Breastfeeding and Frequent Spit Ups

You might change the formula that you have been supplementing with. Gentlease is a really good one, and there are others designed specifically for spittin gup.

My little girl was diagnosed with reflux at 3 weeks old. i can understand the sleeping onan incline and the spitting up. unfortunatly if your little one has reflux teething makes it worse which sould be why you are noticing more spitup.
here is a realy good website about reflux, it might help you determine if you girl has it or not. www.infantreflux.org

for us it was easy to tell Ella was sick. She has a very severe case of reflux. She sreamed all the time, in her sleep, and even as she was eating. Also she refluxes as she eats which results in her choaking at the breast.

hope this helps.

I went through this with my son, 4 months. Everything I ate when I breastfed made him scream. He spit up a lot. It seemed like he couldn't get enough to eat. He was considered overweight. I knew something was wrong and so I switched him to formula at 3 weeks. It was hard to get him on a schedule. I would talk to your doc about this. Mine sent me to an upper GI at St. Joe's hospital. He was diagnosed with Reflux and now we are experimenting with thickening and giving him Zantac. Your child may not have it, but it's worth looking into to make things happier for you and your baby! Good luck, hun!

Hi C.! My name is S. and boy do I understand what you are going through. My daughter is 5 months old and I have been going through this for a month. I will tell you right now my ped will not do anything for her yet due to her age. My daughter has been experiencing a really bad stuffy nose. My husband and I have been doing the suction of the nose, the saline drops (which I have noticed the more I use the more she spits up), and the incline position since the day she was born. I thought at first this too was acid reflux, but we have kept her at an incline that it should have stopped by now. WRONG!!! Now my ped has recommended for me to go get a "cool mist" humidifier. Warm mist will cause to have more germs. Maybe try a little of baby vicks on her chest. They did warn me though that it may cause skin irritation, but that was the only warning for an infant. I also breast feed only, and let me tell you I don't know what else to do. When your little one spits up is there mucus in it? My daughter does sometimes and then sometimes not. My husband sometimes claims that I don't burp her good enough, but my god how many times does a baby need to burp after each feeding. I get her to burp two good ones and sometimes three. I would think that is enough. I hope this brings some relief to you. I am just so glad to hear that I am not the only one experiencing this. I will update you as time goes for me and my little one, and I hope everything I shared with you will help. Take care and good luck.

~S.

Hi C., I am a IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant), and may be to help.
First, usually when your taking something to increase supply you want to wean yourself off and continue to monitor your supply. You said Mother's Milk...is it the tea, tincture, or pill form? There are many other herbs that may work better, but if you think the supply is ample then good.
If you want to know what herbs, email me and I will send information.
Secondly, spitting up in excess is usually an indication of intolerance to something in your milk, i.e., bovine protein. Many newborns have a allergic reaction to certain proteins, especially bovine (cow's milk) because it is another species protein. Usually physicians are not knowlegable about nutrition for kids, especially breastmilk and breastfeeding. The disorder of the decade is "REFLUX" because MD's don't know why a baby spits up excessively so they just call it reflux and prescribe drugs. Supplemental formula can make the situation worse because most are cow's milk based and/or soy; and soy has it's own problems. Usually I put my clients on a "Bovine Free" diet for a minimum of 3 weeks. Bovine protein is in EVERYTHING! So you have to read labels and follow the diet religiously for 3 weeks before you can evaluate if the baby's doing better. It takes at least 2-3 weeks for the bovine protein to get out of your system. (I have the diet to follow if you want it, just email me.) Reflux is a symptom of an allergic reaction; you need to treat the problem, not the symptom. There are varying degrees of this problem (spitting up, allergic reaction), everyone is different and sensitivity threshold is different. As I always say, Humans are unique, one size fits all does not work with humans. Your breastmilk is species specific and designed for your baby.

Thirdly, you say baby is congested. This also a symptom of protein allergy. Some common symptoms are spitting up frequently after and/or between feedings, regurgitation, congestion, exzema, gassiness and green frothy stools just to name a few. If the baby has congestion, take an eye dropper and insert a couple drops of breastmilk into each nare. You can do this several times a day. This is far better than saline solution, believe me I know.
Well Hope this helps you.

D. B

I'm sure you have tried the teas and herbs that can increase your milk supply and are avoiding herbs that dry up the milk. I'm also pretty sure that you know that formula supplimentation only helps your milk to dry up more (supply=demand for milk supply)

As for the spitting up, there is a medicing that you can request from your doctor if you are worried it may be a problem. It is a very strong med (slowly put child on med, slowly wean off) but it is said to be very good at stopping babies from spitting up if that is an actual health concern. I forget the name of the medication, it has been so long, but it might ba able to help you.

My 13 month old was diagnosed with GERD before he was a week old. It sounds a lot like what we went through. I'd definitely see about getting her checked for that. He was on Zantac and some other medication. He eventually outgrew it, but had to sleep in his carseat or a bouncy. And had to be upright for an hour after eating. We also had to keep everything at an incline. I was told in the hospital that most children outgrow this by the time they are able to sit up unassisted. Again, its definitely worth looking into. Hope this helps!

My daughter was "breastfed* for 8 weeks. She never latched on and was in the NICU for 8 weeks. She ended up with a feeding tube so it was a different situation. However, she had reflux and would spit up regardless of formula or breastmilk. However, when she first began spitting up I was told to record EVERYTHING I ate- kind of like a diary. My lactation consultant had me eliminate different foods to see what was bothering her as some babies are sensitive to certain foods (first broccoli, then chocolate, dairy, garlic etc...). I would eliminate one of those foods and see if it had an effect on her spitting up. It really didn't because we learned there were underlying issues. However, you might try it... If that doesn't work I would consult your pediatrician and see what she/he suggests. Good luck!

Hi C., I would have to agree with Debbie B. She knows her stuff. If your milk supply has increased you may also notice that she is more content. You are making more milk because she loves to nurse and be close to you. I wouldn't worry about her over eating. breastfed babies take what they need when they need. That is why it is important to let them nurse for 30 min or more if they want to. Look at it this way it gives you an excuse to sit down put your feet up for a bit and just relax which is another benifit of breastfeeding.