Spitting Up

My twins spit up CONSTANTLY! It never stops! I have to wash their play mat and boppy covers every single day (I go through all 6 covers in one day) and not to mention having to wash all MY clothes constantly. Its gotten to the point I only have them in diapers unless we go out because they just ruin their clothes. The doctors said not to give them rice cereal yet, because age adjusted they are only 9 weeks. I know they say it stops around 6 months, but thats still 2 (or 3) months away! I HATE this. My house always smells like spit up and I am using so much water with washing stuff all the time. UGGGGGHHH. Sorry- just had to vent.

 

ugh, that sounds awful. i only had one spitter and it doesn't sound like she was as bad as your LOs..

are you BFing of formula feeding? if formula, have you tried switching to one of the brands with rice starch already added? similac RS or enfamil AR. i never used them personally but i know that a lot of people here have had a lot of luck with them..

 

Yup, I remember that. Very annoying. Probiotics really helped my little ones. THe spitting didn't stop completely but I would say at last 75percent. Good luck.

 

I almost wrote about this exact topic yesterday- Only one of mine is a spitter (my girl) and it seemed like she was getting sick ALL day yesterday. I just about lost it when she spit up on my laptop keyboard :gah:

She was put on medication for reflux when she was 4 weeks old and was 6 weeks old when we went to a specialist. He has us thickening her formula/milk with a food thickener called Thicken Up This stuff really works!! I like it because you can tweak the amounts depending on what your little one needs. It also mixes SUPER smooth (the specialist said this was one of the reasons he has his patients use Thicken Up instead of rice cereal) You can get it through Walgreens for about $7. This way you can add the thickener to expressed breast milk or to your preferred brand of formula.

I hear you about the clothes- I put 2 bibs on my lo. I put a plastic/ vinyl backed bib under a cotton/terry one. I have found this helps keep her shirt and chest from getting saturated with sick. I just throw receiving blankets over their "boppy" pillows easier and more abundant.

Like you I sure hope it stops when she starts solids. Poor little stinky, gooey baby.
Just know that you're not alone.

 

Are they bottle fed? If you aren't already you might want to try a bottle that has a valve system (Dr Browns or Born Free). I used the Born Free bottles for my girls and can probably count on my fingers how many times they spit up between the two of them! I cannot believe that I got lucky and lucky twice with two babies; I really believe it cuts down on what their intake is at once.

 

I will have to ask the pedi about the probiotics & thicken up... unfortunatly I only have a few options of formula since we are on WICO (less options than WIC). I hope we can find something!

Two bibs sounds like a good idea!

 

Oh, I have so been there. Luke was such a spitter that it got to the point that no one (besides me & my husband) wanted to hold him because they knew they were going to get spit on! It started getting better when he was able to sit up on his own and was pretty much completely gone by the time he was a year old.

 

Well... I JUST switched to level 2 nipples and not to jinx anything but they are doing better so far.. hmm. Maybe they were sucking in too much air with the level 1?

 

My girls are still big spitters. Nothing really worked for them, they will have to grow out of it on their own. You get used to all the laundry and constant cleaning after awhile.

 

My oldest son was like that, it was awful. We always took several changes of clothes for him and for us whenever we left the house, used receiving blankets for burp cloths (took 2-3 with us), kept a bib on him and always kept a wet washcloth in a ziplock bag to wipe his face and neck with.

It did get better when he started on solids and when he started sitting up, but he last puked when he was 18 months old. It just stopped suddenly at almost 18 months to the day! :hug:

 

My one girl was the spitter and it started at 3 weeks on the dot. I would burp her after every oz - 2oz and that seemed to help a little. She was not a projectile girl. Also I would keep her in her bouncy seat about a 1/2 hour after feeding her. They will be 11 weeks on tuesday and she is a lot better now with the spitting. She will still do it but not as much. I hope things get better for you.

 

Thanks for all the tips and advice- and most of all the support! I know the spitting up is one of the least important things to worry/stress about, but its still aggravating...

 

Rice cereal was really the only thing that reduced the amount of spit up for us.

 

Same here. We did 2 tsp per ounce of formula.

 

Not necessarily the least. I have a 26 month old who is still on reflux meds.

The twins have also been on meds since they were 4 weeks old. I'm going to try taking them completely off the meds next week. I'm hoping they won't have to stay on meds like their older sister.

 

All three of my kids were super pukers. We had to take up the egyptian rug and put down those foam squares in the living room - great for wiping clean after every spit up - this was helpful around the six month mark when they started moving more. I keep a pile of washed spit up cloths right downstairs and our kids are on Prilosec (losec in US I think). It just cuts down on the acidity and hopefully increases their comfort. I know there are days when you just lose it (my carpets upstairs will need professional cleaning once this stops completely). The good news is at 9 1/2 months the twins are getting much better. The doctor suggested moving to thicker foods (less pureed/strained) and I have experimented with mashed banana (great) and other fruits. They have been on Enfamil thickened since birth (man, is that expensive for two babies taking 4 - 5 bottles a day!!). You are not alone!! My first daughter stopped around a year. None of the great suggestions worked for us (keeping upright, multi-burps, etc.). Both little girls are now crawling/standing so that may be why things have improved. Good luck!
Carol

 

Just passing through with some :hug: reflux is so hard!