How can I keep my newborn from having projectile vomit?

Jeanne - posted on 04/18/2012

My baby did that and I cut out dairy. It stopped. My friend and my sister both had the exact same experience. Dairy made their kids violently spit up. It took a couple weeks before it stopped, but I am pretty convinced that's why she was spitting up.



Good luck!

Jeanne

Nicole - posted on 04/17/2012

My baby did the same thing but was on formula as well. She may not be able to handle dairy (if you are having dairy in your diet) so i would try to cut it out of your diet and see if that helps. I also had to change her bottles till about 9 later, I tried born free and that helped with her Gas. Finally after every formula (literally) Gerber Soy was the only thing to work. Similac soy still would make her throw up but not as often as every other kind. Even nutrimagen and dairy free did not work. ONLY soy....it was such a painful experience for the both of us. I stressed out so much seeing her always sick. Shes 14 months now and still can't handle milk, on soy again but doing great!! I know it gets hard!! Hope you can figure something out.

Emma - posted on 04/11/2012

My daughter did the same for the first few months. I realized that my let down was a little too powerful after I saw a lactation consultant. I pumped a little before feeding her and that seemed to work like a charm. My supply also regulated itself more as time went on.

Tanya - posted on 03/20/2012

There is a big difference in the type of projectile vomiting when it comes to pyloric stenosis. I've been around babies all of my life, and have never seen anything like it ... which is how i knew there was a problem. Yes, there is a difference between spitting up, and throwing up ... but when an INFANT (few weeks old) is projectile vomiting a few times a day for a few days, there is definitely a problem. This might not be her case, as she would've know it within a few days. It starts out of nowhere and gets progressively worse over a few days to the point where nothing is staying down, and the babies diapers are dry from nothing getting through. The frustrating part is that the doctor (my pediatrician was out of town), kept telling me not to bring my son it, that he's probably just sick ... finally took him to the ER ... had to have surgery the next day. Even if he was just sick, what kind of doctor doesn't want to check on a 5 week old baby who is throwing up for 3 days in row? Well, i can say that this 'doctor' is no longer practicing in this area, thank goodness.

Kelly - posted on 03/20/2012

just a little vomitting FYI on kids and babies too, at least in my experience it seems that because they often don't know the signs that they are going to throw up, it is 99% of the time projectile. Not fun but that's what I have noticed.

Give some breaks in the feeding and burp her in between. That's my suggestion. Good luck!

Kelly - posted on 03/19/2012

Have you tried pumping, and if so how much are you able to pump out? At 3 weeks old their stomach's are only about the size of a walnut which is why they nurse often. She may be over eating..or like the other mums stated previously.. its something from your diet going into your milk. My son has had a very bad reaction when I ate kiwi fruit. He's almost 8mos old and I don't dare try it. Both my son and my 12 yr old daughter don't really throw up. We 3 have an iron stomach and won't vomit unless its viral. Listen to your instincts, and be as 'in tune' to your baby as you possibly can. They cant talk so their motions, expressions and disctinct cries is their only communication.

Please post up soon and let us know if there has been improvement or anything else.

God Bless you and your family,



Kellz

Sarah - posted on 03/19/2012

Just curious if they tested her for pyloric stenosis? Probably not, but something to consider with a baby so young. I would try more frequent feeds, burp frequently during her feeds, and maybe shorter period of nursing until she stops. It means you'll feed her more often, but it may help.

Ana - posted on 03/19/2012

burp her half way through the feeding.... or a couple times through out feeding.

Tanya - posted on 03/19/2012

You would know this by now, since you posted awhile ago .. but my son ended up having Pyloric Stenosis (sp?) which is projectile vomiting because of a muscle overgrowing between the stomach and intestines. No food gets through because of the muscle overgrowth, so they projectile vomit everything they take in. This usually doesn't start until the baby is a few weeks old. My doctor was out of town, so I had called the other doctor, who told me for 2 days not to bring my baby in to see her, that he probably is just spitting up ... I've had babies before, I knew it wasn't normal, at all. So I finally took my son to ER, where they ran a test, found out what the prob was. He had surgery the next day, and has been great ever since.

Andrea - posted on 03/19/2012

With my first one I had that too, every once in a while. My 5 week old son did it yesterday for the first time, of course on me too.

I figured it was my fault because I had to go somewhere and I wanted him to have a second boobie. He didn't want to and I tried to make him and he threw up. But only ones. And it is normal. My midwife said that kids throw only up what is too much, I don't know about that.

But I figured when I take my time and listen to my kid it doesn't happen so often. And I let him have a break from feeding for at least 30 minutes. My son slept 3 hours after he threw up. If he would have been hungry he wouldn't have slept so long.

