Early this morning, during our nighttime feeding, my 2 & 1/2 month old baby projectile vomitted immediately after his feeding. he is solely breast fed. we nursed for 10 min on one side, burped and changed a diaper, then nursed for about 5 on the other (his norm), then as i was about to change positions to burp him, he threw up what appeared to be everything he just took in. he was not fussy at all before or after. the only other time he did this was when we gave him his first bottle of breast milk using a nipple that was too fast. do i have anything to worry about? any thoughts?
My daughter did this once also and when it happened it really freaked me out. I took her to the doctor the next day and he calmed my mind. He told me not to worry unless it continues to happen or if she was running a fever. He told me that this was normal if it is not happening constantly. If it happens again or is constant I would call your pediatricians office and talk to their nurse, if it doesn't I would not worry.
My six month old does that every so often (and has been doing it since about 2 months) for two reasons that I can identify. One, when he has congestion he must swallow some mucus and then throws everything up. Two, when he is trying to go, he will push and work and it must upset his stomach because he will throw up if he is eating. This happened pretty often until I figured out that I needed to take him off the breast when he starts to get the "working" face.
After your baby threw up, did he seem fine? Still hungry?
Speaking with you ped is always best, but my son when he was that age and all the way up until now (5months) he did it and she told me it was reflux and advised putting a teaspoon or two of rice cereal to keep the formula down. He does spit up (normal) every now and then, but no more projectile. Talk with you ped to rule out reflux. Sometimes they grow out of it quickly though when the sphincter muscle in the stomach which is the cause of the reflux matures.
My son (who is now 2) used to do that all the time. He did grow out of it, but I was so worried every time it happened. No one seemed to understand how much and how ... "projectile"... I guess is the right word ... it was. It was pretty scary. The doctor said it was reflux, as most babies have because the esophagus leads straight down to the stomach until the babes learn to sit up. That's when the tube to the stomach starts to curve and things stay down.
In the meantime, try burping more often. That helped us; whenever I had a chance, even when we hadn't fed, I put him on my shoulder and tried to burp him as much as I could. Also I used the bouncy seat or held upright after a feeding. It will get better when he learns to sit up! Hang in there!
My 5 month old does this sometimes. His problem is a stuffy nose. If he has one he swallows a lot of air and burping him is just not enough. I have to suck his little nose before I nurse so he can breathe right and we go projectile vomit free. Hope this helps
I remeber my kids doing this at that age too. I think it is ok unless vomit is a weird color (like florescent yellow) yes it sounds strange but it is a very serious condition. So if it just breast milk and it doesn't happen more tham a few times a day for a short period of time it should be OK. When I have a question I call the doctors office and ask instead of making an appt. Most questions can be answered over the phone.
Debra
Hi Gina, When out daughter was about 1mth old she did the same thing. We took her to the pediatrition. He told us to take her to Texas Children's Hospital, bcause the little town that we live in didn't have the specialist that she needed.
After getting down town after a short visit with my pastor {cause at that time I wasn't taking any chances} Anyway we get there and they did x-rays and made her drink some chocolate berium stuff. she immediately threw it up. We were told that she had Pyloric Stonosis {mispld} well a quick surgery to repair this and we were off home and she has done fine since. She is now 30yrs young.
Dont give up hope and dont let them tell you its not anything. she lost weight in just 2 days and that alarmed them
Well if I can be of anymore service pls let me know.
Take care
Cindy
I have seven children that I breastfed and only one had the horrible drama of projectile vomitting ( it was so sever he would not ain wieght like he should, but his twin sister was gaining well)and now I have a six month old grandson who has the same problem. I'll tell you what I did and what my daughter-in-law is doing for my grandsons vomitting. According to my grandsons pediatrician it's a form of milk product food allergy with the foods that you are eating. You may be eating too many milk products, you should drink Soy products and try soy foods(cheeses etc...) until his little stomach strenghthens. It really is working for my grandson. What you eat affects him. Burp him weveral times too and sit him up ten to fifteen minutes after each feeding in your arms or his car seat to allow his foods to properly digest. Some little boys, (according to the my now four year old pediatrician), stomach enzymes/lining takes a while to fully develope after birth. My now four year old started the excesive vomitting at about four weeks, it was horrible. He had to be on soy after I stopped nursing too. My grandson is doing so much better too since his mom is on Soy products and seats him up more after feedings. God bless and hang in there. Remember to give your hubby his well needed attention, don't get too wrapped up in the baby and neglect him. Take care and it will be fine.
My son is breastfed too, and he projectile vomited a few times. I think it had to do with fast milk flow, like you said, or with him eating too much. If it happens a lot, I would check with your doctor, but if it is just occasional and he doesn't get upset by it, I wouldn't worry.
