Spitting up in Preemies

My son is 7 almost 8 weeks old and was born two weeks early, We tried several different formulas before finding the similac ready made for sensitive stomach, I use the one for fussiness and gas and could see results in the first day but they do have some for spit up. Are you using powered formula I know that was a huge problem for my little one!?

try Enfamil Lactose Free and see if that helps. my twins were born at 33 weeks and very underweight, so they didn't eat as much as regular babies. try cutting back on the ounces if that is possible.

My son also was a preemie and he went through the same thing especially at night. He would spit up everything he drank it seemed like, he would cry for hours after feeding. Since he was a preemie they had him on neosure which made him very gassy. They switched him to enfamil lipil and i added a little extra water to the feedings and he did much better. They also found out that he had acid reflux and when they started him on prevacid, he was even better.

M.

You shouldn't feed soy unless you need to. I found that out with my older daughter, it represses the immune system. I would change to regular formula and see what happens. Some babies are just "spitters". Some just always spit up some after feeding. It may look like he is throwing up everything he ate, but as long as he isn't losing weight then he's getting enough to eat. Good Luck.

My daughter had reflux and spit up alot. We had her on Nestle good start, the orange one. We settled on that after trying EVERY formula from soy to hypoallergenic. She did the best on that formula. The enfamil AR made her constipated as well. We ended up having to thicken her formula with 1 tbsp. oatmeal(use only beechnut because all gerber cereals have soy in it and don't use rice cereal becuase it is constipating) per 2 ounces of formula and that really helped her, she still spit up but not as much and she wasn't as fussy anymore. If you little boy is getting constipated, you can try putting 1/2 of prune juice in a bottle or 2 a day until the constipation goes away. My daughter had prune juice in all her bottles up until she was about 11 months old than I slowly decreased it. Also, she started with the oatmeal in her bottle at 9 weeks old. Good luck!!

Hi K.,
I also had a beautiful baby boy born at 32 weeks, who also spit up/constipated on enfamil lipil, (premature formula) and newborn formula I switched his formula to nestle good start supreme dha & arh (no soy) and it has done wonders! he used to be constipated, now it seems like he has a bowel every other feeding! It's even less expensive!
It really is worth the shot, plus if he seems really fussy I either sit him in his vibrating chair or lay him on his belly while supervising. (in case he spits up)
they really seem to help sometimes. best of luck sweetie! I am a first time single mom, so I know it's hard work.

Hi there! My baby girl was 32 wks. at delivery and had the same problem. The doctor ordered rice cereal (gerber) about 1 tbs for each 2oz of formula to be mixed in the formula. In addition i would use mylicon 30 min. before feedings. if she seemed to be in pain at night I would give her gripe water. all of this worked well. now as a preemie she has GER because the smooth muscles of her stomache don't contract well. my understanding is its something that developes in the last wweeks of gestation which our angels missed. don't worry this stage they do grow out of. Also watch his weight the cereal is added calories so he can put on some pounds with that. Oh I used the gentlease from enfamil which also was an inprovment. good luck!!!

HI K.- I also had a preemie boy born at 33 weeks, I would check the soy allergy out, but I remember for awhile after my man ate I would have to set him down in his carseat since it was upright, this went on for a few months until his body developed more, the developmental ped. told me it would go on until he was 4-5 months old with adjusted age accounted for. Hope everything goes well.
A.

Has your doctor suggested it might be reflux?

I also had a preemie - born at 28 weeks - we went through the same problem. Try getting him pepcid from your peditrician - this helped a lot and will help with the pain too. Also - not to scare you but - is he on a monitor for any breathing problems due to prematurity. My son was on one for six months and the spit up would cause him to stop breathing for a bit - if you don't have a monitor I would suggest buying one of the ones that you put on the mattress - I have heard good things about them. Reflux in a preemie can sometimes cause this apnea - again - I don't want to scare you but wanted to let you know about this in case you didn't. Good luck and definitely try pepcid or something similar from your doctor - it really works great.

Hi K. ~ Is your son gaining weight? If so, I wouldn't worry too much about the spitting up. My daughter was born at 32 weeks and was a BIG spitter. She was on expressed breastmilk & then Similac Advance. I was very concerned but my pediatrician (whom I think is great & trust completely) kept telling me that as long as she was gaining weight I shouldn't worry about the spitting up & that she'd outgrow it...at some point. And she did! It wasn't until she was about 7 mos old, but all of a sudden over the course of a couple of days she went from spitting up a lot after a bottle to not spitting up at all. She's now a healthy, happy, 25+lb 14 month old! Good luck with your son.

Have you ever talked to your pediatrician about whether or not your son has reflux? My daughter was born at 33 1/2 weeks and she was diagnosed with reflux in the NICU. Unfortunately, it is fairly common in preemeies because their dgestive systems aren't fully developed. She used to spit up constantly. She spit up from the time we fed her to about 15 minutes before her next feeding if we were lucky. We used Enfamil AR. Our pediatrician also put her on Zantac to help with acid. It doesn't lessen the spit up but it does make the baby more comfortable. I am happy to tell you that my daughter did stop spitting up but it took about 10 months.
It was something we just had to suffer through and I had to do lots of laundry.
The crying when you put him down may just be that he got used to being held. We used to put our daughter in a bouncy chair for about an hour or so after she ate.
You should have your baby tested for a soy allergy just to be safe but you may also want to ask about reflux.

