Babies: 0 - 3 Months
meganperki
member
Spitting up with every feeding!
meganperki
member
Hi friends - long story here. My 9 week old has been struggling since about 3 weeks old. He started spitting up after every breastfeeding (more and more volume as time progressed). We took him to the doctor around 5 weeks, she thought it was my very strong let-down and fast flow that was overwhelming him. They sent me home to start feeding him in a reclined position with a nipple shield, and return a few days later to check his progress and weight. Next appointment he had lost 5oz of weight and was still spitting. She sent us to the children's hospital ER to rule out pyloric stenosis, and then we were admitted for a few days because he was so dehydrated, they diagnosed him as failing to thrive. There they had me pumping to bottle feed and supplement with formula, using a preemie nipple on the bottle. For about a week after that the spitting was under control, barely happening. It's gradually picked back up again and now it's after every feed, even a few times during each feed... he's mostly getting EBM in a bottle, with a little supplemented formula. He has his 2 month checkup in 11 days, but I'm on edge about all the spit, considering calling the doctor sooner. Advice? Words of comfort? Similar experience?
Re: Spitting up with every feeding!
I fed slower and took breaks for a couple minutes a few times during the feed and that helped him digest even just a little before going back in. Also, I began feeding less in quantity (mine is only formula, I wasn't able to breastfeed) which made it easier to know the amounts.
The fast flow can be overwhelming for babies too--for mine, we had to use a slow flow nipple for the first nearly 3 months. With faster nipples, he wouldn't want to feed and was spitting up as it came out so fast he hardly had a chance to swallow! Sometimes, the slower the better.
I sometimes have laid him down too early as well, which has caused what he drank to come back up. So I hold him at maybe a 60 degree angle for around 20-30 minutes after his last sip and he hasn't vomited in a long while after beginning that practice.
I really hope the best for you and your LO.
While my LO was in the NICU we had a speech therapist come around and showed me different ways to hold him so he'd want to drink more, and hold it down. I wonder if trying different feeding positions may help too.
Check with your doctor to calm concerns and if the baby continues to spit up. I do hope any of these experiences I've had can help too. Babies are tricky and sometimes those simple things make the difference 😊