Breastfeeding and vomiting

[supergolden88]

My little one (10 days) started vomiting quite a bit of milk soon after feeding on a couple of occasions. Definitely not posseting the milk is not digested and throwing it up does not upset him - it upsets me enough for the both of us!

Once he threw up as I was changing his nappy so lying flat and am worried in case it happens while he is sleeping.

Wondering if this is due to my milk supply suddenly being plentiful. Is he getting too much - I try to stick to feeding every three hours unless he demands it sooner - or is it too much foremilk? I have been trying to build up supply by pumping because there wasn't enough milk to keep him happy.

I find it hard to burp him at the moment which could be an issue. He is also getting very frequent and painful sounding hiccups.

He is also having pooey nappies with yellow mustardy curdled texture (gross I know but in case it's relevant!)today as opposed to really runny as usual. Not sure if this is related or not.

If anyone has similar experience please let me know whether you changed your breastfeeding habits or is it something the baby outgrew etc.

Many thanks!

[The Nappy Lady]

If your let down is very fast he may be getting too much, too fast. How soon after the feed is he vomiting?

My Mum (an extreme case) used to have to lean over the sink and let milk go down the plughole prior to feeding all her babies for this very reason. She only wishes they had a milk bank back them she could have donated to.

I'm sure others on here will be able to offer more help, but my immediate thought was that he's filling up too fast and maybe getting a big bubble of air trapped to boot?

It is horrible when they throw an entire feed up isn't it, O did it to me a couple of times in the early days, and I remember sitting there, covered in slightly curdled milk and fighting back tears at the waste, having just fed her for nearly an hour.

Hope things improve soon.

xx

[Beagle]

What looks like a lot of milk coming back up might not actually be that much. My 7 week old spits up quite a bit but although it seems a lot and can be startling it isn't really that much.

Hiccoughs are not painful for babies. Mine hiccoughed in the womb and still does. It sounds like it should irritate them but it doesn't.

The poo you describe is normal for a BF baby, yellow, seedy, but if you are worried check with your midwife. If you are worried about spitting up when changing do the change before the feed, I found this helped.

When they are so new it is impossible not to worry, I was constantly referring to What to Expect the First Year in the first few weeks and it helped set my mind at ease.

edited as I managed to delete half the message first time round!

[Saffron]

I second all of the above, plus ask your midwife/hv about reflux in babies. Bringing back full feeds frequently may be a sign of baby reflux. Your doctor can give you more advice on how to treat it. In the meantime, try keeping baby upright for a little while longer after feeds, and perhaps raise the head-end of baby's bed a couple of centimeters. This website has lots of interesting ideas for making babies more comfy:

http://www.babyreflux.co.uk/

xx

[The Nappy Lady]

I think if reflux babies normal show a lot of distress as very painful, but worth checking.

[supergolden88]

Fingers crossed it's not reflux - but it's very early days yet. He is probably gorging himself on too much foremilk and then throwing some up. Problem with expressing some of it before feeds as I have seen suggested is that you are effectively building up your milk supply even more! I think I do have overactive let down hopefully baby will catch up with me. I think midwife/health visitor is coming for last visit tomorrow so will ask but I find you tend to get very contradictory advice from them (or get told it's nothing which although perhaps true not helpful!)