How to stop vomit and get routine back?

[Kaitlynsmum]

My ds is 7 weeks. He vomits about three times a day - any time of day, and there doesn't seem to be any single cause. It can be after he's winded, before he's winded, after a cough (he's had a chesty cough for two weeks or so), in the middle of a feed, 10 minutes after a feed or an hour after a feed. After vomiting he's usually hungry enough to take more, but I am reluctant to give it.  The only thing consistent is that he vomits at least half his bottle - about 80 mls out of a bottle of 150 mls.

He was originally on a HA (easy to digest) formula but vomited ALL of that, so we swapped to anti-reflux formula which has reduced the vomiting a bit, but it's still frequent.

Has anyone got any ideas on what to do? How do you keep a routine going when they only keep down 50 mls and the baby is hungry again two hours later. He should be taking 700mls a day and we barely make it past 500. He's a good sleeper, but won't go more than 4 hours between feeds - perhaps  because he's not getting enough?

Help! And I can't keep up with the washing!

[ry,cait&alex]

Have you contacted your pedi?  {{{hugs}}} to you, nothing worse then an ill feeling child, especially one so young.

Curious to know what your pedi said.  Sounds as though the formula is causing the problem more than likely?  Dont' have much advice, just a bunch of questions.  Sorry.   :cry:

bj

[Mariek]

Hiya

when you say vomited how much are we talking? My DD spat up an awful lot but only little bits. If its quite a lot then I'd definitley talk to your doctor (if you haven't already).

Have you tried keeping him upright after his feeds and not moving him around too much?

love

[lil'monkey]

DD is a silent refluxer but she would sometimes vomits at least half the bottle.  I would feed her again in 30 min.  I think that it's more important to get enough milk in you lo than it is to follow a schedule.  Besides you might have to do EAEAS as babies with reflux do better with smaller feeds more frequently.  If you lo vomits consistently then you have to talk to your ped.  DD was on this med to help reduce the vomiting.  She is off of it now as it does get better when they get older.  HTH

[Kaitlynsmum]

Hi, thanks for your comments. Yes, I keep him upright after a feed and burping is done extremely gently. The vomiting is a large amount - at least 40 mls at a time.

I tried EAES yesterday and there wasn't any improvement but I'm going to do it again today. Instinct tells me this will work if I give it time.

What was the medication called?

DS had wet lung and also has pulminary stenosis so we see our ped. every month but we're not due to go for a long time and it seems like such a minor thing to go for.

Keep the suggestions coming - I'll try anything!

[lil'monkey]

It's called domperidone ( as it is the same as Motillium - it's a drug I took to increase my milk supply).  It helps empties the tummy into the intestine.  There are reports saying that it shouldn't be used for a very long time in infants abut our ped assured us that a few months would not have any affect on her.  I've heard of other babies been on it for almost a year and they seemed fine.  I would talk to your ped about the vomiting as 3 times a day is quite a bit.  Good luck.

[NKmommy]

Hi!  Feeding problems really are close to the worst thing for babies!  (Been there, done that  ).  Just thought of a couple things.  If the reflux formula seemed to help a bit, can you ask your doc about thickening your own formula?  Sometimes when you add 1tsp or more of cereal per ounce of formula, it is just the thickness they need to reduce vomiting.  We started thickening with cereal and hypoallergenic formula when Nathan was 6 weeks.  Also, like Mimi said, maybe you can ask your doc about a motility medication.  If he is vomiting hours after eating, he could have Delayed Gastric Emptying, and a motility med will really help.  My son is on Erythromycin for DGE, but there is also Reglan, Bethanchol, and Motilium. 

Let us know how things go...  Hang in there!

[Kaitlynsmum]

Woohoo! Today we went a whole day with only a small vomit in the early morning. DS intake for the day is up to 640mls - close to the 750mls he should be getting.

I think two things have helped - first of all his own appetite has been better, he's waking every 3 hours for a feed which is soooo much nicer than trying to wake him. I've put this down to his own maturity - he's almost 8 weeks. Secondly, because he's waking on his own I've stopped worrying about getting a large feed into him and just concentrated on keeping whatever quantity he takes inside him. I've been very careful about him sitting very still for 10 - 15 minutes after every feed.

Having got all proud of myself and ds I am half expecting to have a vomity day again tomorrow!

Am I getting a little bit TOO excited by hoping he'll sleep longer at night now he's getting a decent amount during day (between 7am and 11pm)? :wink: