Throwing UP! - Lafayette,LA

I also have a child who does the same thing with throwing up and I have also tried different types of milk but now I found the the 'silk soy milk' really works well for him Its kind of expensive but It really made a difference. The milk also come in different flavors.

My kids all did the same thing even with the premade soy formulas. I switched my children to the lactose free powdered formula and the after bottle vomits allmost came to an immediate halt.. Powdered formulas even smell better and wash out better.. Give it a try

My daughter had the same problem when she was a baby. I ended up buying Prilosec, opening up the capsule, and emptying the granules into a little container. I would get a few granules to stick to my fingertip and put them into her mouth followed by her bottle. (I started out breastfeeding her, but that's another story!) Anyway, I would give her little bits of Prilosec, then some of her formula. She didn't actually stop throwing up until much later; but once I put her on the Prilosec, she stopped crying!

I have a grandaughter that has acid reflux and she takes medicine for it . Thet do make meds for babies that have bad problems with it and also AR formula.

It is acid reflux and my son has it it is terrible. I finally had to get him on meds for it. He is seven now and is still on it and doing great.

I would suggest taking your baby for a second opinion. Reason being we almost killed our youngest child with milk. He was just a few months old like your child, was stuffed up all the time and had a hard time breathing and also was broken out in a rash that looked like welts with puss in them. We took him to a doctor which told us he had a bad cold and gave him antibiotics which we gave him. He continued to get worse. I couldn't sleep for fear of his not being able to breathe. My husband and I took turns sitting up with him all night. The next morning we sought out a Pediatrician and the minute he looked at him told us our child was allergic to milk. He had us to put him on soy mild and that is what saved him.

Your child may not be allergic to milk but it could be something the first doctor over looked. I hope you find the trouble. M.

A.:
Your daughter may actually have a protein allergy rather than a lactose allergy. My 7 year old had one when she was little. What basically happens is that her body cannot break down the protein in the milk for digestion; we first tried Alimentum formula (it's protein is broken down into smaller chains of amino acids) and she couldn't tolerate that either so we ended up on a prescription formula called NeoCate (broken down into single amino acids). She did just fine on that and has NO food allergies at this time; we just watched what we gave her when she was really little. We worked with a pediatric gastroenterologist...the BAD news (if that's what your daughter has) is that NeoCate is VERY expensive (ie, for us = $700/month) and our insurance didn't cover it (they considered it a supplement!!!! like vitamins!!! AAARRGGHHH!). However, most Dr's are very understanding and are willing to give you TONS of sample cans.
Hope this helps...it sounds frightening but it's really not so bad. I felt better at least knowing what was wrong! Keep us updated..
L. B

I had a daughter who spit up constantly. It was found that she was asthmatic. She was treated for the asthma and it helped considerably.

Does sound like acid reflux, my son had this problem he eventually had to have the dereal in his bottle and zantac you really need to consult your dr. Also elevate his mattress 4 inches so when shes sleeping itll help keep the food down. Feed them sitting aas elevated as possible and keep them there for 30 minutes. Dont put them in a car seat or lay them flat for at least 20 minutes after a feeding. Good luck

Have your baby checked for Pyloric Stenosis. Insist on it because the doctor is going to think you're crazy. It's an extremely rare but fixable problem where the valve at the bottom of the stomach doesn't work. I had it as a baby, had surgery (that was 33 years ago so maybe they can do the surgery orthroscopically) and since the surgery I've had absolutely no problems. I had the same problem as a baby, I would throw up after every meal and I would eat all day long. I was a smaller baby (less than a month) so your daughter may be too old for it, but ask your doctor anyway.

I have a six year old son and when he was a baby he could not drink any kind of formulas. We tried everything out there. He would throw it up. Then one day his doctor told me to make his own formula like they did a long time ago. It consisted of evaporated milk, karo syrup, and liquid vitamins. It worked great and he didn't throw up anymore.

Two questions.

1. Is she gaining enough weight, losing weight, or slowly gaining? If she's not gaining sufficiently, she needs reflux meds.

2. If weight gain is OK, does she seem to be in pain? Is she fussy or cranky? THen she needs reflux meds.

If either case is true and your MD won't prescribe them, you need to find a new one.

Hope this helps.