Good luck!

Is it possible the baby has reflux? If he does, that would explain the spitting up and crying in pain. My daughter was not a preemie but she did suffer from reflux. She cried a lot and it was a painful cry, not just your usual crying sound. Also, she would arch her back when she cried, apparently from the pain. (Poor thing! It was heartbreaking.) At about 2 months of age she was given a prescription for "baby zantac". It helped. We never switched formula, we always used Similac with Iron. Reflux goes away by one year of age. My daughter is 5 yrs old and is fine now. Good luck to you and your son!

Hi! It sounds like he might have reflux.Reflux is very common.
Good Luck!

K.,

Not sure about formula in general, but if you are allergic to soy, I wouldn't overlook the possibility he is allergic.

It sounds like he is just a spitty kid (as my ped'n put it), and he needs to be upright. That being said, TALK to your pediatrician. There may be reflux involved - IANAD! (I am NOT a Doctor!)

Ask about cutting out soy and milk (milk is another allergen in some formulas; everything I've been seeing lately says no Cow's milk until Age 1. I'm not sure there is a formula out there without one or the other?

My DS had a problem with spitting up - usually a small to medium amount at the end of a feeding (or a little before) and even now he has a glitch he doesn't like: he suddenly gets a little stomach acid in the back of his mouth and he coughs. (not always burp or cough generated).

When he was that age, I had him in his car seat bucket or the swing (which sits him up). That was what the Ped'n recommended at the time - she didn't believe it was a serious problem with reflux and I didn't want him on Zantac or other drugs for something the Ped'n considered minor.

Good luck,
M.

My son was the same, born at 30 wks, the NICU had started putting cereal in his bottles. It made it a little thicker and then it "stayed down". I remember having to cut all the nipples so the thicker milk could flow. This was when he was on breast milk, but even when we switched to formula we did the same. It maybe something to think about or talk to your dr. Congratulations on your little boy! My preemie is now 5 and is the biggest in his class!

he probably has acid reflux, that is very common. I am a foster mom and I get alot of preemies. you should take him to a Dr.(gastrologist) there is an exellent Dr. I take my babies to her name is Dr. Chen at robertwood in new brunswick nj. also what helps acid reflux is thickening his feed with cereal, but he may need medication for it.

in some of my babies thickening the feeds will help.

T.

i have the same problem with my preemie but the spit up also comes with a lot of flem and gas. Her doctor keepps ignoring me and I am exhusted. I was giving her similac then switched to enfamil but she has not gotten better.
I barely put her down because once I do she can't breath and flem/milk comes out her nose. I spoke to similac and I know that if you buy concentrated there is a way to mix the other formulas to be 22 calories but they keep saying my doctor needs to be okay with it,

hi K.,
there is a special forumla that they have for premies. its called neosure. It is very gentle on their stomachs, its cheapest at walbaums. Also the nestle good start is a very light forumla too and it comes in all types. the good start is alot cheaper than the neosure but see what works for your little one.

YES!!!!!!!!!!! Change his formula!

Congratulations on you baby!! I feel for you. My oldest was born at36 weeks (not really a preemie) but had the same problems as your son. Then I had my twin sons at 27 weeks and they both eventually wound up with the same problems only not as bad. The same solution worked for all of them, using Nutramigen or Alimentum predigested formula and Dr. Browns bottles. Also putting him in his bouncy seat or car seat after feeding so he stays in an upright position. When I put these all into action with my oldest ( who was spitting up 30 -40 times a day) this really helped. Good Luck, buy plenty of bibs and enjoy him!

Put him on Babies magic tea. It'll soothe him from spit ups as well as constipation.

how about a hypoallergenic formula like similac alimentum? it worked for my daughter, she didnt spit up, but always had gas pains

Hi K.,
I have twins that were born at 37 weeks and my daughter had reflux which they think may be due to her somewhat early arrival. She was very healthy but did the exact same thing you are describing. She would literally vomit across the room. We would be amazed that this little thing was vomiting all the time and with such force. We also noticed she had bad breath and this is what prompted us to talk to the doctor. After talking to him we explained that she would scream when we lied her down, vomited all the time, would be really restless and always wanted to eat. He told us she always wanted to eat because it surpresses the acid not because she was hungry. THe bad breath was from the acid which led to the sour breath. I was breastfeeding but at around 4 months started giving her some formula. We found Similac Sensitive worked for her. When she was 8 weeks old he put her on Prevacid tabs and these really worked for her. SHe even started sleeping through the night at 10 weeks. They tried Prevacid liquid but it was too strong for her and she screamed ALL night long. I hope this info helps. Good luck with your new little man!! E-mial if you need any more info.
Danielle

There is a newer formula called Similac Sensitive it is lactose free and helps with the tummy issues, it works really well, also it comes in RS which means Rice Starch, so it thickens in the babies tummy and helps with the reflux and spitting up. I would try these instead of the Good Start. I have been price checking lately and the good start is much more expensive. I don't know why people think it is cheaper. I also found that my sisters son had to drink more of this formula, maybe because it doesn't stay in the tummy very long and doesn't fill them up as well.