Newborn Spitting up Problems

Well L., I had two boys with that same problem, but we just dealt with it! I now know that you can take the baby to the chiroprator for this! A friend of mine has been taking her baby, and he hardly spits up at all now. I would try that if I were you. Good luck!

When I didn't breastfeed, I fed my babies goats milk. Goats milk is the closest milk that is most like breast milk. With all the additives, sugars, etc, that are put in formula the spitting up and chronic fussiness are most likely due to the fact that some food sensitive babies' tiny tummies can't digest the processed ingredients in the formulas. I found powdered goats milk at my local health food store. I mixed it up just like formula. It also seemed to worked better for my babies than the liquid, although I would use the liquid as well when I didn't have the powdered. Good luck.

My little niece, now five, used to spit up. When I watched her I would rub the bottom of her feet gently, there's a spot on feet that is for stomach. When you rub it they pull their feet back just keep rubbing very gently and they will push their feet into you fingers. My mother got me to using reflexology when I was a lot younger. It works for me, the niece was a premie also, her dad told me she was borderline rsv when he left her overnite once and was taking her to dr next morn. well I worked on her feet off and on all night. They took you to the dr. and they couldn't find a sign of rsv in her. My nephew came over and told me and asked what I did to her. I told him and he just laughed and said well it seemed to work she's ok.
One of the authors of the reflexology book is Tammy weber I can't remember who the other one is. but it works for me and mine. HOpe this info helps who ever reads this and tries it.

my second girl had acid reflux. It's heart burn for kids so they are miserable and unhappy because they just don't feel good. We took her to see 4 doctors 3 of them kept telling me it was the flu or this and that and eventually i think my little girl did get the flu or something because she ended up spitting up so much it was the green stomach bile we finally got her to our regular dr and he got her on prevacid and nutramagin(formula) because she could have possibly had allergy to milk so that fixed everything and I had a new baby and it only took about 4 months for this to be figured out. I totally feel your pain because the kid is very ornery and you can't make them happy she had to sleep in her carrier to keep her upright because when they lay flat it makes the acid reflux worse. I say go see Dr. Hacking in Orem he's the one who finally got it straightened out and she only had to be on it for a little while, they grow out of it. ggod luck let me know how it ends up, it's interesting how so many docs have so many different ideas the doctors number if you are interested is ###-###-#### and they have after hours things too but don't see the other doctors because they are the one's that told me it was a cold go see dr. hacking and to have a baby on prevacid that long won't hurt them it's worse to not help them because if you don't then something happens to the asophogus or something not sure but you can look up GERT at webmd too

My son who was a preemie also had problems with spitting up, and we were told it was reflux by his pediatrician. We decided before we went the medication route we would try chiropractic. It worked almost immediately and the severity of his spitting up was cut in half. He's 16 months old now and never had to take the medication. We go once a week (as a family) for adjustments and he's very healthy.

We had the same problem with our youngest son, now almost 5. We tried the meds, but I HATED medicating my baby, so we eventually went to digestive enzymes from the health food store and they were very helpful. We didn't have a good chiropractor back them, but I think that would also help.

I have a son who had that problem. It was better for him when we fed him in smaller amounts and burping. Also we raised the bed where his head was. I don't like medicating babies. Why start adding to a liver problem by using drugs? They should have a good defense system. I do believe in chiropractors. They are a great source of help.

Hi there
Yes, I had the same problem with my baby, even though I was breastfeeding. Her pediatrician put her on an Acid Reflux medication called Axid. It's pretty expensive, but it decreased the spitting up and fussiness. I know it made her feel so much better. She is now 9 months, and we are weaning her off the medication. Yeah!!! I hope this helps.

When my girls had reflux our dr recomended 1/2 of maalox about 15 minutes before the feeding. We tried some of the reflux medications but they caused so much gas that it wasn't worth it. The only down side was a little bit of constipation which was a issue with the oldest but not with the second. Good luck.

my newborn spit up too.. I was supplementing.. It was to the point I would lay him down and constantly check on him in fear he would choke while spitting up in his sleep.

I changed him from regular formula to lactose intolerant(soy) formula for spit up and gas... it was by similac in a pink can and he quit... but he was fussy like that too... and there is also a can out that is even more filtered than that and it is in a purple can.. spitting up is scary so I wouldn't stop with my search

IF the doctor thinks it's reflux, why is your son not on meds? Xantac and Prevacid are commonly prescribed. We have a 2yo who did both and is still on Xantac and an 8 day old on Xantac. Night and day difference for both. When he reaches 4 and 5 months, he will outgrow the relfex that makes him swallow, so weight gain could become a serious problem. Also, the lack of sleep due to the relfux can add to the problem. I'd see about getting him on medicine and seeing if he doesn't relax and eat better. Our 8 day old is not spitting up wet burps any more other than a possible 1 or 2 a day, but usually not. She's only been on it a few days, but before was choking and having a very hard time eating. GL! I hope it gets better soon!

