Sick after taking bottle feed

[minip2p]

Everytime LO has his bottle he is sick afterwards, we have him on the aptimail breast supplement milk powder as he is on breast & bottle, as he is only 4 weeks.

It seems to be everytime as well, tried him in different positions when feeding, feeding bottle then taking from mouth periodically and winding for a minute (although he rarely burps) and feeding again but nothing seems to make a difference he just brings it up when you least expect it, and it is not once either, and we don't throw him around he is lying still.

We wondered if he was having too much by giving him 3-4 fl oz but if we give him less he always wants more and takes it.

We have asked the health visitor but she is next to useless so we are struggling for a reason

Has anyone got any tips on how to stop him being sick after his bottle ? (or sometimes during feeding) or is this something we have to put up with ?

 

[mrsdcooper]

hi check the teats, are they flowing to fast??? if they are gulping that can make them sick.

Also maybe try changing the milk we originally used Aptimal with Hermione and we changed to SMA as she was always sick. SMA did help but we discovered that she had reflux and is now medicaated from the doc and use reflux milk from sma, called Staydown. go and chat to the doc and try a different milk - either switching brand or trying special milk. dont worry about panicing and being that fussy parent i did and try lots before getting medical help, now we have to go to hospital for checkups every 4 months and she is on 2 types of medicine. keep us updated. goodluck

 

[minip2p]

We wondered about the teats and he does seem to gulp his milk down, we try taking the bottle out to slow him down and telling him to slow down (!) not that it works, I'll buy a couple of new teats and try different milk powder over the weekend and see what happens.

Excuse my ignorance but what is Reflux ?

 

[mrsdcooper]

thats cool i had no idea before either.

Relux is where the valve on thier gullet doesnt shut properly, it is quite common. it will grow across. its job is to let milk/food down and not let it out! but if it isnt fully grown it cant do its job and it can allow milk to come back up. We only found that Hermione had this when we went to bottle feeding because she was getting more milk. it can be them being sick or it can mean acid comes up in the gullet and sits there and hurts them so they cry alot. Hermione is out first so we thought this was normal, now she is on the medication i cant believe how sick she was before...

try the teats - number 1's r variflow. from my experience if you take the bottle out that makes Hermione gulp more when she gets it to get as much before you take it again.. but whatever works for you. milk is a good bet to, just a warning though SMA smells when they are sick, hehe. Staydown you have to make up in a different way as it has different ingredients but thickens in the belly to stop it coming up so that is how it helps

 

[danni2609]

my daughter does this too and its mainly because she rushes it too and hardly brings her wind up

 

[princessellie]

my LO has reflux aswell but was told if she is sicking up EVERY feed to take her to the doctors, hope ur LO feels better soon

x

 

[brownhairedmom]

over here they say not to use powder till 2 months cause it can cause digestive probs

 

[Vickie]

be careful switching formulas, you don't want to switch too often (can cause an upset tummy) and you have to give time for LO to get used to the new formula

is it possible he is lactose intolerant? Or has reflux as mentioned?

slower teats is a good idea--something to try at least (would do so before I changed formula)

have you tried keeping him upright for 15-20 minutes after every feed? Helped with Hannah

also you can incline the head of his bed a bit (recommended for reflux I believe though we did it even though Hannah never had reflux)--we used phonebooks

 

[minip2p]

Well we changed formula the weekend, we switched to SMA and also switched bottles to the Tommee Tippee ones and teats seem to be slower, Friday and early Sat feeds everything was fine no sickness and we thought we had cracked it, but then come Sat afternoon and every feed since he has gone back to throwing up.

He dosen't bring all his sick up at once just small amounts of milk (most times) he can be sitting in our arms or lying in our arms it makes no difference, and he can also bring it up probably up to an hour after a feed also.

I've lost count of the amount of times we haven't 'caught' it quickly enough and we have to change his body suit or change our top.