My daughter, now 22 months old, threw up constantly. Her pediatrician finally agreed to put her on medication (like baby Zantac) after I reported that she spit/threw up about 9 times in between feedings as a 3 month-old, sometimes spewing up to three feet away! The medicine helped tremendously. It also helps to feed her full meals and not let her snack, so her touchy tummy has time to rest. Soy can also be hard on tummies, so we ended up on Good Start. I have heard Nutramagen works well, too, but is much more expensive, so thank goodness we didn't have to go there. When we added finger food at about 6 months, the reflux faded away over the course of the next three months and was gone by 9 months, when she went off the meds. Now she is perfectly normal and eats about anything we put in front of her with no reflux. Since I also have acid reflux, I imagine she will have trouble later in life, but she'll have to deal with that herself!

This sounds just like reflux. First, I think I would find a second doctor for a second opinion. I have been a foster parent to several babies with reflux and changing formula never helped any of them. If we tried changing it too often, their whole sysytem was upset by the changes.

Have you seen or tried the Dr Brown's bottles? For some babies those are a wonderful help. They keep the baby from getting as much air in the tummy and lessens reflux. For a couple of babies, all I had to do was switch to this bottle. Something else that may work is to add gas drops to the bottle before feeding. That takes out any extra air that can cause problems later. I just put the dose on the box in the bottle, shake, and serve.

For the ones that have had severe problems that this didn't fix, the pediatrician put them on reglan or prevacid. It began working almost immediately.

My son did the same thing. He would throw up as much as he swallowed down. The doctor changed him to Prosobee (spelling may be off), he is now 27 years old. Anyway, turns out he was lactose intolerant. No more problems after we changed to soy.

I so went through this with my first baby. We worried about her, but her doctor said she was gaining weight properly and we shouldn't worry about it because it would go away between 6-12 months when her stomach valve completely developed. He was right. I can't even tell you exactly when it stopped, but it did. Until then I suggest always having a change or two or three of clothes with you for the both of you whenever you leave the house. I would check with the doctor on the soy formula because we thought about that as well, but were told it could cause her to develop an allergy to soy in the future and that would be bad since soy is in lots of foods.

My oldest son have the very same symptoms...even with breast milk. I tried Nutramagen formula and it did the best for him. You might try burping every 2-3 oz too. I also used to him blue/green algae to help with the breaking down process. You can find this in health food stores in a capsule..I broke it and added it to a small amount of juice. We tried the zantac, but it didn't help him, not to say thay it wouldn't help your child. The Dr. wanted to try Prilosec, but at that time it was unsure if it was safe for infants. That has been 11 years ago, though> I hope you are able to find something that works for your little one. angie

My son threw up a lot after I quit breastfeeding him and started him on regular formula. We switched him to soy and had no problems since. I do know some babies still have a hard time with the soy, as well ... but it worked for us. ]

My daughter has been breastfed since birth (she is 13 months old), but we started supplementing one bottle a day when she was 6 months old, and we had to use the soy with her, as well. She started throwing up the regular formula, as well.

Best wishes to you and your daughter!

You may want to try a Pediatric Chriopractor. I have had some friends whose children suffered from reflux and they took their children to the chiropractor and they said that it worked wonders for their babies...also you could ask the peditrician to perscribe some zantac for your little girl...that helped for my kids when they were infants. Good luck!

A.
I feel your pain my son who is now 12 has a reflux disorded. The doctor is still telling me he will grow out of it. At 12 he still throws up food in the morning or if he eats too fast. This makes school lunch a particular problem. My best advice is to journal the problem you may find a pattern. My son deffinatly did better on soy formula but it was not a cure. I found he could not eat after waking up (the journal showed me the pattern of when he was throwing up his bottles. If i waited 30 or more minutes he was better. Cerial in my son bottle made my son worse. I also gave him nipples with a small hole in them. Some nipples allowed him to feed too fast. He also did better with cold formula and food then warn food (this too me seemed strange), He is still this way and can not east hot food in the early part of the day.

Good luck
M.

