5 Month Old Spits up Everything.

I really feel for you. My sister's son was really spitty too. I think he stopped by around 9 months. The doctor didn't do anything for him either.

Hi, S.:

My son is much older now (10 years), but I have not forgotten the pains of an exploding baby. He spit up everything from the moment he came into the world. They changed him to Isomil before we left the hospital, thinking he had a milk allergy. They never tested him for Acid Reflux, I don't think it was even an idea then, they just told me the same thing they told you: if he's gaining weight he's ok. He also dealt with bouts of constipation that even juice made worse. (We bought stock in baby enemas there for awhile.) I also was told to "do something about it" because "no one would want him around".

He eventually grew out of it as we introduced more solid foods into his diet, and the constipation calmed as well. As hard as it is, hang in there. It will get better.

just a thought, but when my niece was about 4-6 months, she was constantly doing that, my sister-in-law would change her formula a few times but that didn't work and finally the dr diagnosed my niece w/ having GERD Gastroesophegeal Reflux Disease and treated her w/ medication. Hope this helps!

J. Rodenhauser
http://www.stayinhomeandlovinit.com/cgi-bin/team.cgi?id=J...

I had this problem with my son. The Dr was not worried at all but it was a total pain for me, I had to change his clothes constantly, I was worried anytime we went anywhere, it was awful. I changed Dr's and within a month it was totally gone. Our new Dr diagnosed him with acid reflux, gave him zantac and he was like a new kid. He has since grown out of it and is totally healthy. My daughter started doing that also and we tried Zantac but it didn't help. The Dr suggested changing her formula from Similac Advanced to Isomil advnced and it works great, no more spit-up! Hope this helps!

D.

Hello S.. There are a couple of questiions you need to answer. Is he on formula? If yes switch to soy it helps with the spitting up. If not you might want to start giving him a bottle of soy formula a day. As for the constipation he's old enough to have juice that should help with it. I hope that I am of some help.

have you had him checked for acid reflux diseas. my little boy did that all the time when he was younger and we had him checked and the doctors said it was because he has acid reflux diseas they put him on medicine and he dont do it no more...as to your friends if they do that then they aint your friend they should help you with your sons problem not push you away because of him that is just wrong

Hi S.,
My son had the same problem we had him on different formulas and we finally took him to specialist and found out that he had Acid reflux. He was on 20mg of prilosec. And that really helped He grew out of it at about a year old.I really hated to take him anywhere for the same reason.His burp cloth was either a reciveing blanket or a beach towel. People were afraid to or didn't want to hold him.
I hope this helps.

R.

It sounds more like vomiting than spit up. Stress to the DR how often and how much he is doing of this. Even mention people don't want you over because of this. If the DR still says it's normal, go to another one, because it's not normal. If he's also constipated, it sounds like there is some sort of allergy. The constipation could also be a result of not getting enough fluids (from the vomiting). But definitely take your baby to a better DR. I've never heard of one manually taking out poop.

i had the same problem with my daughter when she was about that age. she was diagnosed with GERD {acid reflux} they put her on Zantac and she stopped spitting up as much. the only difference between your son and my daughter is that she wasn't gainning weight. does he cry alot when he's finished eating or when you lay him down? or does he squirm when he's eating? those are some of the symptons of GERD. or he could just be one of those kids that happens to spit up alot! hope this helps if you have anymore questions please feel free to email me at ____@____.com

S.

a lil about me
i'm a 22 yr old SAHM with a 16 mth old daughter.

hello. my name is N. i have a 2 and a 5 year old. both boys. when my youngest son was a baby he used to spit up alot. i hated it bc i didnt have a washer and dryer and couldnt keep anything clean for more than a day. anyway the only thing i can think of to tell you is that your son will grow out of it. thats how my son got over it. and for the constipation my son went thru that also. he would go a week at a time without going. his doctor said babies can go up to a week or so without having a bowel movement. so after a week i would use suppositories to help him go. and another thing that might work is if you can tell he needs to go his to push on his butt hole or stick your pinky up there just a little bit. sorry to be gross but it works. i have also heard you can fill the bogger sucker things from the hospitol up with water and use that as an enema. i hope that i have helped a little bit. and good luck with everything!

