Spit Up...

Updated on May 10, 2007
E.C. asks from Charleston, SC
18 answers

My son spits up so much... I've tried burping him several times throughout his feeding. I've tried decreasing his amount. I've tried giving him 2-3 ounces and making him sit for 15 minutes before feeding him the next few ounces. I don't know what to do. It's frustrating... He wet's up the car seat, his clothes, my clothes, my bed, everything. He goes through at least 8 bubs a day.

What can I do next?

  • Add yourAnswer own comment
  • Ask your own question Add Question
  • Join the Mamapedia community Mamapedia
  • as inappropriate
  • this with your friends

So What Happened?

Thanks for all the advice. A few mentioned milk allergy. My children are on Nutramigen after trying three other kinds of milk due to an allergy to the cow protein. However, I'm willing to make any necessary changes. I called their pediatrician and expressed my concern to her about my son. Her response, "as long as his spit-up doesn't change color, he's not showing discomfort, and he's still gaining weight then she's not going to worry about it because based on his lack of symptoms it isn't a GI problem or an allergy." I guess I have to just be ready to load the washer every other day with all the clothes he spits up on. Thanks again.

Featured Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

R.V.

answers from Norfolk on

Only thing I can think of is Acid Reflux. My spn ahd it and was the same way. MAybe you should ask the Ped. about it

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.B.

answers from Fayetteville on

If he is on formula, try switching formulas. He may have an allergy to that particular formula. Also, you may want to try soy based formula because he may be lactose intolerant.

More Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

B.L.

answers from Greenville on

E.,
I had a friend and her baby spit up after every meal and did that til he was 18 mo old.. the doctors found out that his stomic ( the flap that closed after eating was not closing ) it was under develpoed.. I am not saying that is what is wrong with your child but it is something to have checked..
after the surgery he was find and is very healthy today..
sorry for not knowing the proper names of body parts.. but I think you will get what I am saying... B.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

E.C.

answers from Charlotte on

Assuming you are formula feeding...my son did that and we ended up changing his formula. Just ask your doctor.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.D.

answers from Greensboro on

My oldest son, husband and most of his family also expereience this as infants. My oldest son was treated by his Dr. with a small dose of zantac. I am not much into medicines, especially for a young infant, but it helped my son tremondously. My youngest son was colicky and I wish we would have tried Zantac again. They do eventually grow out of it either way, we have been advised. However the Zantac definitely helped in the mean time. It should be prescribed in the correct dosage from your childs Doc.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.L.

answers from Norfolk on

My middle son went through a very long bout of this. He did it when he was breast feeding, and when we switched to a regular formula. Enfamil has one that is supposed to help with this. I honestly do not remember what the actual title was- But it says right on the canister that it is for excessive spit up. We had brought this up with our peds dr. and he said as long as he was gaining weight appropriately then there wasnt much to worry about. So we tried that formula just to see if it would help, and it did. We went from having to change clothes 6-7 times a day to just from his jammies to clothes and clothes to jammies. It was amazing the difference. Hope it all works out.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

H.L.

answers from Norfolk on

It might be acid reflux. My son has it and goes through about 8 bibs a day too.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

B.B.

answers from Columbia on

It sound like he has an allergy to his milk. My three boys spitup alot and the doctor put them on lactos free milk and it worked. We had the same problem with my little girl but even after putting her on lactosfree milk she was still spiting up so we put her on Alimentum which is a protein free milk and she did wonderful. I would try the Lactosfree the doc wants you to try it for 2 weeks before trying the protein free milk. Goodluck

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.W.

answers from Columbia on

I would recommend talking with your pediatrician about your son's spit up problem. It may be that he is suffering from some acid reflux. Also, I have heard adding a bit of rice cereal to his milk can help keep some of it down. Also, if you are formula feeding, they make special formulas for reducing spit up occurences. Of course, I would talk with your doctor before making any changes to your son's current diet. Hope this helps.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.P.

answers from Charlotte on

Hi Esseence~
I am going through the same thing with my 9 month old son. I have tried everything...breastmilk, different kinds of formula, soy milk, giving him 4ozs. at a time. I have added rice cereal to his milk and I've even tried giving him more solid baby food throughout the day. I finally talked to my pediatrician & he referred me to GI specialist. The GI doc placed my son on Prevacid 15 mg daily and Erythromycin (which is an antibiotic) four times a day. The first week, I honestly saw no changes, but this week has been a little better. He told me to try it for a few weeks and if I felt like it wasn't working to call him and we would try Reglan. He also scheduled my son for a barium swallow (which is a painless Xray)to make sure he didn't have anything wrong with his anatomy. The radiologist said he looked fine, but probably just has really bad reflux. I agree...it's very frustrating, but hang in there. I hope this helps!!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.H.