Hi A.. My daughter was about 2 months old and we were originally told she was colic. Her pediatrican thought she had a sensitivity to milk and I stopped breast feeding and she was put on Nutramigen formula. That didn't seem to fix everything. Although she was better, she was still a bit fussy and spitting up. After talking to my sister, she had a friend whose baby had the same problems. She told me to ask the doctor about Acid Reflux and Axid. I did and he told us to give her Maylox for a couple of days and if that worked to get the prescription of Axid he wrote me filled. I did and she has been fine ever since and is now 7 1/2 months old. I asked about putting her on another formula because the Nutramigen is quite pricey ($25 for dry formula). Her pediatrican told me that most babies who have a sensitivity to milk will have the same reaction to soy. Ask your pediatrican about putting your daugher on Axid and chaning her formula to a non-milk or soy formula. Suggest the Nutramigen. The Axid is rather a costly prescription (depending on your insurance, mine runs between $50 and $60 a month). She started out taking .06 ml twice a day and as she outgrew the dosage and they moved it up. She takes 1 ml 3x a day and it has really helped and may work for your daughter as well. Good luck and let me know how it turned out.

A., Two of my children could not tolerate milk. My son constantly threw up. We tried everything, even soy. If that works keep it up. If not maybe you can do what I did for my daughter when showed the same signs as my son did. She was given no milk at all until she was a year old. We gave her flat clear sodas (no caffine) and jello water (jello watered down so it does not set). This is what the doctor of that time told me to do. I have seen no problems from this as she grew up (now 32). She has very strong teeth, which is what I worried about most.

Dear A.,

if she is still doing that then I would take her to a specialist. I have a friend who's granddaughter went through the same thing and Children's Hospital helped them out so much. She is now 5 and in kindergarten and can eat normally now. I know it is hard dealing with her, but please get her to a specialist...

Sounds like she does have acid reflux. Changing her formula will not help anything. Keep up with the cereal in her formula and keep her elevated. she will out grow it around a year of age. you can also ask your DR. to do a barium swallow to see how severe her acid reflux is. But you really should stop changing her formula's and speak with your DR about the test and other options. I had 1 child with severe acid reflux and he had to sleep in his car set till he was almost a year old. Just remember it does get better. Mom of 5

sorry to hear about your daughter. my daughter had that problem when she was 3 months old. it was gaseous esophageal reflux, they told me to do the same thing with her, rice cereal in her milk and sit her up for about 45 minutes. I think it's good you are trying different formulas though since it started again. I think also you may want to take her back to the doctor and ask if they can do a test they did on my daughter. for the test they made her drink barium out of her bottle while a tech took ultrasound like pictures. Barium Swallow Radiograph is what it's called. they determined my daughter didn't need surgery but they told me that the top of her stomach would close completely and the bottom wouldn't open to let the food push through. the cereal and sitting up worked for her. also maybe try giving her smaller bottles more often may help. http://kidshealth.org/teen/diseases_conditions/digestive/..., this website seemed pretty informative on it. maybe it'll have some good advice for you. it can be very trying to a parent and all i can say is they usually grow out of it and you'll look back on this one day and wonder how you made it through. lol hope this helps

Hello A.

When my little girl was about 2 months old when she started throwing up. I talked to her dr about it and we did find out that we had to change her milk cuz she was lactose and tolerant. Well she was fine for a while then she started throwing up again, so again I talked to her dr and he said she would just grow out of it. She started have other things start happening again and everytime I talked to her dr it was the same thing she'll grow out of it. Well I finaly changed dr. when she was right at 2. The new dr. had her tested for acid reflux and come to find out she had it really bad. She had to go to another dr for that and started taking med. for it. She's is 3 now and has gotten so much better that she doesn't have to take the med. anymore. Thing only thing I would say is if your not getting anywhere w/ your dr. then you might want to change dr.

H. C.
single mom of 1

I would think about getting a second opinion to make sure nothing is wrong with her. Have you tried goat's milk. Most people don't think about using it anymore, but it's more like breast milk and easier for baby to digest. Just a suggestion. Good luck!.

Many babies that can't tolerate regular formula, also can't tolerate the soy. We had to use the alimentum (hypoallergenic formula) with my son, because he too was throwing up a lot! Once he started taking that, he was able to keep down ALL of his bottle! Toady he is 9 years old, and has no intolerance to any foods, and in fact has not ever thrown up since he was an infant. I would think twice about the advice of putting ceral in the bottle...most pediatricians do not reccomend any cereal supplements for babies that young, and I was told by all my children's doctor's to NEVER put cereal into a bottle.

Good luck!

My daughter was breastfeed but had a lot of acid reflux problems. I changed my diet and they put her on zantac which barely made a difference. Eventually the doctor found she had labial adhesions and was not able to go to the bathroom which made her throw up. We thought she was not having wet diapers because she was throwing up so much and it was just the opposite. I would push your doctor to do a complete check up and make sure there are no underlying issues that may be the cause. In the meantime keep her elevated and still (maybe a bouncy seat) for 30 minutes after a meal. We even had to sleep her in a bouncy seat so she was elevated. Good luck and God bless.

