Skinny Spitter Uppers?

Mrs.Salt&Pepper

Hi all, 

Just wondering if anyone else is in the same situation I am. DD2 has been spitting up pretty much all day every day since about 3ish months. She's only in the 5th percentile (a jump from the 2nd) weighing in at 12lbs at 5.5 months. She was EBF until about 4.5 months, when I went back to work and was giving her bottles of BM and one bottle of formula before bed. Nowadays, she has trouble nursing when I am home because she gets really distracted. So basically I nurse in the morning and MOTN, all other feeds are bottles of BM or formula. 

Ped is a little concerned that she's not gaining very well, because she is spitting all of it up. We have tried zantac, didnt help. Have you tried anything that has helped put some lb's on your LO? I tried rice cereal and she just thrust it out. I guess I can try again, but I like to do BLW... so I wasn't planning on doing rice cereal at all. I thought the formula would help bulk her up, cause that's what happened when my other DD switched to formula, but it hasn't really helped that much. 

Any shared stories or advice helps. Next stop is the GI specialist...

CopperT0p

Have you ruled out an intolerance? Like maybe a dairy intolerance? My DS2 turns into a spit up fountain if I have had any dairy. 

Mrs.Salt&Pepper

I cut out dairy and red meat, about 3 weeks ago thinking that would help and it didn't, but I still haven't eaten them. I eat a very bland diet as I noticed early on that gassy foods bothered her as well. I was thinking of trying soy formula? I have tried Gerber Gentle, Enfamil AR for Spit up, and now the doc has her on Enfamil Enfagrow. She spits up no matter what. 

RedSaffron

It could be an intolerance. It won't help if you cut out the dairy and you are giving her milk-based formula. Try the hypoallergenic formula called Alimentum. All those formula you listed are milk-based.

precious72381

Maybe see a GI doc. I use Zantac and it works but I know babies it hasn't worked so they use Prevacid that works much better - as long as baby really has acid reflux. Hope you get answers soon and your LO feels better.

km_md

We are dealing with this too. DD is 5 months tomorrow and she weighs 12 pounds, but she is pretty long so she is a skinny girl. Her paediatricians concern comes from the fact that she has dropped percentiles and fallen off of her growth curve, if she was a slow but steady gainer this probably wouldn't be a problem. 

She does have reflux, and is currently on losec (which we are switching to prevacid) and domperidone. We have to increase her doses a lot, but it does seem to help at least a little. I am currently waiting to hear from her doctors with an appointment for the GI specialist. 

We are now trying to supplement with Nutramigen once a day (although that isn't going over too well, she hates formula). 

Her doctor also has me on an MSPI diet to see if that makes a difference, and I honestly think that it is helping a little bit. This will be TMI, but every poop used to be mucousy and now we are having some regular poops finally. 

I haven't been back to the doctors since we started the Nutramigen and MSPI diet, so I can't say for sure if she is gaining any more weight, but her reflux is pretty good lately and overall, things seem to be going much better for her. 

I know it is tough, so I hope that you can find a solution for your LO. 

KrystalCrockett

We switched Luke to soy formula, and it was night and day. He rarely spits up
now

wifetomrb101

We have DD2 on Nestle Goodstart (plain stuff, not with omegas and stuff added) - it's 100% whey based and doesn't contain any modified milk ingredients or skim milk powder.  She is dairy sensitive, and it's the only formula beside Alimentum and Nutramigen that works.  It's also half the price.

When she has any other formula she turns into a spitter and is super gassy as well. 

ETA: instead of rice cereal what happens if you try applesauce. pureed carrots, sweet potatoes,  mashed peaches, small chunks of banana, avocado or any other fruit/veggie?  Obviously at this point it's not a meal, but fruits/veggies are pretty much guaranteed to be safe with the exception of strawberries...

Good luck!  It's tough.  We just took a month to try figure things out with DD2...I ended up quitting nursing and putting her on formula.

