HELP!

So I've been dealing w/ reflux... This morning I went to feed Riley, he finished and I held him up for about 15 minutes, then I propped him up next to me in the boppy for I could feed Wyatt. Just a minute or so later he projectile vomited ALL of what he had ate. I promise you I am not over exaggerating the amount either. He had only finished 3 of his 4 ounce bottle that he normally drinks. I was feeding them on the bed and it left a pool of formula over 6 inches wide. It had to have been all 3 ounces or close to. It was MUCH more than he normally spits up. After he cried for a little while he went to sleep and kept sleeping. I just now went to feed him his 2nd feeding of the day because he had woken up and was obviously hungry. I fed him about 1 ounce, then stopped to burp him to try and avoid what happened this morning. Out it ALL came! So I attempted another 1/2 ounce, again it happened. ONE last time I decided to try another 1/2 ounce because he's hungry. But it all keeps coming up! Does this sound like reflux or something else!?

ETA: And now he just seems to want to sleep, but I feel like I can't just let him sleep. He will have basically missed 2 feedings cause I honestly don't think he has kept anything down. This guy is my little chunky monkey, but he's not going to be if he can't eat!

 

The girls had reflux and it was projectile but it was never as consecutive as what you describe. It could be but then it could be a tummy bug. Can you get some advise from your ped?

 

it does sound like reflux, at least in my experience. i have the same issues and have been on medicine that has helped with the volume of spitting up and projectile vomitting. we also thicken their formula.

does he cry when he eats or after? my boys, in the past, have thrown up an entire 5-6oz bottle during a night feed and would cry for 20 minutes and then sleep through the night and then eat again 8-9 hours later. so that is OK and normal, at least in my experience. it's just that if it becomes a regular everyday occurance then it's an issue.

if he's not displaying any other symptoms of reflux, arching of the back, crying before, during and after meals, regurgitate and then seem to chew, coughing, gagging during meals, getting hoarse (this isn't always common but it happened with my boys), etc. then it might just be a stomach bug? just a suggestion.

what formula are you on and how much/how often are you feeding them? also do you thicken at all with rice?
i thicken 1tsp rice per oz of formula, some ladies on TS go up to 2-2.5tsp of rice per oz just to keep it down.

either way call your ped!

 

oh my boys have each had consecutive projectile vomitting in a day but it's never everyday. we went through a good week or so, while adjusting to the new meds, where they would projectile vomit entire bottles at least once a day. our GI advised us that if they do throw up try to continue feeding them because they might still be hungry.

 

This is exactly what was happening to my girls when they were around that age. It was horrible! Every time they would eat after wards they would spit it all up and cry in pain. We finally had them tested for milk protein allergy. Sure enough that's what it was. They both have reflux too and still have it, but it's under control now. I wouldn't hesitate to give the pedi a call. Let him/her know what is going on and inquire about having his poop tested for blood. They just take a sample of poop and look at it under the microscope because sometimes it's not visible to the human eye. It's a harmless test...you definitely want to have all the answers, so I would give it a shot. The projectile vomiting is also a sign of a milk protein allergy.

I want to add that my girls had consecutive projectile vomiting, but would scream in pain after they ate. it wasn't because of the reflux, it was because they were not able to break down that milk protein.

 

if it is a milk protein issue we've had the boys on both similac alimentum and enfamil nutrimagen which are both hypoallergenic formulas used when a milk protein intolerance is present...we had much better success on nutrimagen than on alimentum. it's very expensive but if the HAVE to have hypo try nutrimagen first...i think it's way better!

 

My girls are still on Nutramigen and nothing else worked for them.

 

Honestly, to me it sounds more like it might be a virus, since it came on so quickly & has been so persistent (and combined with the sleepiness). If he keeps throwing it all up, I would definitely check with your doctor. I hope he feels better soon! :hug:

 

He does cry during feedings and after, along w/ arching his back, coughing, and gagging during meals.
I haven't thickened their food yet, however I plan to go pick up some stuff to begin thickening tomorrow.





