Baby Spit-Up - HELP!

[JediBonas]

Wanted to add: we were switched to Similac Alimentum, which cut down the spitting up a LOT.

 

[justhat]

The thing with Zantac (or a PPI like Prevacid) is that it does not stop reflux, it only takes away the pain associated with reflux from the acid. The OP hasn't mentioned her daughter screaming and crying so that most likely won't help. My 3rd was on Prevacid (Zantac didn't work for her) and it was a lifesaver, BUT, she was hysterical 24 hours a day. Coughing on reflux, arching her back and screaming in pain, couldn't lay flat at all, etc. The OP's baby does better laying flat, which is unusual with reflux.

Are you sure it's the lactose and not the milk protein? My 3rd had bad reflux and her intolerance was to the protein, not the lactose. I breastfed so I had to cut out all dairy from my diet and that reduced the amount of projectile vomit she had after a feeding. So you could try a soy formula or one of the hypoallergenic ones like Nutramigen. The fact that laying her flat helps, and that you didn't mention constant crying or pain, makes me think it's more the milk protein than a reflux issue. My 2nd spit up all the time but never cried and was also fine at bedtime when he was laying flat (and slept 6+ hours straight at 6 weeks old). My reflux baby though, we couldn't lay her flat at all till she was 4 months, and even then her bed was still slightly inclined and she'd still throw up, just not as bad as prior to that age.

Continued till she was nearly a year, then she's been fine since.

 

[Fjobe]

My middle child spit up all the time. It was constant and to the point that it eventually was no big deal to me. Like your little one, she was always happy. Honestly, she was the easiest baby I have ever seen.

It wasn't a problem until she was older. From around ages 2-4 she threw constant fits, and I pretty much drug her around by her arm for 2 years while she resisted whatever it was that I was trying to get her to do. Finally one day she pointed to her stomach, ran her finger up to her throat and said, "I hurt from here to here." I called the doctor and he had me give her prevacid. Within 2 days, I had a totally different kid on my hands. She became a happy, easy child practically over night when we treated her for relux. I had no idea she had been suffering from reflux until that day, and I certainly had no idea that treating the reflux would change her behavior. Thinking back, I realized there were several times I thought I smelled vomit, and I now believe that was her breath from the reflux. I think she probably wasn't sleeping well at night due to the reflux, and that was what influenced her behavior. We ended up keeping her on the Prevacid for several months. We tried several times to stop giving it to her, but her reflux would be back in a couple days. Finally, there was a time we tried to quit giving her the medicine, and she was okay. Once we recognized the problem, she started to be able to identify reflux for herself. Even now at nearly 7, she still has reflux. She just tells us, and we treat it as needed.

Sorry this was way more info than you need for your 14 week old. I just want to say all that so you can tuck it into the back of your mind in case it pops back up later in life.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Update - We gave up on the spit-up formula. Every bottle was getting worse, with her stomach churning and her screaming in pain. Switched back to the sensitive formula and our happy baby came back. We bought a couple Dr. brown's bottles and are going to try those. I'm really thinking that the solution will be giving her a few bites of rice cereal after every bottle of formula. She turns 4 months soon so we should know shortly.

 

[peainapod]

Good morning Dis parents. I need some advice. My 14 week-old spits up constantly. 2-3 times after every bottle during the day. The only time she doesn't spit up is when we feed her and put her to bed, so she is laying down the whole time it is digesting. She has a lactose sensitivity, so she was on Similac sensitive formula, which worked great until a couple weeks ago when the spitting up started. I called the pediatrician, and he wants us to try the Similac for spit-up, which we started yesterday. So far there is no change. We burp her part way through the bottle, and after the bottle. We've tried keeping her upright, but that makes the spitting up worse. We give her smaller bottles more often, still no improvement. The only think that works is keeping her laying on her back. Now she keeps coughing, and I think it is due to throat irritation from spitting up. The pediatrician says it will take 7 days to know if the new formula is helping. Have any of you been through this with your kids, and do you have any tips for reducing the spitting up? She is thriving and is not losing weight and seems perfectly happy.

Thanks!

Your baby is still very young. It is very normal to spit up a lot at this age. Smaller feedings more often might help.

 

[CammelleandBre]

When my dd suffered from this. Her pediatrician suggested we make her bottles with bottled water. Not, that nursery water. But, Aquafina, or Dasani and that really helped her.

 

[ORMom2Four]

Try burping after every ounce of formula. Might ask your doctor for Zantac. Also try adding a small amount of rice cereal to the bottle to help thicken the formula. good luck!

This is the only thing that even slightly helped my babies. All of my 6 kiddos would spit everything up when they were little. We thickened the formula with rice cereal and made the bottle nipples bigger by cutting an x into the top with scissors. It's what we did "back in the olden days" with our 21 year old, but when we had twins 3 years ago, our Dr. wanted to give us an Rx for them for reflux I could NOT see giving a prescription medication to my tiny babies every day, so we just used rice cereal with them too--no medication.

The youngest are now perfectly healthy 3 year olds who grew out of spitting up completely when they were about a year old.

 

[ols386]

Both my kids spit up when they were infants.

Looking back on it, I wondered if their formulas were too rich for them.

Just a thought.

 

[ols386]

Update - We gave up on the spit-up formula. Every bottle was getting worse, with her stomach churning and her screaming in pain. Switched back to the sensitive formula and our happy baby came back. We bought a couple Dr. brown's bottles and are going to try those. I'm really thinking that the solution will be giving her a few bites of rice cereal after every bottle of formula. She turns 4 months soon so we should know shortly.

My grandson uses those Dr. Brown bottles, and he doesn't spit up much. He just turned 4 months old.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

My grandson uses those Dr. Brown bottles, and he doesn't spit up much. He just turned 4 months old.

We've had 2 feedings with the new bottles and have only spit up once...

 

[FlyingDumbo]

I hate those bottles! After a few weeks they started to leak and I didn't think they helped much. Lots of pieces. The formula that we use is the Target brands version of SImilac Sensitive. That is what we add the cereal to. Good luck, I hope you find a solution.

 

[gcarr1426]

My son threw up a lot in infancy and toddlerhood. When he was on formula we use soy but the liquid concentrate version which helped loads with cereal in it. If we gave him more then one bottle made with powdered formula the spitting up was far worse. He was on reflux meds for two years

 

[dyna]

Many moons ago 30 yrs ago we used to add about a tablespoon of vanilla pudding mix to an 8 oz bottle which thickened the milk just enough to keep the milk down.

 

[bittybabygrower]

Make sure you keep doc in the loop, and don't keep changing formulas on your own because it can make it worse. Sit baby up if you think it is reflux, but I find it odd that the baby is better laying down flat. I'd ask about Zantac or Pepcid if Baby is coughing a lot or begins to really cry during or after feeds. To thicken with rice cereal add one tsp to 2 oz.

Feeding intolerance stinks, my daughter was awful and back then they didn't treat it unless they were losing weight and she has issues to this day

 

[Gretchen]

Seems like you may have found a solution OP--
My son nearly killed me-still does, but that's another story, lol.
I ended up nursing him, giving him Zantac and he spent most of his first year sitting upright. He couldn't have any formula and I had to follow a restricted diet. Good luck--this too shall pass, it's tough while it does though! Hang in there!