baby throwing up breastmilk but not formula?

Well this is my first post on TS as an actual mommy of twins I'm going to post this both here and in the NICU forum.

One of my girls is throwing up my pumped milk but not the formula. :unknw: I spoke to the LC for a long time today and she suggested I cut out wheat. The baby is keeping down the dairy formula just fine, so dairy is not really the suspect but I'm cutting out dairy too anyways in case my other baby is sensitive to it. Anyway, so I'm cutting out the wheat starting today and have to wait about 36 hours before giving her breastmilk again. Anybody have any experience or suggestions or anythiing?? I feel like I'm at wit's end doing all this pumping and it's she's on formula right now anyway. Thanks a bunch!!

 

I know pumping is hard. I did it for 6 months after my youngest stopped nursing, but that was nothing compared to what you are doing now. :hug: It sounds like your LC is taking good care of you. I would suspect some sort of food allergy as well. I hope restricting your diet helps.

Congratulations on your babies! I hope you are getting some sleep!

 

Does she throw it up every time? My older DS used to throw up my breastmilk after I drank cranberry juice. It happened every time. We were scared when we tried cranberries on him when he was older, but he was fine. Don't know if it was the acid or what. If I stayed away from cranberry juice (my favorite) he was fine.

 

Jicjac thanks for the encouragement.
3boysmama, I do drink cranberry juice, I will cut that out also, thanks for the suggestion.

Ok now I'm even more frustrated. Last night i nursed the baby at thethe 9 pm feeding, more for latching on practice then to actually eat. She actually got a decent amount. When I got to the NICU today they told me she threw up/big spit up the formula at the 12 and 3 am feedings, which I'm guessing had to do with the breastmilk at 9. Now they put her on 24 hours of pedialyte, then they are going to start up the formula again and 'see if she tolerates it' or they will go to predigested formula. They will not give her breastmilk because they don't know what is causing her to throwup and it takes two weeks for dairy to pass from your system. The NICU LC has actually been the most unhelpful of the three LCs I've spoken to so far, and she was really no help today either, passing me on to the nurse practitioner. I pointed out that the formula has DAIRY in it, and the LC i spokedo to yesterdaythe said wheat is most likely the next culprit, and I was cutting out wheat, let's start her on the wheat free breastmilk after the pedialyte. They said they won't do that, she needs to tolerate a full feeding of formula first. Both my husband and I are really uncomfortable with the formula, we basically feel like she is being fed poison. GAAAAAAAH!! Any suggestions???

Ps sorry for the typos, im on my phone

 

Hi Miriam,
I don't really have any experience to help you but I wanted to say Congratulations on your twins! And hang in there-the first few weeks are always difficult, and in the NICU even more so. I hope you are able to find out what's causing that and get into a feeding routine that will work for all three of you.

:grouphug:

 

My third son would throw up breastmilk (or formula) if he drank it too fast, like if the nipple hole was too big. He didn't move up to the 1 month nipple until he was 2 months. Also I cut back on sugars, that seemed to help too. Someones now he just spits it up. One of my twins was a spitter, he literally spit up 2/3 of what he ate and he's perfectly healthy. Sometimes they just spit up.

 

My son spit up breast milk (often he'd spit up 2-3 times and lots of it--I think I had to change both of our clothes several times a day because we were so wet all the time) after every feeding until he was 6 months old whether it came from the breast or the bottle, even after cutting out dairy and other known allergens. Then he just stopped doing it. Really, some babies just spit up a lot and because he was gaining weight and seemed happy the doctor wasn't concerned. Newborns, particularly, have really tiny tummies.

1. She (allegedly) only spits up the pumped milk. My first question is are they using the same bottles/nipples for the formula versus the pumped milk? If the nipple is different it may affect how much air she takes in with the pumped milk bottle versus the formula and could cause her to spit up more pumped milk than formula.

2. It sounds like she is not necessarily throwing up breast milk she's getting through nursing. If she threw up the formula at 12 and 3 the other night, but did not throw up between 9-12 then it may not have been the breast milk making her throw up (since I'm assuming they were attributing the "throwing up" to the pumped milk because it always happened after feeding pumped milk and not formula). Throwing up after a feeding is throwing up after a feeding, not 3-6 hours later after two more feedings of formula. But I also recognize I don't know exactly what's been going on either.