Be sure to talk to your Doc about ALL possible side effects if you are considering trying any meds. I had to cut out any/all dairy (which can be tricky-read labels carefully) to help our little one... it took about two weeks to see the results. We also had to elevate her head a bit or let her sleep in a bouncey seat.

I am using babies magic tea to prevent my LO from any tummy trouble. It's so safe and healthy for my dear daughter.

keep him upright for half an hour after feeding. feed him when he wants to eat.

My son is now 4 years old and he did alot of spitting up. We tried all the formulas as well. We finally had to do the soy formula because that is what helped him not spit up. He never had to go on medication. If you haven't tried soy you might try that. Good luck.

I have been through this with both of my kids. I had to put them on medication for acid reflux. Get some medication. You will see a hige improvement. I also had to switch my youngest formula to Enfamil AR. It did help a lot with the spitting up.

This is a very common problem. My twin sons had acid reflux also, one worse than the other. My pediatrician gave our sons a perscription for previcid and while it doesn't stop the spitting it does help them feel more comfortable. The spitting thing will probably have to work its self out eventually. My son with the worse of it was on it until after he was 1 yr. The only time you really need to worry if is they don't gain weight...as for the emotional upset maybe a perscription would help and also things such as keep the baby as upright as possible after eating...I found a bouncy/vibrating seat helped my boys. We also found that the soy enfamil help some too...there are some sites and discussion groups for other parents with acid reflux babies that you could probably get more ideas from...depending on the severity of your childs. Hope this helps!

L., I have a 3 month old grand daughter I take care of and she spits up alot, too. The Dr. said she ws fine and as long as she is gaining weight, she is okay. She has very sensitive skin and a sensitive sthomach. But she is doing okay. She is fussy between feedings, too, but she is starting to teeth.

My son was the same way... thankfully at about a year he grew out of it. I carried a full size towel for when he spit up. We tried lots of things. The first was acid reflux medicine. It helped a lot. but my son still didn't eat well and was upset so our ped. suggested trying a special formula called nutramigen. (really expensive but it worked) it is specially predigested so it is easy on their stomach. it is also the only formula that is 'milk-protein' free. that is how we found out about his allergy. Once we took out the milk protein he didn't spit up near as much and he was much happier eating and a happier baby.
Good luck I hope this helps

My son, who is now 9 had reflux. It was pretty gross. He ended up on medication (without any invasive testing. I think it was Reglan and something else. It really cut down on the spit up (or projectile vomit) but it made it smell minty!!!!! He grew out of it. I have vague memories...but I know that in most family videos prior to the medicine he had a pretty steady flow of puek running out of his mouth and nose!
Good luck!

My daughter had acid reflux. She went on Zantac, to cut down on the acidity, and Reglan, to help her not spit up as much. They helped a ton and she was much more comfortable. She only needed them for a few months and we stopped them around 6 months, when her little system was more mature.

Hi L.,
I have a 6 month old that also has acid reflux. At three months we finally put her on previcid (acid reflux med.). We felt weird about putting a newborn on medication, but she couldn't sleep laying on her back (we even had to prop her changing table up), she was always gagging and spitting up, and was just plain miserable all the time. Anyway, since we put her on it she has been a totally different baby. I felt bad that we waited so long. One thing that made me feel a little better about putting her on medication was that our doctor said that there are negative side effects to having too much acid in her throat and the previcid is only temporary until her body gets better at digesting everything.
That said...when my son was a baby he was the easiest happiest kid around and he spit up ALL THE TIME. I think it had something to do with my milk flow and not acid reflux that is why it never bothered him.
Good luck and I hope if it is acid reflux you little one starts to feel better soon!
K.

Hi L.,

My daughter had acid reflux, and spit up constantly. I thought that I was going to go crazy because she was a very fussy baby, who was not easy to consol. She went on baby zantac for awhile, then I switched to soy formula, which seemed to help a little. I als put a little rice cereal in her bottle to help keep it down (make it a little thicker)She did not get better until she was on solid foods for awhile. I also made sure that she never slept flat, by putting a rolled towel under her mattress, and propping her up whenever possible. Good luck, and I promiss it gets better. S.