Mrs.Salt&Pepper

I thank you all for your advice, I think I will give the soy formula a try...

amt0312

DD is small-ish (I don't think she's 14lbs yet) and she spits alllllllllllllll daaaaaaaay long. We've tried a million different kinds of formula and finally settled on Soy formula as she seems to do the best on that, although she still spits up crazy amounts. I'm told it will get better eventually....

amt0312

wifetomrb101 said:

We have DD2 on Nestle Goodstart (plain stuff, not with omegas and stuff added) - it's 100% whey based and doesn't contain any modified milk ingredients or skim milk powder.  She is dairy sensitive, and it's the only formula beside Alimentum and Nutramigen that works.  It's also half the price.

When she has any other formula she turns into a spitter and is super gassy as well. 

ETA: instead of rice cereal what happens if you try applesauce. pureed carrots, sweet potatoes,  mashed peaches, small chunks of banana, avocado or any other fruit/veggie?  Obviously at this point it's not a meal, but fruits/veggies are pretty much guaranteed to be safe with the exception of strawberries...

Good luck!  It's tough.  We just took a month to try figure things out with DD2...I ended up quitting nursing and putting her on formula.

I feel as though I want to try this when I attempt to transition off of soy formula. I really hate her being on soy with all the estrogens and stuff, so this seems like it might be a good start. Thanks for the tip!

last14real

Definitely try the Soy before the Alimentum. My niece was having the same issues and nurse recommended the Alimentum. She went from similac sensitive to Alimentum and it worked but it stinks to high heaven and is more expensive. SIL happened to be a pediatrician like a week later and pediatrician gave her a sample of soy to try and it worked just as good as the Alimentum. She has been on it for about 6 months now and spits up like a normal baby not a fountain. Where we live Similac Alimentum is $29.99 for 1 lb container and Similac Soy is $27.49 for a 1.45lb container so pretty big price difference. Also you may check with your pediatricain to see if he has samples of either or both you can try. Mine gives us free 8 oz cans all the time, good luck!!

km_md

PPs post reminded me that DDs pediatrician gave me some $5 off coupons for her nutramigen. So if they can't give you samples maybe some coupons so it doesn't cost so much.

RedSaffron

@junglebaby11‌ This is why I wish to live on the mainland. Here in Maui, Alimentum cost $39.99 at walgreens and $32.99 at walmart.

LittleMommaBlueHen

DD (my now 2 1/2 yearold) was skinny and miserable.  She had a milk and soy intolerance and was dx with severe reflux after a gastric emptying scan.  Zantac didn't work for her reflux, but prevacid did.  At 5 months she went from EBF to EFFing on an elemental formula called elecare which is a prescription formula.  Thankfully insurance covered it because otherwise I would have been paying around $1000 per month.  I found the GI specialist to be way more helpful than the pediatrician.

bem168

Lurker from F14 here....my LO spits up ALLLLLLL day long (30+ times a day of measurable spit up...with maybe 5-8 projectile vomits per day).  He has been on Prevacid for about 6 weeks which has helped his comfort A LOT and I have been dairy free and soy free all of that time too.  We have not seen any change in the amount or frequency of spit up.  He never had any other MSPI symptoms (rash, blood in stools etc.).  I am totally frustrated with the spit up and am continually looking for ways to help him out.  He is little...but gaining. He's EBF, and at this point, I am not ready to consider formula.  But, I am considering a total elimination diet (ack!).  Have any of you tried this?  @Littlemommabluehen -  at what point did you guys decide to see a GI doc and get a gastric scan?  I'm just so tired of the whole family being covered in spit up, having towels and blankets covering all furniture and being mortified when he spits up on visitors and in public places (library, swimming pool, doc office...everywhere).  And feel bad for him spewing all day

angiek1

My LO also spits up a lot. She is on a special formula. We go back to the doc in 2 weeks for her 6 month and I'm not convinced the new formula is making much of a difference. If she doesn't weigh at least 14 lbs by then we are going to go on a different formula.  

Right now LO is only a bit over 13 lbs... I don't know if we are going to make the min. weight gain that my doc would like to see...