Aleks - posted on 03/19/2012

@Jenni,



I too am of the great belief that many problems encountered by many "colicy" and "reflux" babies is food intollerance issues. However, most don't want to know or listen, or like you said prefer to listen to doctors who (most of them) too aren't willing to update their knowledge gained in the later part of last century. And most are quick to put their babies on reflux medicines or FORMULA for reflux babies (what a total useless gimmick)... ALL NEEDLESSLY. IMO.

Btw, I too was highly reflux (they would have termed me GERD) as a baby, yet it was late 1974/early 1975 and I too believe I was (and probably still am to some extent) dairy protein intollerant (and have also passed this on to my babies, one of them is also 3 and still successfully breastfeeding :-) ). Though my mother doesn't deny the fact that it could have been a possibility in my bad reflux issues and constant vomiting (btw, I was bottle fed, it probably wasn't even formula but some kind of milk derivative or powdered milk with stuff added to it).

Jenni - posted on 03/18/2012

Oh boy, it's not normal. So many people will say it's normal because they don't want to think something is wrong or they are in denial, or they are people who like to listen to doctors. My mom still to this day refuses to believe I ever was dairy intolerant. That was 1974. They didn't know what we now know. So many babies cannot digest dairy because milk is now pasurized. Our family drinks raw milk after so many years of having dairy intolerances in our house....4 kids with issues. And now we all can drink milk if it is raw. When it is pasturized, it loses the enzymes that we need to digest it. It's dead milk. So when we saw more pasturized milk, we saw more colic babies, more dairy intolerances and more food issues in general. You also might want to check baby's Ph level and yours. IF you are too acidic, it can bother baby's belly. Very true when you are dealing with different times of day vomit. It can change with your food intake. Very acidic babies tend to be put on reflux meds when it really can be controled by diet changes to make the mother's body less acidic and more alkaline. Especially with so many processed foods today. You can buy test strips from a natural health food store, they are urine strips and are easy to use. Some come with a food chart so you can know what foods to eat. I have started doing this and it makes a big difference. I am still nursing my 3 year old and I think we would have benefitted from this if I would have known this a few years ago when she had colic and food issues. There are great resources online if you search out Ph levels in breasfed babies.

Natalie - posted on 03/18/2012

Does it happen when you're burping her? Are you burping her over the shoulder or against your chest? If so it could be putting too much preasure on her belly. Try sitting her on your knee & gently patting her to burp...that really helped my little guy:}

Karen - posted on 03/18/2012

Don't think you can. I had problems doing it when I was a young girl, and swore my mom would hate me for life! My Premie infant son did it. There is a family history of GERD and premies can have that too. We did feeding then would put him in a little vibrating bouncy seat. THANK GOD for that seat! It saved us a lot, but so far it's just been a age/timing thing. Good luck!

Lori - posted on 03/18/2012

Lindsey - is she doing any better this week?

Lisa - posted on 03/18/2012

Some babies are just like that.......you are doing everything right. I have three kids and my first one was a projectile vomiter............she will outgrow it........

Dayna - posted on 03/18/2012

Go and get baby checked for Reflux, my twins had faulty valves which meant when stomach was full it wouldn't close were it should have so all the spilage we had was the excess milk sitting in their pipes, corrected now we also changed from breast to formula Karicare AR designed for reflux it has a thicker consitancey and we noticed we had less vomiting within days. Hope this helps.

Aleks - posted on 03/14/2012

@ Michelle Hunt, interesting to know this (and I shall keep this knowledge re newborn vomiting) however, an occassional vomit (in the car? may be resulting due to his positioning and having stomach squished and in motion, perhaps???) is different to what the OP reported - "About once a day, sometimes twice a day she has projectile vomit"

This kind of vomiting and this regularly is NOT NORMAL.

(capitals used in stead of italics which are unavailble, sorry)

Sorry.... The only times I have heard of babies regularly projectile vomiting was when there was an issue with a diet (whether baby's or what bf mother ate).

Michelle - posted on 03/14/2012

My son projectile vomited occasionally in his first couple of weeks. It was messy and a little bit annoying (happened in the car a couple of times, yuck) but he was not ill, he has no intolerances or allergies, and from what I can gather from talking to other parents and midwives, it is something that quite a few babies do. It may not be hugely common but it is certainly not abnormal and unless he has other symptoms that point to an actual illness (rashes, fever, agitation before or after vomiting) I really wouldn't be too anxious about it. Good luck with it, it passed very quickly for us and I hope it does for you too.