Well if he has just vomitted a couple of times then I don't think it is any big deal. But I have a question. Does he spit up a good bit every time you feed him and sometimes between feedings? My son spit up soooooooooo much when he was tiny and then had a couple of projectile vomitting sessions. He also cried a lot from 7-9 most nights. I asked my doctor about it and he tested him for acid reflux, or GERD. My little boy had it and it was a simple matter of getting him on prevacid. The problem was solved and the whole family was happy :) He only needed the prevacid until about 5 months but some babies may need it to about nine months or so. Anyway if he has any of those accompanying symptoms I would say it might be acid reflux. If he begins to throw up more frequently it could also be pyloric stenosis, which is a little problem with the stomach that a small surgical procedure can solve. However it works out, if there is a problem, it sould be easy enough to get solved. Best of luck to you! :)
I would contact your pedatrician at once for an examination. This is pretty common problem . My fourth son had this problem and it required surgery on a valve connecting the stomach and intestine, Hopefully that is not the case. The reference to projectile vomiting was what caught my attention.I am a concerned great grandma.
Mary
I agree with Jen...if it doesn't happen that often...I don't think you really have to worry much. My little girl was always fussy after night-time feedings...and she would spit up after almost EVERY feeding (day or night). I was worried about how much she spit up...but she was gaining weight fine...so she was keeping enough down. When she was a little over a month old she projectile vomitted for the first time. It completely freaked me out (being a first time mom). I took her to the peds. They did an x-ray with the barium swallow stuff...and even though she didn't throw it up...you could see it going up and down...up and down. She has reflux and has been on Zantac since she was a little over a month old. She seemed to be doing better at a year. We took her off the meds...and the spitting up started again...so she went back on the meds.
I would suggest listening closely to the baby to see if you can her him refluxing...even if he isn't spitting it up all the way because my little one spit up alot...but as she got older...she learned to "control" it a little better and she wouldn't spit it up.
Good luck!
This happened to my son a few weeks after he was born. Have you had him checked for Pyloric Stenosis? It is common in first born males. My son projectiled vomitted for weeks and I know what it is like. He had Pyloric Stenosis and he had to have surgery immediately. They check for this with an ultra sound on his belly. It is easy to fix and he will never have any problems with it afterwards. I would talk to your peds about it ASAP if he vomits after almost every meal. Good luck!
I went through the same thing wi/ my youngest. Yes, i would take the baby to the doctor. There are things they can do to help. My daughter had reflux. they put her on pepcid. It worked. She quit after a little while. I could only breast feed,but if that doesn't work there is also a special formula. Watch for choking. We ended up in the NICU for a week when my baby was only a day and a half old. It was very scary. We had to do infant CPR on her. She got choked and was not breathing..
Hi Gina,
I'm a mom of 1 almost 2yr old. I will never forget the exorsist-like spit ups where it's flying out and my husband is screaming OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD. I know it seems like a lot come out, but I can promise you it wasn't all of it. My child was extremely good at nursing like yours, 15 min. and their done. Your in for a long road of spitting up. Mine stopped around 6 or 7 months. As long as he's not crying for food, he's fine. I'm so glad you're nursing. Good luck.
Kylie
You want to let your Doctor know, he could have acid reflux. My son had it and hey put him on Pepcid and also changed his formula which worked great. When you feed him just have a towel by your side and bring him forward when he spits up to make sure he does not choke.
I had this problem w/ my second born son. When he was a month old he would spit up, and at times projectile vomit, everything he ate. I took him to his ped and she told me he possibly was just a "happy spitter" and had acid reflux. She weighed him and he was gaining weight just fine so there was no need to worry. She suggested giving him mylanta and said he would outgrow it. After 1 week passed and the vomiting worsened I took him to the doctor where he was weighed and had lost 5 ounces. They immediately sent me to Texas Childrens where he was diagnosed with pyloric stenosis. After a quick laproscopic surgery and 5 days in the NICU the problem was solved. He's now 2 years old and we haven't had any problems since the surgery!! Good Luck!!
I am also a first time mom with a 10 week old. She does this quite often and is never upset about it. I would not worry about it.
I would not worry at all. My baby did the same thing pretty often when she was younger. She's' 4 months now and has no more problems with it. If it continues and happens daily after every feeding, then your doctor might look into a specific esophageal problem. But more than likely, it's nothing. Remember babies have immature digestive systems, so it's normal for them to spit up alot and even projectile vomit sometimes. Just keep an eye on things. Your baby will let you know when something is wrong!
Allison, Registered Nurse