We had the same problem with our oldest son. He projectiled onto everything, in every grocery store and mall around. But, he was gaining weight and was fine otherwise. We tryed the more expensive formulas that are supposed to help Reflux, cereal in his bottle, medication and even an upper GI to make sure everything was developing properly. None of it helped.

Everyone said it wasn't normal and we needed to do something, which we obviousely tryed. I just don't think people realize kids can have this if they haven't been around it before. We hadn't. We thought there was something horribly wrong with him and rushed him to the Doctor when he was 5 days old. His Doctor said he would outgrow it and he did. Not until he was almost 3. I know that seems like a long time. I would not put the cereal in his bottle if it's not helping the Reflux and he is getting constipated. It will start to lessen.

You just have to have a good sense of humor, always have a couple spare changes of clothes and some towels with you. We also invested in a steam cleaner for the carpet.

Good luck. It will get better.

You've probably heard this, but with our little guy the cause was reflux. We had tons of vomiting/spitting up for the first two years. In his case it was severe reflux. If reflux is not identified and attended to the acid can damage the espophagus. A GI doctor is the one to see as there are tests that can be done if there is enough information to believe reflux is the cause. The doctor we see is Dr. Kaul at Cinci Children's Hospital (Main Campus on Burnet). Hope this helps. In the interim, holding him upright for about 30 minutes after eating could help. If you have any questions feel free to email me at: ____@____.com. I know how frustrating it can be. Hang in there. ~M.

Finally a mom that knows how my life has been the last 7 months. My daughter was born May 2006. She has projectile vomited since 2 weeks old. We have seen a specialist at Dayton Childrens Hospital. My daughter was diagnosed with Moderate Acid Reflux. She is currently taking genaric Prilosec OTC. However, At Christmas I have started to make my own baby food and she started to Crawl. It all of a sudden seemed to get much better. If you want to know more about the food, all I do is buy fresh fruits & Veggies and put them in a mini food processor. Puree the food, put in a ice tray, when frozen, put in a freezer bag. It freezes for 6 weeks. I stocked up one weekend and I am still only half way through the food. Yes the thicker the food the better but watch for the constipation. If you have any other questions feel free to ask. I will try to answer.

My baby girl spit up (a lot) every time we gave her a bottle. My doctor told me the same thing, as long as she was gaining weight and not having any problems it was fine. When I started her on cereal it got a little better but I gave her cereal with a spoon, not in her bottle. Oatmeal helps with the constipation. Also if you use different types of cereal, wheat, rice, multi, etc. you can add some prunes (baby food) to it. Eventually she outgrew the spitting up. She's 9 months now and hardly ever spits up. I would continue to talk to your doctor about it though. If you don't feel your doctor really understands your situation it can't hurt to talk to another.

What type of milk is your child on and have you asked your doctor if your son is lactose intolerant?

-T. T.

I would say get a new doctor there is something wrong.My daughter had reflux of esopghage (spelled wrong)I would ask about that also has he been checked for food/milk allergies??

There could be several reasons as to why he is doing this.... Try the easiest solutions first.....
Reflux- Never lay them flat, always at an incline... Especailly after eating, it should be at least an hour after eating before they are allowed to lay (or even play)..... You can ask your doctor for Zantac, or even METOCLOPRAMIDE HCL (my daughter took it)This medicine is a gastrointestinal stimulant used to treat gastroesophageal reflux and erosions/ulcers of the esophagus. It is also used to treat nausea, vomiting, heartburn, prolonged fullness after meals, and loss of appetite in patients with diabetes (diabetic gastroparesis). It may also be used to treat other conditions as determined by your doctor.

