Please diagnose my BF daughter!

mollynpatrick

Is she just a little piggy? :-)

Between the age of one and two months my DD *vomited* five or six times. I don't mean spit up - I mean almost projectile vomited what looked like volumes of BM. As far as I could tell/remember, each time it happened after she was either fussy or hysterical and I calmed her by BF. Within a half an hour/ hour of eating she would make a noise like a cat coughing up a hairball and then vomit - tons. It totally freaked me out. My mom and DH talked me down from calling the pedi each time. She wasn't acting upset, she didn't have any other symptoms of being ill, etc. When I went for her 2 month appt I asked the doctor about it and he chalked it up to being from all of the air she swallowed when she was crying/upset. The air would cause her to throw up what she ate. I was ok with that. I figured he knew what he was talking about. She hasn't had any vomiting sessions since then - in fact she very rarely spits up at all.

Fast forward to two days ago. I was pretty full in the morning and she choked a couple of times when I let down. Everything seemed fine. I was walking downstairs with her and heard the "hairball cough". And here comes the vomit. I could hear it splashing on the floor. My DS actually slipped and fell in it. Niiiiiice.  Then tonight, I nursed her as usual (no fullness, no overactive let down feeling, no choking). I came downstairs and turned on the monitor. About a half an hour later I heard her coughing so I turned on the video part of the monitor in time to see vomit spraying from her all over the footboard of our bed from her swing. YIKES.

Seriously, what is wrong with my kid?? Is she just a piggy and over eating as my mom claims? She is happy as a little clam after and doesn't act put out at all. No fever, no other symptoms. Is this normal? Please help!

This is a repost. Thanks to those who answered my original post!

emilykristene2006

Maybe you are eating something that isn't agreeing with her?

hopefulmom

All of my babies were happy spitters but not the projectile vomiting.  My MIL told me that my DH's sister did and it never bothered her at all (she was formula fed).  When I had my first DD and told the doctor about he spit-up (all the time) he said I might be overfeeding.  Seems like I remember my oldest DS maybe having projectile once or twice and I do believe it was after he had been crying and then just guzzled down what I though was a large amount of BM (I nursed him). 

I would mention it to the pedi but most likely he/she will say it has something to do with a muscle in the esophagus at the top of the stomach or something like that.  That was what I was told all those years ago.  If she is happy before and after she eats it is probably nothing to worry about...but ask the pedi anyway just for peace of mind.

mollynpatrick

How can I tell? I posted a while back asking how long it takes something to enter your breastmilk after eating but I didn't really get any answers. I'd love for it to be that simple! I hate the idea that I am making her sick!

hopefulmom

I doubt it is something you ate...but I would think it would be in your bloodstream in a matter of a couple of hours.  If it is something making her gassy...it would be beans, broccoli or something else from the cabbage family...or anything that makes YOU gassy.  It doesn't sound like that is the problem since she is not in distress when she does it.  Have you tried just giving her smaller meals more often (nursing for a shorter amount of time but more often) to see if that makes a difference.  She might just be overfilling her tummy and getting air at the same time.  That would cause the projectile vomiting, air + too much liquid = explosion.

mollynpatrick

I appreciate everyone's thoughts so much! Thank you!!!

Erin only eats for five minutes at a time as it is. I'm not sure how I could shorten her meals. Obviously, she is very efficient :-) and she eats every three hours or so. I'm probably getting all worked up over nothing. As you can see by my sig pic she clearly is gaining weight just fine and she is a very happy baby. The *amount* of "vomit" (and the forceful way that it is projected) is what gets me. Since it isn't happening daily by any means I guess I'll just try to relax about it and buy stock in paper towels :-)