Questions about DEMAND FEEDING and VOMITING AFTER FEEDS

[Lara310809]

VOMITING AFTER FEEDS:

Chloë had her usual 4oz this morning, and she coughed and spluttered during the feed, but she was back on the bottle. She was however seemingly rushing her gulps; as if she was starving Thought I'd mention it in case it is linked. She ended up leaving 1oz of her bottle (so drank 3oz) and within 5 minutes threw it all up again. Is this normal, or does it indicate that something's wrong with her?

She was sick all over herself, so I bathed her straight away, and then she fell asleep. I figured she wasn't hungry because whenever I'm sick I don't feel hungry straight after, and she wasn't rooting either.

At 10:30am (I'm an hour ahead of you) she was rooting again, so I fed her another 4oz because I figured she'd kept hardly anything down before. She seemed to be gulping again (not the whole time), but even now coming off the bottle and resting (not usual) and after coaxing goes back on, but she's refusing to have any more, and has left 1.5oz

Do you think anything's wrong? She's never thrown up before, and I'm a little concerned she's not getting enough milk because she hasn't had a full bottle since.

DEMAND FEEDING:

I've heard of demand feeding, which I understand to be feeding your baby whenever it's hungry, but is there a danger of over-feeding? I don't want my daughter to put weight on too fast, but at the same time she seems to be happier with feeds as and when she's hungry, not necessarily every 4 hours. She rarely reaches 4 hours TBH, so end up feeding less milk, but more often.

 

[Natnee]

I'm a complete novice at this feeding malarky too, see my post about feeding too much! I'm not much help but I was told by my SIL that if they are sick, then to start the whole feeding process again. As for demand feeding, well this is pretty much what I am doing, (again see my post) and I am worried about overfeeding, although Belle also does the rooting, or pecking against me if I have picked her up which I read as her being hungry. I'll be interested to see what other replies you get aswell.

 

[wannabewillow]

I would take her to the GP if you are concerned. Keep an eye on her and how often she vomits. If you have access to a Health Visitor in Gibraltar, regular weight checks should set your mind at rest. My LO is 6 months and she still possets (milk sick) when she's had too much. DH and I have never stuck to to a specific feeding regime and just feed her when she wants it (now she's weaning, however, 'solid' mealtimes are loosely set). We have always demand fed and never had any problems with excess weight gain. If Mairi has too much, she just brings it back up and it never upsets her. Sometimes she takes 4-5 oz, sometimes 1-2. We're quite relaxed with it, as if she's hungry, she lets us know. Good luck!

 

[Mynx]

Definately keep an eye on the vomitting thing hun, babies can dehydrate so quickly.
Evie can still sick up sometimes after a feed, not as much as she used to (she's always been a little sicky) If it becomes a regular thing, then it could be reflux which, depending on how severe it is, can be eased somewhat. If your LO continues to be sick after feeds, then it's worth having a chat with your GP.

With regards to the demand feeding, Evie is demand fed and has been since birth. I didnt see the point in setting times for her to feed. If she demands, she gets fed Her solid feeds are more routine and even they're based on what time she had her last bottle lol! I'll usually give her a solid feed an hour or so after a bottle.
She's a chunk but she's certainly not overweight.

If your baby is happier being fed on demand, then demand feed

 

[Mynx]

Oo can I ask what size teats your LO is on? Have you gone up a size or changed brands recently? Sometimes they can vomit if they've guzzled too quickly Just a thought!

 

[Lauraxamy]

Sometimes my LO can bring quite a bit back if she polishes her bottle off off far too fast, I saw on tv though that it always looks like they've sicked up much more than they actually have. Keep an eye on her and if she continues to be quite sick after every feed it may be worth just talking to a doctor about it.

 

[TattiesMum]

I'll certainly agree with Laura about volume of sick .... try putting 1oz of water into a bottle and then tipping it on your kitchen worktop - it looks like a flood So she probably isn't bringing it all back up

My youngest was a great one for feeding himself to overfull and then possiting all over the place (I used to call him 'baby chuckup' LOL) - in retrospect he was probably just using feeding as comfort and then getting rid of the excess .... it's OK though, he's now 17, still eats like a horse and is stick thin - God only knows where he puts it all but he's definitely not bulimic so they do grow out of it!

I always demand fed and Kaylum is demand fed as well - as little or as much as he wants, whenever he wants. I breastfed so keeping up with demand feeding wasn't a problem, but with Kaylum we make up a couple of large bottles and store them in the fridge - then we just decant a couple of ounces at a time into smaller sterilised bottles, as he wants it, to reduce milk waste

In the heat de-hydration can be a problem, but it's pretty easy to spot - just keep an eye on their main soft spot .... if they are de-hydrated then it will be 'sunken'. Don't panic though - it also 'sinks' if they are screaming, so check when they are sleeping or otherwise relaxed