I took him in shortly after I made this post. I wanted both of them to be seen anyways because Zantac has not been helping. It's been 3 weeks since I took them in. I was told to give them .3ml twice a day. I asked her if there were any other medicines, specifically one that wouldn't be weight based and she told me no. UGH! So annoying. So anyways, she said it's nothing to worry about an upped his Zantac to 1ml twice a day and the other boy to .7ml.

Oh and she told me I could be over feeding him because of the fact that in the last 3 weeks he gained doubled what his brother did (they've never been more than 4oz difference and 3 weeks ago they were the exact same weight). Riley weighs 8lbs, 10oz and Wyatt was 7lbs, 15oz. I told her they eat the exact same amount, however Wyatt just had another hernia repair surgery. He wasn't eating well the 4 days in the hospital and about 4 days afterwards it took him to get back to where he had been. That's what I attribute their greater weight difference too.

I do not like this pediatric clinic I have to take my boys to, but I don't have a choice because of military insurance.

 

i'm glad that you were able to go in to the ped and they are at least trying upping the zantac. if that doesn't work try to get them to switch to prevacid or prilosec. those meds have worked for a lot of mom's when zantac wouldn't.

i have read that a lot of babies with severe reflux will over eat on their own...not exactly sure why this is but i have read that. i've also read that there can be a loss of appetite associated with reflux.

i found that once i thickened their formula it seemed to ease the pain of the feeds, almost as though it was smoother going down their throats. we still had lots of throw up but the pain did seem to go away.

also, our ped GI told us that if they seem to be in a lot of pain that was OK to give them tylenol after they eat, just not all the time. so he said .4ml of tylenol is there seems to be a lot of pain.

good luck, i hope this eases up soon!

 

Ugh, I am sorry that you are having such a rough time with their reflux. I know you asked the Ped about other meds and they said no, but did you specifically bring up Prevacid or something else. If not, I would ask for it by name. The worst they can do is say no. My Ped GI said it takes about 7 days for reflux meds to kick in so really you should be seeing a difference by now. Zantac did nothing for my kids. We switched to Prevacid and they were different babies within almost 24 hours. No more arching and screaming when they ate. And I didnt have to fight with them to eat. We still had some spit up, but that got much, much better once we started thickening their feeds with rice cereal. We started at 1 tsp per ounce of formula and went up to 2 tsp. per ounce and that was the magic number for us. We also switched them to Similac Alimentum for a possible milk protein intolerance and that helped as well. Most babies with reflux have issues with a milk intolerance and that also includes soy most of the time.

Also, dont forget to keep them upright at least 30-45 minutes after each feeding. :hug:

 

hey real quick i just thought of something that might help you with the frequency of the vomitting...this may not work for you but sometimes it has worked with my boys...

i'm not sure if this just started for you or not but when my boys were continuing to forceful/projectile throw up during or directly after a meal i started to notice, over time, that there were some trigger signs that would warn me of a potential explosion. if they started to gasp, gag, pull back firmly from the bottle or i heard their stomach gurgle or bubble during the feeding i would immediately remove the bottle from their mouth, sit them upright on my knee and gently pat and rub their back giving them a few minutes of a break. if they continued to give these signs again once i put the bottle back in their mouth i would stop the feed all together, even if they had only taken a few ounces, just to make sure none of it came back up.

like i said, i don't know if this happens at all during your feeds but if you can pick up on some warning signs it might help prevent the number of times they are throwing up.

just a thought.

 

one of my LO's had horrible reflux. sometimes projectile but not really. lots of arching of the back and pain with some old milk. zantac has worked wonders for us.

 

Just an FYI on the over-eating. If the acid levels are not under control, the refluxing will burn the baby's throat when it comes back up. Some babies will discover that formula/breaat milk will soothe the burning when eating, so they will want to continually eat. Even though it soothes their throat going down, it can create a vicious cycle. When they eat to soothe, they will usually eat too much and their tummy will become too full. Since the valve at the top of their stomach is weak (the underlying cause of the reflux), the food will come back up and cause more buring/pain in the end. They will then want to eat again to soothe their throat which then starts the cycle all over.

Other babies have the reverse of this and don't want to eat at all beacuse they associate eating with the pain of reflux. I have had one of each type and it was much easier to deal with my soother than my one who fought every bottle.