answers from Norfolk on

my son did the same hting... he has G.E.R.D. -gastro esophageal reflux disease... aka acid reflux or just reflux. prilosec works wonders... i mean like night and day and putitng rice cereal in the bottle to make it thicker(heavier food or liquids stay in the belly longer an dless likely tocome up). my son had it so bad that one time while still strapped in the car seat, he turned a shade of blue because of choking on his spit up. also try elevating the head end of his crib... and getitng a crib wedge as well. and keeping him stretched out long after a meal makes a big difference too, scrunching them over and putitng pressure on the full stomach makes it come up more. but definately consult your pediatrician about prilosec and putting cereal int he bottle. we ended up having to mix 1 tsp of rice cereal pers oz of formula... like a milkshake. my son is 2 and 1/2 he will be 3 in july and now only takes 1 dose of prilosec at night time. some kids grow out of it and some dont, i still have acid reflux, and its very active.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

V.B.

answers from Columbia on

E., one of my twin boys had this same problem. Good news is that he out grew it the more solids he ate. First we switched formula (no real help), added prilosec (helped some), added cereal to milk (helped alot) and then just muddled through the spitting up until he was about 8-10 mos old and then it just vanished. I also thought that him using his straw sippy cup helped once he was old enough to use it for formula. One thing you could do is place him on his side to sleep in a positioner with a waterproof lap pad under his head to help cut down on sheet changes. And be sure to launder the clothes asap, we ruined alot of our clothes because the spit up would mildew them in just a few days & good gracious a new mom of twins, it did take me a while to get laundry going-lol.
I am, curious to know what ever happened with the pacifiers? I responded to you request saying I did take them away & now regret it because they both still suck thumbs at 15 mos.
Good luck girl & keep on keeping on, bless you !

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

T.K.

answers from Norfolk on

Take this issue up with your Doctor. There is a condition that mostly boys get...and they do a minor surgery on them to help keep this from happening. My girlfriends son had to have this done and they told her it's more common than you think. T. K.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.L.

answers from Florence on

I've got a 7 month old that had severe reflux - now that he's eating a lot of solid food it's almost disappeared (he only spit up twice yesterday!). I was a pyloric stenosis baby (the food gets stuck in the stomach because there is muscle blocking the entrance to the intestines, so there's no where to go but up) It's very serious, but it's extremely rare and usually occurs in boys, and is fixed by a simple surgery.

I was convinced my son had pyloric stenosis too, but the doctor's rule was "if he's gaining weight, it's nothing serious".

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

T.H.

answers from Fayetteville on

It sounds like he has some sort of reflux. While my son was in the NICU they would put rice cereal in the milk to weigh it down. This helped it from coming up. If they still had problems, there is medication that can be given. My son is on reglan and zantac for reflux. Best of luck and I hope it works out.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.P.

answers from Columbia on

If he is spitting up excessively, he may have reflux, in which case you should talk to his pediatrician about his problem. Or he may need if a different formula, if he's formula-fed.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.F.

answers from Norfolk on

I agree with the PP to talk to your pedi. I wouldn't switch formula until you talk to the dr tho. there are so many out there, you may go through alot to get one that doesn't bother him. My DD had to be put on Nutramigen b/c she was throwing up. That was after we tried Soy and Alimentum.
My 4 YO went thru the same problems as your son. He would "shoot for distance" when he spit up. It was horrible. I am pretty sure his was reflux. It got better when we started cereal (I've heard pedi's suggest putting rice cereal in bottle to try to help). By 8 months he was fine, but it was a rough road to get to that point.
I read an article once tho that said to not let your pedi dismiss your baby as colic. to insist they check for reflux/GERD because too many do not. My DD is now going to the GI dr because I told her pedi that I think it is bothering her to throw up. I understand what you are going thru tho b/c I would have to change my clothes and my dd's 2-3 times a day. My couch and carpet are constantly cleaned!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.G.

answers from Savannah on

It might be his formula or he could have reflux. I'd talk to his DR about it and see what he thinks.

S.

For Updates and Special Promotions
Follow Us

Related Questions