You do not want to keep giving him enema's or laxatives, because they will no longer be able to go by themselves....

Then you could have the problem of being lactose intolerant... You may want to try switching him to a lactose free formula / soy.....

Then you may even consider having him checked for pyloric stenosis.........

Hope this is of some help, keep me updated...

S.,
If you are worried about his health (not the annoying behavior), then ask to have an upper GI test performed. If he is happy, gaining weight, and spitty...well, my gastroenterologist who checked my little guy (who was a breastfed spitter which is unusual) said that some babies are just that way. His advice was that eventually I would begin to notice more good days then bad and sometime after his first birthday I would realize that he wasn't spitting much at all. He was right.

In the meantime, hold him upright for a while, don't overfeed him and don't use cereal (it doesn't work).

As far as other people, I understand what you mean but unless it's a grown-ups only fancy deal carefully consider your social calendar. I made sure that I had lots of burb cloths, Shout wipes (once he started eating colors) and a cheap area rug on top of the regular rug where he played. Neat sheets are great too b/c the damp doesn't soak through and you can toss it in the wash.

It hurts to have people avoid you b/c they don't want to be sprayed (even my closest pals would avoid after he'd eaten) but that doens't diminish their caring for you. Just a normal amount of selfishness on their part to stay clean. And as with all unsolicited advice, a simple "Thanks for your concern but his doctor assures me he is a healthy boy who loves to spit!"

Relax, and be grateful that he is healthy. Wear old, washable stuff and slosh through the spit and enjoy your son.

A.
At home mom of 3 boys

he could have a flap that does not close, to hold his food down. try sitting him up while he eats and for at least an hour after he eats. my aunt had 2 sons with this and her daughter had a son with this. they do grow out of it but i would also see another Dr. for a 2nd opinion. or take this information to your Dr. good luck with your son.

im sorry but i dont have to much to say but maybe your friends should get over themselfs. kids do what they do. you cant control that. my friend had her baby and she's the same way. she even switched to soy and that didnt help. maybe you can tell them if they dont want you and your baby at there home then "lets go out somewhere" so they are not getting worried about there items. regardless they need understand, he is gonna do it. its just the way he takes things in!!
A.<3

Did you try changing the formula? When my son was just a few weeks old he starting spitting up all the time, and he had trouble having bowel movements, so the Doc had us switch his formula from regular to a milk free one. I am not sure if you tired this yet, but it helped us. Also, when he got off formula at a year old, he was able to drink regular milk. Hope this helps!

You may want to get another opionion with another doctor. My daughter use to spit up a lot too and she was breastfeed, which is suppose to help with that, but we found out she had acid reflux. The valve was not closing properly in her esophogus so they put her on pepcid twice a day and it helped tremendously. Plus, the spitting up and cause acid in the stomach and the esophogus could cause problems later on. Worth checking out. I am not a doctor, just a mom with the same problem. It could be something else, but better to rule that out. Also, check to see if he is allergic to milk. They do a stool sample test for that. My daugther is 2 1/2 years old and has been off the pepcid and can now eat milk, cheese, ect. Sometimes their tiny tummies cannot handle certain things and then they grow out of it. Trial and error. Good luck.

I probably won't spell this right but, did the Dr check for pyloric stenosis? Maybe it's necessary to see a specialist at this point? My best friend's son had this and it is more common in boys and also can be hereditary. Anything like this in your family? It requires surgery but, for my friends' son did the trick and it decreased if not stopped the projectile. Just something else for you to research if you haven't heard of it. Good luck!!

You need a second opinion. Projectile vomiting isn't normal. It could be something as easy as changing him to a soy based formula, or he may need medicine to regulate his bowel motility. Go find another pediatrician, and get a second opinion.
Hope this helps!

