing comfort from me.

My actual concern is the last 2/3 days she's spitting up a lot of milk. She always has spat up milk but only little amounts. The last few days it's been a lot, well today has been!

She's not crying about it or fussing (she only cries when she spits up milk out her nose).. this is weird cause colic with my other daughter was very obvious, cries of pain etc.

She is spitting up so much milk I'm combo feeding. So she will have 3/4 formula bottles throughout the 24 hours and boob throughout the day. It's a lot of milk but the midwife and health visitor said I'm doing good and that she's a hungry baby.

My milk is a fast flow and I assumed that why she spat up before but this time im wondering if it's because she's poorly and that's why she's spitting up lots of ammount of milk? She lays down like 1 hour after milk then spits it up it's weird!

The doctor wasn't that helpful and said because she's filling up wet nappies and isn't crying in pain etc then she's ok. I feel like she's not but it's not a emergency.

Wondering if any other parents have advice on this? 🥰

If she has wet nappies and gaining weight she’s fine. My dd spat up soo much milk, every feed, up to 10 times a day when she was newborn, I think with hindsight she was feeding for comfort and spitting up what she didn’t need, she was quite happy, but I was doing so much washing! If your dd has a cold she’s probably comfort eating and taking in more than she can fit in her tummy.

It may well be that she's mucous-y and it's trickling down her throat into her stomach and irritating it.
See how she goes once the cold has cleared up.

Mine have both been happy pukers, talking 15+ times a day. So much laundry, but they didn't seem bothered by it. It stopped with both quite suddenly around 5 months, just before we started weaning, and neither have been pukey since!

Is she not just over-full?

Yes, this.

She can be on my boob for like 2 minutes and then Spit up loads even after burping! She can have 1 oz of her bottle and still spit up!

I feed her with signs she's hungry, she gets frustrated and has her mouth wide open to the side looking for boob even after she's drunk 3-4oz!

That's what the GP said I think, I thought that but she doesn't have a cough and I assumed that would make her cough also?

@highheavenn, not necessarily.

My sister used to spit up so much milk that my mum used to swathe herself in towels and cover the floor around her with them too, every time she fed her, @highheavenn.

Dsis did not have any problems whatsoever, because of this - she was a healthy, happy child and grew up fine.

I think that it is very normal to worry about all sorts of things when you are a first time mum - there is a famous thread on here where a MNer was worried that even baby shampoo might hurt her baby’s eyes, so put some in her eye just to check. As a professional worrier myself, I know it is daft to just say ‘don’t worry’ - but I hope you get the reassurance you need from this thread.

I feed her with signs she's hungry, she gets frustrated and has her mouth wide open to the side looking for boob even after she's drunk 3-4oz!

but on demand breast feeding only works if you’re only breastfeeding not if you’re also loading her up with formula. She’s not able to regulate properly.

I think without knowing your full feeding history/routine and combo feeding schedule, it is hard to assess on here and provide guidance.

Sounds like the doctor has provided reassurance though. 3-4oz sounds a lot for a newborn, however it depends how often you are giving this, and how many BF feeds in-between to determine if this is spit up due to surplus to requirements.

Sometimes babies route/cry to tell you something, not because they are hungry. They route as an instinct as often when they have a need to be met, it is soothed/satisfied with the breast/food. So they 'route' because it fixes things. So perhaps she is trying to tell you something/happy to be close. I would say call HV team tomorrow for an assessment.

There is no such thing as a “very hungry baby”.

There is such a thing as overfeeding your baby so you stretch their stomachs and they then need more than they should because of this. Which sounds like is exactly what’s happened here.

You should not be taking feeding advice from health visitors or midwives; training on infant feeding is little to none.

I'm combo fed with my other two children and it worked out well. Not everyone can strictly breastfeed, I know I can't unfortunately.

However she does have boob all throughout the night, she has one bottle of formula in the morning when my partner takes over. Then another formula around 1:00pm then around 4/5pm then around 8:30pm so I'm breastfeeding a lot and sometimes she only has1oz on formula. It's difficult specially when I have a oversupply and it's hard to get around this, yet pumping doesn't do much!! I only give her formula if she gets unsettled and isn't satisfied with my boob milk. Maybe I'm doing everything wrong but it's been working since she was 7 days old , that's when I started formula

It's difficult specially when I have a oversupply and it's hard to get around this, yet pumping doesn't do much!!

If you actually have an oversupply (I would be sceptical about this considering you are combi feeding and baby is only 3 weeks - it takes 6 weeks for your supply to regulate) you should not be pumping.

Pumping is telling your body you need that milk, so it will be the cause of your oversupply if you have one.

Sorry, first paragraph meant to be bolder.

Im a bit confused about why you are topping up with formula if you also have an oversupply? No wonder baby is spitting up - her milk intake sounds enormous. If the spit up isn’t bothering her I’m not sure what you think should be done?

So your routine is; (read in a gentle tone!)

Breastfed in the night.. how often?
Formula throughout the day.. so 4 bottles? Of 3-4oz 3-4hourly.. so an ounce a hour sounds right.

However, if you're then breastfeeding in the day as you mention (you said you only give the formula if unsettled??) then she will be full to the brim/overfed.

Pumping is only usually about 10-15-30mls worth at this age anyway, and sometimes you can't get anything depending if you've just fed from the boob.
If you're breastfeeding with an over supply and giving formula, how come you're pumping?

I would press reset, drop the formula if you have an over supply, keep offering the boob when she fusses (BF babies feed more other then you think) establish your milk supply for the 12 weeks so your body falls into a nice rhythm. If you need breastfeeding support, there are some great pages on instagram to follow :)

This. My ds spat up everything - but he gained weight and had wet nappies. My MIL told me DH was the same as a baby. I used to feel so ... affronted maybe ... when it was my own milk he was spitting right back up :) I never topped up and nurse advised not to if my supply was fine and he was just spitting up.

You should not be taking feeding advice from health visitors or midwives; training on infant feeding is little to none.

FFS midwives get plenty of training on infant feeding, a hell of a lot more than doctors. I'd trust my midwife colleagues over a GP when it comes to feeding. What midwives unfortunately don't have is time to spend supporting and helping with feeding issues

Anyway OP, it's likely the mucous in her stomach making her spit up worse. My DD has been the same. See how it goes when her cold gets better

@PinkPrawns2 Who said anything about seeing a GP? I wouldn’t recommend that either.

Midwives, GPs and HVs have little to no infant feeding training.

If there are feeding issues you need to seek properly trained infant feeding support, and for breastfeeding that absolutely must be an IBCLC.

I am a midwife and have had hours upon hours of infant feeding training, plus regular updates. Plus years of experience. Plus my team includes infant feeding specialists who are ibclc trained. Also the OP will have spoken to a GP via 111, that's why I mentioned a GP.

It’s still not comparable to an IBCLC and should only be first port of call for basic advice.

Any serious feeding issues must be seen by a properly trained and qualified professional.