I don't know if anyone else has already said this, but I had a friend at work with a baby with reflux and also my little niece had it until she was about 15 months old. Neither one were able to nurse enough, and after numerous tries of formula, both did really well on the Nestle Good Start Easy Digestive Formula. It was a lot more mild on their systems. It was like the difference between day and night for my cute niece, and now she's almost two, has grown out of it, and is a happy little girl. Another thing that also helped her a lot were two different medications that my brother's doctor gave her. One was Prevacid, which I've seen mentioned in others' responses, and the other was Levsin drops. We babysat her a lot when her mom had to go back to work. The Prevacid was just a once daily medication, but the Levsin could be given up to four times a day if she needed it. It helped to calm her stomach, and she was able to keep more down. She got a bit better when they started adding rice cereal to her bottles, but she still struggled until she was about a year old. It's tough, but there are solutions! The change in formula was the best for her and for my friend's baby. Best of luck to you!

I didn't read all the other responses, so forgive me if this is repetitive. My third child spit up huge amounts for the first 4 months. It seemed very excessive to me as my first 2 babies didn't do this and all were exclusively breastfed. It was at random times of the day and didn't seem to be linked to anything in particular that I ate. Several of my sisters shared stories of their "puker" babies with me, so I knew it was not abnormal and I just needed to wait it out. I thought it would never stop, but sometime after the 4 month mark it decreased dramatically. She still occasionally spit up, but just small amounts. So I guess I'm saying that if the Doc isn't panicking, give it another month or so and you may notice a big change. In the meantime, just keep packing the extra clothes, burp cloths, and blankets everywhere you go!!!

It looks like you've gotten a lot of advice already, but one thing I didn't see as I scanned the responses was the suggestion to prop your baby up after eating for 30 minutes or so. My poor baby practically lived in a bouncy seat for his first few months of life, but this seemed to help. It's even better if you can hold him up on your shoulder so that his little tummy isn't squished at all. Our pediatrician also recommended not putting him in a car seat until 30 minutes after he'd eaten. It seems like a pain (and it sure was a lot of the time) but we got used to it. We also tried just about everything else others have suggested, but we remained pretty frustrated because we really couldn't find a pattern to it - we drove ourselves crazy trying to figure out what feeding position may cause him to spit up, what formula was best, if we were overfeeding, etc. We did find that Enfamil AR usually worked well, and we would offer him a couple of ounces of that after breastfeeding him to help him keep it all down. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. He's still on Prevacid, but I really think that he just needed to grow out of it. He has his difficult days with spit ups every once in a while, but for the most part he's been a lot better since he was 6 or 7 months old. I know it's frustrating - hang in there!

My first son BF and he didn't start the spitting up until well after 2 months old. His ped said if it was reflux he would have had the problem all along an not developed it at that age. He figured it was probably my milk. He actually had me start giving my son just a little bit of rice cereal mixed with my milk to help settle his stomache. He also suggested to burp him mid feeding by laying him across my lap on his belly and pat his back. It did help somewhat but my son never really outgrew it until about 7-8 months. I just got used to having pleanty of burp cloths on hand at all feedings.
You could ask your ped if she would be ok with you giving your son some runny rice cereal to see if it helps.

Good Luck.

i'm surprised that if your pediatrician thinks it's acid reflux that she didn't prescribe a medicine. my oldest son took medicine for acid reflux for several months as an infant. the spitting up eventually went away on its own, but the medicine helped a lot until it did. when we could get it in him. at first he hated the medicine and spit it out, but he'd take it in a bottle with formula. we also had him sleeping in his car seat for a while so he was elevated and raised one end of his crib mattress with pillows underneath. but those things only worked until he started rolling.

I read the other responses and just wanted to throw my two cents in because my daughter was throwing up a lot, sometimes after every meal (I breastfed.)

1. It seemed to be a phase for my daughter (about 1 month between 2-3 months) as she only spits up when she overeats now.

2. I can't imagine it being acid reflux unless your son is uncomfortably after spitting up. My daughter seemed relieved after spitting up.

3. Don't forget to burp. Sometimes an air bubble would get stuck early on in the feeding and then all the food goes on top of that ... well, it all came up shortly thereafter. And, that could explain the fussiness. I had my daughter perpetually on my shoulder during this time (while patting her back).

Good luck!!

My son spit up a lot too, sometimes at least half of his bottle. the doctor had us add a tablespoon of rice cereal for every 2-3 ounces of formula we gave him. It helped but it didn't make it go away. we tried zantac, which my son hated, and prevacid which he loved because it tastes like bubblegum. even with the rice cereal and prevacid he was still spitting up a lot. My a happy accident we put him on lactose free milk, with rice cereal added, and he did really good. he still spit up more than most babies but nothing like before. we were able to take him off the prevacid and he did really well and it got better as he got a little older and we were able to feed him solids. My son was also very specific about brands of formula. He couldn't do enfamil but he could do similac and generic brands. I hope this helps.