A.*

Both of my children had that same problem. We used soy.
Just remember after you feed her to keep her elevated for at least one hour. Do not keep picking her up. We used to put our children in a bouncey seat. It helped.
A. Q

Hey A.,

Don't fret. My son Hayden was born with reflux. My prayers were answered when his ped. prescribed prevacid, he took half a pill a day. From the 1st day he took it he was a different baby. Doctors are now saying do not put cereal in the baby's bottle, or only at night, it hinders their ability to learn to eat from a spoon. I also held 15 upright for 15 to 30 mins. after feeding. Please talk to your doctor about this, it will help. oh also, i put my son on Neutramagin (formula) it is very expensive but works. soy will make your baby constipated. i too tried every formula until i dropped to this one. he is now 8 mo., so next month i will start cutting his bottle with milk.(big money relief) as soon as u start feeding your baby, baby food it should also help with his digestion. please write me if you have any questions, i will be happy to tell you anything i know!

-A.

Hi A.,
I believe your doctor may have ruled out the more serious pyloric stenosis, since you said it was thought to be acid reflux. Still you will need to look for the following symptoms to be sure:
persistent or projectile vomiting after feeding
poor weight gain or weight loss
decreased activity or lethargy
few or no stools over a period of 1 or 2 days
signs of dehydration such as decreased urination (more than 4 to 6 hours between wet diapers); wrinkly or doughy appearance of the skin on the arms, legs, or belly; sunken "soft spot" on the head; sunken eyes; or jaundice (yellowing of the skin)

Nutramagen is very helpful and very expensive if a baby needs it for milk allergies. I hope that your change to soy may be sufficient to ease the problem.

A little about me:
I am a nursery nurse at a hospital. I raised four children, breastfed them all. I currently have 2 grandchildren.

Although she will likely fuss about it, trying letting her take mini-breaks while eating. Like 3 - 4 per bottle. That way it gives what she has eaten time to settle and then she can go on. Or just give her smaller bottles more often. If she is six months old she is probably quite ready to start baby food. Maybe just letting her eat food a bit will help, too, since it takes longer and is a slower but more involving process... also it is a UPRIGHT process. Good luck!

Yes! Request an Upper GI. My daughter had the same prob and my Dr. sent us to Vanderbilt and she indeed does have Reflux and was put on Zantac. It has helped tremedously! She still spits up but the HUGE amounts that she was spitting/throwing up before just is not there. If you have any questions for me, you can email me at ____@____.com or ____@____.com.

A.,
My first born who is now 21 did the EXACT same thing. The doctors weren't so quick to jump on acid reflux as they are now and so quick to give medications. It isn't acid reflux. What it is, is a sphincter called a cardiac sphincter that is a little flap seperating the esophagus and the stomach. Sometimes the little sphincter is not very strong and after they get their milk it will regurgitate. Sometimes it will be very little and others will appear to be projectile vomiting. Mine did that terribly bad. I changed his bedding at leaste 4 times a day. I never would put him on his back because of that. He always slept on his stomach. I could put him on my shoulder to burp him and he would throw up so big that it would hit the wall sometimes. As he got older and when he started eating food, that strengthened the sphincter muscle and we didn't have that problem that much anymore. But it was bad in the beginning. There is nothing they could do about it. Medicine doesn't help and the dr told me that it strengthened better without medicine. It was just something that we had to put up with and by 1 and 1/2 it was completely gone (I think). He is fine now. He is 21 and never has any sort of problems that we can relate back to that. In fact, he is rather a tough guy now.

hey there! if it's acid reflux then putting her on zantac should help. i have a 3 month old and we just started her on that...it's made a HUGE difference!!! we also have her on soy formula as well. hope something does the trick soon!

I was always sceptical about how good formula, even soy, was for infants. I fed my baby goat milk because it is said to be most like human milk. As soon as I switched my little one thrived. We did not have any fresh available so we made it from powder.

I know that this may sound crazy but just wait it out and your daughter will grow out of it. Both of my boys did this we tried many formulas and nothing worked. No one wanted to hold my boys they threw up so much but as long as they were gaining at least a little weight my ped. was not worried and by the time they were one they had out grown it.