Have you tried different formula's? I have been fortunate enough to not have to worry about that with my 7 month old, but she was colicy. Enfamil makes different brands for this reason. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. You can go to the website and they give you the different types of formula they have. As far as the constipation goes, I have been giving my daughter Apple Prune Juice for the last month and a half for the same reason. I tried Karo syrup, Apple Juice and Prune juice separately. Karo didn't work, apple juice wasn't enough and prune juice was too much. Found that the combination of the Apple Pruce Juice works just fine. Gerber makes the combination, but I have only found it is the small bottles. Good Luck and I hope that I have helped you in some way! A. C

i was just wondering what kind of formula you have him on? my daughter was a puker when she was an infant, i switched her to alimenten. her ped use to blow off everything i questioned with its fine, or as long as they are getting something in her system she is ok, blah blah blah, i finally got sick of listening to him and went went and bought the alimenten myself and tryied that. it worked, i was right, he was wrong and shestill spit up but minimal. i told the dr what i found and told him to switch her formulas or i was switching drs. he changed her formula. you should always trust "mommy instinct" noone knows your child better then you do. no dr spends the same amount for time with your child then you do. folow your gut, if you think there is something wrong with your child, and ur ped is blowing you off about it, go to a dif dr. 9 out of 10, you are right, the dr is wrong.

Your son isn't spitting up and if you call it that to your doctor then, of course, he is gonna say your child is fine. Your child is projectile vomiting, that is a different action all together. I would get a second or even third opinion if I were you. Good Luck

My niece had that problem too. They did more testing on her and found out that she has reflux and she has to be on medication to control it. She's doing much better now, but she still has her spouts of spitting up. As for the constipation thing I have an 18 month old who had a terrible time pooping. He'd cry when ever he'd go. We ended up changing his formula from Similac to Isomil, and it seemed to help out a lot. We tried giving him prunes and other bowl movers but they didn't seem to help at all. Eventually he's grown out of it. He still has trouble from time to time, depending on what he eats now, but for the most part he's all better. I hope this will help you out a lil bit :)

This is most likley a normal thing that he will out grow with time. If people can't imagine a baby spitting up that thats there problem it happens and is normal. I would not put the cereal in a bottle it can cause the baby not to spoon regular baby foods well because they are us to it being in a bottle I had this issue with my daughter because her child care provider did that even when I told her not to.(I got rid of that sitter) That caused my daughter to have a hard time picking up the spoon feedings. Just bring extra clothes with you and maybe a larger wash cloth. If you clean it up of the carpet right away it will not stain so whats peoples problem. But I would not worry it is normal and good luck.

I would switch peds if they are not wanting to help you. My daughter did the same. There is no reason for 5 months that they could not help you. Yes Cereal is one way, I am assuming you used rice cereal? That does constipate but Barley cereal will not. YOu could try that, it does help some. If your dr is not willing to help you just have to experiment with how much cereal to add. My daughter had to have extremely thick, but she had a swallowing delay, not reflux. I cant believe they havent even checked him for reflux. My daughter was put on two different medicine when they thought hers was reflux. One was zantac and the other Reglan (spelling?). The reglan helps the stomach digest food faster so there is less to spit up. Anyway if it were me I would tell the ped something needs done or find a new ped. Hope that helps! Oh and I went through a 12 months of spitting up and choking on milk so we tried a bunch of things!

S.-

My son had similar problems and as diagnosed with reflux around 4 months. This is apparently a very under-diagnosed condition, but is very common with infants. We tried prevacid and eventually switched to Zantac. He grew out of the reflux a few months later which is typical. It truly helped him and my peace of mind. Good luck!

You might ask your dr if he thinks that a reflux med could help. My little one was the same way; only he was really fussy with it. With reflux in infants, most of them outgrow it by 1 year, so you should be about halfway there!

Hi S.
My first child was that way. She had an upper GI done at 6 weeks. She had a reflux in her esophagus. I had to mix her bottle with cereal so that it was so thick that it would stay down. I was also told to feed her then let her sit in the pumpkin seat for 45 min afterwards without moving her. That did seem to help some but she did continue the projectile vomiting until she was about 10 months old. My daughter also was constipated too and was given some laxative to put in her bottle. Not that it did much good but at least she went. I will tell you by the time she was a year old she never poooped in her diaper because I could always tell when she was trying to go and would put her on the toilet and her job was done. Good luck it does get better.
D.