Aleks - posted on 03/13/2012

Projectile vomiting IS NOT NORMAL. Sorry to say Heather Kelly. Even if your babies grew out of it within weeks. General small spit ups is more normal, although I would watch it too if it seems to be bothersome to the baby.



I would first try what Celest mentioned. And then I would think its probably dairy (or other substance) intollerance as outlined by Lori A.

Keep a diary of what you ate and when and when your daughter vomits. This may just give you a clue of what may be causing this.

Btw, how are her poos? Are they mustardy colour and runny peanut butter consistency? Or are they green and frothy (which is a sign of too much foremilk over hindmilk) and come with an "explosion"? Or are they a mix of the two with some mucous? (Possible sign of food intollerance such as dairy, soy, wheat, etc). Any frequent and hard to shake nappy rashes? (again possibility of food intollerance/allergy). Does your baby fuss 10-15 minutes BEFORE vomiting? If so, then this IS bothering her... and it should be looked into further.



So here I gave you a few more questions to ask yourself which I hope will help you in figuring out what may be causing this to your baby.



Good luck and I hope your little girl gets better.

Ronda - posted on 03/12/2012

My baby did that when I drank coffee, and only coffee. It was understandable because coffee made me sick when I was pregnant too. It might be something like that. It doesn't have to be complicated. I almost drove myself crazy when I first started bf reading all the advice from the "experts", but everything came together so smoothly when I just stopped worrying and let my body and baby's instincts take over. I am in no way "hippy" or "zen" lol, I have been called uptight, but something about bf soothed me. Listen to yours and baby's body. :)

Lindsey - posted on 03/12/2012

Thank you heather kelly, its just a huge shock because my first daughter didn't have that problem.

Lindsey - posted on 03/12/2012

Toni, I'm glad it's not affecting her negatively and I sure do hope that it doesn't last too long.

Heather - posted on 03/12/2012

Totally and completely normal. Not much you can do to keep her from doing it, as she is only 3 weeks old. It will get better. Keep up the good work with breastfeeding! Way to go Mama!



Nothing is going to work until her digestive system matures more. All you can do is to keep 2 pairs of extra clothes with you where ever you go. Keep lots of wipes in the car, and in every room in your home, almost. Keep lots of burp clothes around, put a bib on her, and hope for the best right now.



It also won't matter what you eat. As she will probably keep doing this for another few weeks, possibly till she is 8 to 12 weeks old. Sorry Mama. But some babies, like both of mine, did this too.

Lori - posted on 03/11/2012

It's also possible she has a food allergy or food intolerance. Dairy would be my first guess. Try cutting ALL dairy out of YOUR diet for 3 or 4 weeks and see if it makes a difference. That means NO - cheese, milk, butter, or anything that contains even part of milk. Check out this list from kelly mom for avoiding milk completely.



http://www.kellymom.com/store/freehandou...



other possibilities are soy and or wheat (gluten).





My 15 month old has a dairy protein allergy (note... this is not the same as lactose intolerance). When she was under 1 year she kept getting congested and would end up throwing up - I thought as a result of post nasal drip. After she turned 1 she started throwing up every single day. It was constantly throwing up, and she wasn't acting sick. No fever. After about 2 weeks of this I brought her into the doctors office where I was told she has reflux. He gave us Zantac. When I gave her the Zantac she stopped throwing up for more than a week.... but then it started up again. I was determined to figure out the cause of the reflux. After ruling out a reaction to ibuprofen, and citric acid I happened to mention what was going on to my IBCLC. She suggested I try cutting out dairy. I was unconvinced at first but decided it was worth a try... what could it hurt right. So I started cutting back on dairy... cut out the main sources like milk and cheese. I noticed an improvement within a week. Instead of projectile vomit.. it was more like spit up. So I cut ALL dairy out of both my diet and my baby's. This isn't an easy task as there is hidden dairy in so many things... but if it meant my baby not throwing up... it's more than worth it to me. We've been dairy free for about 3 months now - and vomit free for 2 months. Looking back I can see that at 1 year I started giving her more dairy products. More yogurt, cow milk, cheese, etc. Her allergy isn't very severe, but could certainly account for what I though were colds all through her first 12 months.

Celeste - posted on 03/11/2012

My first thought is overactive letdown.

http://kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdo...



Take a look at this article. If it's indeed OALD, there are ways to help your daughter deal with the fast flow-nursing her uphill and block feeding.

Toni - posted on 03/11/2012

Have you tried feeding her less but more frequently? Maybe she is just taking a little too much at the times she projectile vomits. Or maybe although she's burped she still ha trapped wind.



I know it's frustrating my daughter projectile vomited more than a few times but she should grow out of it, at least it isn't affecting her negatively.