Kids spit up, it's normal. I would try smaller feedings, and more burping.

L.:

My baby (now 20 months old) had similar problems. Her spit-also caused her to lose weight. Our ped put her on an acid reducer (prevacid). The spitting up didn't stop, but she did seem to get some relief from her other pains and gas. Our ped expected that when she ate solids her spit-up would decrease. It GRADUALLY decreased, but solids didn't help her gain weight, didn't get rid of her gas and fussiness, or a persistent problem she had with diarrhea. It was quite a puzzle until she was 18 months old. We decided to get another opinion. It wasn't reflux at all. She is allergic to all milk proteins and to wheat/gluten. She feels great and she's gained 2 pounds. I'm just telling you this now, so if the acid reducers don't work, you can keep track of his diet. I learned that eliminating foods that might bother your baby can take up to 2 weeks. I was only trying new formulas or eliminating other potential allergens from her diet for about 4 days. My ped told me that's why I couldn't ever tell a major difference when I eliminated milk or wheat.

One other thing. I also learned from my pharmacist that anyone who stays on an acid reducing medicine is at risk for reducing their calcium and B vitamin absorption. My doctor didn't tell me that. You might want to talk with your doctor and your pharmacist about what you can do to make sure your baby gets all of the good nutrients he needs if he's taking that acid reducer for a long time.

YES!! I've been there... My son had acid reflux and my sister just has babies that throw up everything and don't have it... my doctor said the way you can tell between babies who just spit up and acid reflux is if they get fussy just after spitting up. If they do, it's because it burns their throat when they spit up... if they're not fussy after spitting up, the baby just is a spit up baby.
My son DID have acid reflux and my doctor gave us a prescription for Pepcid or Zantac - depending on what your insurance will cover... then there's something else that went along with it, but i can't remember. If you think your baby does have acid reflux, i suggest you call your doctor and get the RX. I believe it helped my son's fussiness a TON once he got the medications.
Word of the wise...if you DO get the RX, be sure to have it FLAVORED!!! The original stuff is NASTY and they can put grape flavoring in it for only $2-$3.00 more. it is VERY worth it.
good luck! :)

It will get better.. especially when solids are introduced. My 5-month-old daughter was born with severe acid reflux, so bad the doctors ran her through every test at the hospital to rule out anything serious. They put her on an antacid twice a day to neutralize the acid but it didn't stop the vomiting. As soon as we started her on rice cereal at 5 months old her vomiting began to lessen. Still not gone, but much better than before. Hang in there and invest in lots of barf rags. Not much else you can do! :)

Try using the Dr. Brown's bottles. They made a huge difference with my baby. I even was able to stop giving her the reflux medicine. She still spits up once in a while but not near as bad. You can find them at most any store.

L.,
My baby girl had acid reflux and was put on medication and it made a huge difference! I'm not a big advocate for medicating but I had to do something for my suffering child and it truly helped.

My daughter was a big time spitter-upper. She was a chunk, though, so the doctors didn't worry about it. Is he gaining weight? If he is gaining and not losing, he is probably fine. Things I read said that often spit up is no more than a tablespoon's worth of liquid, but it looks like more and makes parents worry. A few times, my daughter projectile vomitted after a big feeding--it was so scary--like the Excorcist! But she finally grew out of it, around the time she started crawling. They say it starts going away when the baby can sit up and gravity holds the food down. Good luck, hang in there!

Oh honey, I feel for you, I went through exactly the same thing with my little boy, tried everything and several doctor visits and a specialist later. The specialist changed his diet, he just added rice cereal in with the formula. 2 1/2 scoops formula to 10tsp (3 scoops) cereal to 5oz water and I cut a slit in the nipple. My little guy started gaining weight, stopped throwing up (has normal spit up) and is much happier. Try it ang let me know, but if that doesn't help I would get proffesional help. They kept saying I was overfeeding him even though I explained I only gave him more because he threw up everything and was starving immediatly after. I fired the first doctor and the second didn't listen until Grandma said it was not normal, then he reffered me to the specialist who acted right away. 9 visits later we started to get somewhere. Very frustrating I know, but you'll get through it, and he will survive. My little guy is 8 months and 17lbs very chunky and catching up to 10 and 11 months old in weight. It will be okay, and let me know if you need anything else. They did tests for piloric stenosis (a barium swallow live x-ray) but it was just reflux. With the diet he didn't need medication, which can cause other problems and build up more acid if stopped later just like Tums, or the soy or expensive formulas that we also tried (they didn't help). Definally be firm and have your doctor reffer you to a pediatric gastroentrenologist, just to make sure that it isn't something major, he helped and listened. Good luck, don't worry, I know it's hard and you just want he to be ok. Let me know what happens.