Hi, S.--

When my daughter spit up a lot, it was probably from acid reflux. So, we put barley cereal in her formula (the rice cereal really bound her up big time!) because it has more fiber. Also--keep him upright for a while after you feed him and elevate his bed a little by putting phone books or something under the head of his mattress. Zantac also helps a lot with acid reflux so ask your pharmacist about that. Good luck!

Your son may have acid reflux, two of my friends both have baby's that have acid reflux. Also, when my son was only a couple of months old, we found out that he had what the doctor called esophageal trachea. That is a blockage in the esophagus, some food makes it down the tube but some gets stuck and it has to come back up because there is no place else for it to go. The only thing the doctor said to do was sleep him on his stomach and just keep an eye on him when he slept. The doctor said that he would grow out of it, and after about six or so months he was much better and keeping foods down. My son was also gaining weight like he should, actually he was always in the top 60+ percentile in weight. If your doctor does not want to do anything about your sons problem, I would go to another doctor for a second opinion if that is at all possible. A suggestion to your problem about going to friends homes, you could take an extra large older blanket to put on the floor in the vicinity that your son is in. I hope that some of this might help you and your son. Best of luck

YOU SHOULD ASK THE DOC ABOUT REFLUX THAT WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE TO ME. DOES HE SLEEP WELL? DOES HE HAVE TO BE PROPED UP. IM 24 MORTHER OF TWO. CONTACT IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS

Our son had the same problem, he spit up so much that he would choke on it and have troble breathing. The doctor told us to make sure we held him up right for 30 minutes after he ate. Being in his swing is not considered upright since his tummy is still be squished. We also tried zantac which to me didn't seem like it help but it might help your son. Also we switched formulas about 4 times before we find something that didn't cause him to spit up as much. But it only seemed to get better when he started to eat cereal and 1st foods. About being constipated we were told by the doctor to put 1 tablespoon of light corn syrup in every bottle. Which did help. Hang in there as he gets better so should his spitting up and the laundry.

Hi S.,
Sorry about your dilemma! Our 6 month old daughter is the exact same way! She's happy, healthy and spits up gross amounts after every bottle. We switched to a new formula, that's about the same price as others called Enfamil AR ~ for babies that spit up frequently. The formula is thickened with rice starch. It helped a little, but not completely.

At Allie's last Pediatrician visit we asked for something to help her (because we had already discussed with our dr. and nothing was helping) and she gave us an Rx for baby pepcid. Dr. said that sometimes the valve that separates baby's esophogus from her tummy doesn't work perfectly. She said often by 6 months (but could be up to a year) the problem corrects itself.

In the meantime, I suggest using recieving blankets (I am sure you have tons) as "sheilds" along with burp clothes. We don't hand Allie off to ANYONE without fair warning, a blanket and a burp rag. And whenever we go out, we take a plush blanky, put a recieving blanket over (for easy changes) and don't let her play or lay off the blankey. This makes people more comfortable when you bring baby over places.

Also, if people aren't inviting you over because of a little baby spittle, you really are hanging out with the wrong people. Baby will do much grosser things over his life and people in YOUR life need to be understanding.

Good luck and hang in there, this too shall pass!

My daughter had a problem keeping everything down when she was young. Luckily for us, Enfamil had just came out with Enfamil AR and it was a life saver for us. We also had a doctor that did diagnose my daughter with acid reflux/ gerd even at that young age. She's now 2 1/2 and has no problem keeping everything down and her acid reflux hasn't bothered her in what seems like forever!

I would say to ask your doctor about AR/ GERD. It's so much better to diagnose it early and get it under control now so that any damage to the esophagus is kept to a minimum.

Good luck!