I have a son almost 3 yrs old and a daughter 11 months old. My son had reflux we put cereal in his bottle starting at 3 weeks and the thickened feedings did not help at all. The doctor put him on Zantac at about 6 months and within 3 months the reflux was gone. My daughter has it now and the doctor told me to start putting cereal in her bottle at 2 weeks old. The thickened feedings didn't help with her either she is on Zantac and it has helped her the reflux is a lot better she only spits up a little bit and it's not all the time. It's also worse when she is congested.

Hello A....my granddaughter did this exact same thing and my daughter put her on fresh goats milk, she never threw up again! It seems to be the answer to any milk problems that any child will have. Hope this helps!

Try giving Juice in Bottle instead of Formula.

I had to do this with my son, & it worked. Later on after he got older a year, he drank Milk from a Sippy cup.

Have you tried an organic formula? I am not a doctor and I have not given my kids formula but allergies & reflux run in my family, and I only let my kids have organic milk. Here is some information about one brand of organic formula:
Earth's Best Organic Infant Formula with Iron is produced without the use of dangerous pesticides, chemical fertilizers, added growth hormones or antibiotics.

Earth's Best is purchasing the organic lactose in their infant formula from Horizon Organic, which has a wonderful reputation as a certified organic dairy. In addition, all of the oils that provide the important fats in the Earth's Best formula are organic, and the vitamins and minerals are approved for use in our formula.

Earth's Best Organic Infant Formula with Iron is the only USDA certified organic infant formula.
I have also heard that Neutramagin formula works, my friend used it for her daughter, she said it was expensive, but her daughter needed it and she sent a letter to the company and they gave her a couple of months supply for free!

Good Luck!

Enjoy your little girl (throw-up and all). I am sure she is just a doll!

A.,
Check your local listings for a herbalist, homeopath, etc. You are looking for someone that does "muscle testing". They can tell you exactly what is going on with your child and what to do about it. Don't try to understand how muscle testing works. It isn't western medicine. But it does work. I have used it many times when traditional medicine came up with nothing to help me. I hope you can get this issue resolved without drugs and in a more natural way.

My son was born with GERD, and although doctors say that they grow out of it- mine's didn't and he's 10 and I still have to give him Zantac after eating pizza.

The cereal in the milk works for a while, but your baby will probably need medicine in her formula to control it. When she starts to eat table food, you'll be able to control what she eats. But at this age all she eats is milk so you'll need to ask your pediatrician for something you can put in her milk. My son had to take propulsid and zantac every other bottle until he was old enough to eat, and he still need Zantac at times. If the reflux is not controlled, it will eat the esophagus, and you'll really have a problem. My son't reflux induced asthma. Not to mention that it is very painful. Just remember the last time you had a bad case of heartburn. Reflux babies are said to have colic, but it's the acid that's burning their chest and that's why they scream at 2:00 in the mourning. Reflux in babies is serious business. Our son stop breathing on us twice and he vomited overnight so much once that he was dehydrated and had to be hospitialized. Once they found out he had reflux, he was put on medication, we were instructed to lay him on his stomach and NOT his back because he could choke to death when he refluxed at night. We had to elevate his mattress in his crib so that the food would move down as he slept.

The more he ate table food the better the reflux got, but you still need to keep her away from offending foods such as tomatoe sauces, citrus fruits, and other things that cause heartburn or acid indigestion in adults. Now that she's 6 months, she's probably eating more, so you would need to gradually introduce single foods and see what she reacts to.
My son would only eat the cheese and broccoli Gerber Graduates and the one with chicken noodles because when I tried to feed him the chili mac one, he wouldn't eat it. I think he knew that the tomatoe sauce made him hurt and he would not eat certain things. I later figured out that the foods that I thought he just didn't like were reflux causing foods.

I'm surprized that your daughter's doctor hasn't been more aggressive about this. I would insist on more to be done.

V.

While I don't have a child that has ever had those symptoms, I will say that you need to continue to advocate for your daughter. I do have a 10-year old that had chronic outer ear infections, and just last year we found out she was allergic to yeast. I started journaling her doctor visits when she was five, just so that when the specialist would ask me questions about her history, I could give her all the info she needed. Many times when she couldn't see an ENT right away, we would have to see her primary physician at the time. Too many times antiboitics were perscribed, but they didn't help. (She had MRSA in her ear twice...did not affect her adversely thank God) Bottom line, don't give up, continue to ask for services (specialist). I will also pray for your situation.

A.