try feeding your little one rice cereal three times a day.
and elevate the babys bed so all the fluids away from the head (acid--and formula)

I am a stay at home mother of four small children from ages 8-16 months. I have had this problem with three of my children. I know that smaller, thicker and more frequent feedings will help ALOT! If the childs stomach is full they are MUCH more prone to spit up. The problem with spitting up is that they aren't holding down enough to be satisfied. Now that your child is three months old you can add rice cereal into the formula to keep it thicker, but not too thick because then they will have a hard time having a bowel movement. IF your child does have a problem with bowel movements you can give them a bit of sugar water to keep them regular. My oldest son was getting fed 2 oz. and spitting up atleast 1.5 oz. when he came home from the hospital. He outgrew the problem just like the other two, but I would say invest in spit rags and bibs...it may be a few months. Keep an eye on how much you are feeding and how much you figure your child is spitting up and try to ensure that your child is getting enough food. I am willing to bet that you will see a huge difference in your childs attitude when they are getting enough to eat. Good luck!!!

L.,
My son had the similar problem at 3 months and still spits up which seems to me like alot of the time! We even did an upper GI to see if he was OK. I have found that Luke( he is breastfed) seems to be a happy spitter! Is your son at a good weight? If it is reflux you can get a prescription that will help, we did it for a month, baby previcid (SP?) and it helped a little. I would see your pediatrician, we had to do this twice and see what they say. Lots of what I read claims that it is more of a luandry problem than a medical problem and the height of the spitting is usually around 3 months!
Good Luck

My son had that problem, we had to have him sleep on an incline, and be very careful about movement. We also used the formula that he least spit up with. They out grow it in a few months, I think my son was 6 months before he outgrew it. There is also a medicine the Dr. can give you, but my son hated it because it tasted nasty, and personally I don't think it worked so well.

Holding former spitter so must be quick---sounds like a hiatil hernia when the stomach pushes into the diaphragm because baby's little muscles are not strong enough yet to keep it in place. You can literally pull the stomach down and baby will stop spitting. If it is true acid reflux then getting a calm tummy formula from a health food store that has catnip, fennel, and peppermint (some also have ginger) should take care of the problem...if that doesn't do it it's probably food allergy...contact me if you want more info
J.

It may not JUST be acid reflux! You might consider getting a second opinion. My God-Daughter was doing this (same age) and the doc kept saying it was just reflux, but her mama got a second opinion and they did an ultrasound to find that her flap in her throat was not functioning properly. They had to rush her into emergency surgery. I don't want to scare you, but you may ask for an ultrasound or another opinion. Good luck, I hope it isn't anything serious!

First of all, it definitely sounds like reflux. Second of all it is not JUST acid reflux. This can be extremely uncomfortable for your little one. I have been through this with my 2 boys. One worse than the other. The first thing I would suggest you do is get dairy entirely out of his diet(and yours if you are breastfeeding). Doing this all but cured my youngest. There is a strong link between milk protein(not lactose) and reflux in babies. They usually grow out of this sensitivity by around 1 year. Then I would make sure he doesn't eat too much in a feed and not too fast. Raising the end of his crib will also help. Put a small pillow under one end of the mattress. This will help the food stay down due to gravity. Some people say rice cereal in his formula can help, but my research says it doesn't. If he is fussy all the time, talk to your ped about getting him on zantac or something like that. It worked wonders for my little boy. He would still spit up, but it wasn't painful anymore. Please be sure to advocate for your son. Dr's can sometimes minimize this disorder and there is no reason for your baby to suffer. I actually took my oldest son to a ped allergist when he was only 6 mos old. The doc thought I was a worry wart, but that's how I learned of his milk sensitivity and turns out he was allergic to peanuts too...(he grew out of it since I caught it so young). Best of luck and feel free to contact me if you need any more advice. I am the type to research and research and research something, so I know quite a bit about this.

A.

If you go to the GI upset section of Walgreens, you'll find several products you can use for babies. THe first one that comes to mind is Mylicon, you just out the liquid directly on the pacifier. This one may be more for gas, but will help with spit up too.

Hi L.,
We used Axid for our son for a number of months (until he was sitting up on his own most of the time) and found that it worked very well. It was a prescription from the doctor and somewhat expensive, but well worth it for us. Hope that helps.