I guess since I don't know how they are defining "throwing up" for your daughter, it's hard to know what to ask or suggest.

I know your last post is a couple of days old and they were preventing you from giving her breast milk. It sounds like they may not be as breastfeeding friendly as they could or should be. Other top allergens to consider are soy, eggs and peanuts. I'm surprised the LC jumped straight to wheat and didn't mention the other biggies.

Finally, I just want to send you some big hugs and support. It must be so rough having the girls in NICU and now being given what seems to be such odd advice about your breast milk. I hope things improve quickly or you figure out the problem and you can get back to breastfeeding your daughter.

 

Hey Miriam, congrats on your babies! Don't know if this passage will be helpful other than to know you are not alone in having had challenges with crying and spit up (our She-Twin spat up so much I was often concerned NOTHING got in her after BFing) . The good news is, things will be worked out....we ended up managing BFing that first year...but please try not to judge yourself or your care team as you try to ensure your sweet babes get adequate nutrition. Here's a semi-applicable passage from Twinspration on the intake directives issue we had as well...maybe some solace? By all means, don't use my words as a replacement for medical advice! Their insight should be first and foremost, tempered with experienced moms' alongside!

"Which brings up a whole other breastfeeding issue…the belief that if the babies cry [or spit up] after nursing, surely it is something Mommy ate disturbing their otherwise happy existence. Do not let yourself freak out about this! Foods can and are passed through breast milk, but just because your babies are crying in the afternoon does not mean your morning Cheerios need to be cut immediately from your diet. Look for repeated similar reaction after you have consumed the same item, and then consider cutting back or eliminating the violator altogether. Our babies were extremely gassy. After one visit to the pediatric office, I was given an extensive list of foods that are sometimes culprits: dairy, peanuts, spicy foods, juice, beans, wheat, soy, citrus, bran, cabbage--virtually anything with any fiber content, the list went on and on. Amidst being told to consume an additional 1600 calories a day, it was being suggested that I seriously consider not having any cereal or vegetables. Sugar seemed the only clearly safe item, and as much as I would have loved to eat nothing but sweets, I couldn’t believe that was a healthy option either. You need to eat, and a variety of foods. Unless your babies develop allergic reactions to your milk (and you’ll know a real reaction when you see it), use your best judgment. Crying after feeding doesn’t necessarily mean they didn’t like last night’s roast beef sandwich with horseradish. If you feel better about it, keep a running diary of your food intake in your babies’ poo journal. If you sense strong reaction after a nursing session, see what you ate in the preceding 8 hours or so. Highlight the potential causes, and the next time you consume that item, see if the babies react the same way. If they do, it may be due to the element in your diet. It might not be. Our babies were diagnosed with a slight case of reflux. Diet changes or no diet changes, they were going to have gas. I could minimize it by not having 100% All Bran and a big glass of juice, but they were still destined for some digestive discomfort. It is hard to watch your babies cry, but do not feel you have total control of their happiness by manipulating your food intake. Again, use your best judgment. "
(c. 2006, Twinspiration: Real-Life Advice from Pregnancy through the First Year. Please do not transmit electronically without permission from author or Taylor Trade Publishing)

Huge hugs and know we are all rooting for you!

 

Thank you all!!

This is a belated update, but I will catch you up. The same day I went to the maternity floor LC's and spoke to them for a long time. They basically told me to 'play the game and get them home', but told me which neo's would be the best for me to speak to. I spoke to one of the good ones and thank G-d they ended up starting her on breastmilk, which she is keeping down. I am wheat free and dairy free right now though. If anybody has an issue similar to this, I will be happy to go into more details, just post here or PM me, but I'm too tired right now .

For my latest vent, see the NICU forum.

 

I am glad to hear this update, but sorry that you "had to play the game."

I want to say that dairy is probably the most common intolerance in infants and most will outgrow it (I don't have stats, but among my friends/family, dairy is the primary culprit and sometimes soy and eggs have been a problem too). I've been both dairy free and gluten free so I know how hard that can be but you can do it!