Health visitor is due tomorrow I will get oh to mention reflux (I will print this from the web) and see what is suggested

 

[Pyrrhic]

Some BF babies bring up nothing at all (but not all) so you probably notice it more with bottles. If it is a small amount then I wouldn't worry too much. Nimah never brings anything up with breast milk, but always brings up something with a bottle and she is on slow flow teats and special bottles and we wind her alot.

 

[minip2p]

OH went to the doc's today - as she was wanting to get back driving after c-section, she spoke to doc about Liam being sick and said I'd looked it up on the internet and it may be to do with a valve (!) in his body, so immediately the doc has prescribed Gaviscon which apparently get's mixed into his bottle with his milk, HV paid a visit this afternoon - (Liam is now 7lb .5 oz) and she has said not to give it to him every feed.

Is Gaviscon the standard given to all ? I just thought this was a bit quick by the doc to prescribe ?

 

[brownhairedmom]

No most babies with reflux get baby gaviscon prescribed!

 

[minip2p]

How often should we give this to him ?

He had this for the first time last night and he still threw up but I'm guessing that it takes time to really get into the system, HV suggested not to give this to him on every feed.

We was thinking of giving it to him perhaps every other feed ?

 

[brownhairedmom]

Maybe every 2nd or even just a couple. Try it in 4 bottles (breakfast, lunch, dinner, bed) & see if that helps. If not then give it more.

You can also ask your HV if you can switch to thickened formula for babies who spit up a lot. Its under Enfamil.

 

[minip2p]

Right, when do you know if this is working or not ?

Liam has had this now since yesterday afternoon every other feed so about 4 times now and at the moment it is not making a difference, is this something that takes time to get into the system and start working ?

This sort of caused a disagreement yesterday between me and OH as she wanted me to feed him but I'd had him project over me previous feed so it sort of put's me off knowing what will happen - she was tired and wanted to sleep I know it shouldn't be but it's just frustrating.

 

[brownhairedmom]

How old is he? I'd give it a few days. Here is what my dr. said to do:

Keep them up for about a half hour after a feed, Put a pillow under the head of the crib mattress, use a thicker formula. Some people put a tsp of rice cereal into bottles and although I do this with my daughter for one feed a day, she's 3.5 months old. I wouldn't do this until at least 2-3 months if you're going to do it at all. I'd try to switch formulas and see how it goes. We had to put Renah on lactose free because of tummy troubles.

Also - don't be put off of feeding because he threw up. It happens. You'll be covered in worse than that, I promise.

 

[sonny]

Just a couple of things............When baby throws up does it bother him? can you see him lurch backwards or try to stretch his body? in a pain like grimace?

Although yes sickness is a sign of reflux too it is more severe if they are in pain with it.

If bubs is in pain with it i would keep going with the gaviscon, give every feed as per packet instruction on the weight etc.You can also not put it in the feed but do it the breastfeeding version on the packet in a little water. but if no significant difference after say 1-2 weeks and bubs is still displaying screaming,pain, stretching,lurching backwards i would go to dr again and tell them they could then prescibe ranitidine or/and domperidone for it or send you off to the paediatrician.

If bubs is NOT appearing to be in pain the gaviscon will not do anything aside from thickening up his milk a bit.

either way you could try a couple of things......

Cow and gate comfort first milk is a special thick feed and also has less lactose in it. I cant comment on the sma staydown as Tabs has never tried but the NICU told us to use the c&g. You will need to find a faster flowing teat for this.

There is a thickening agent called Hormel thick and easy instant food thickener you can try but only on advice of a professional.

Dr browns bottles helped immensely with Tabitha also by using gripe water at every feed ( i swore by boots own) as sometimes if bubs cant get the wind up the valve will get the whole lot up!

Sit up as much as possible after each feed.

Tabs hated lying flat even in her pram and was in so much pain when she was.
Raise head end of mattress to 25-30 degrees.
do nappy before feeds,if after try not to pull legs up but turn baby to side etc

Umm trying to think of what else.......
Oh use towels as bibs. I use terry towels for this as bibs are pointless and even now i throw one over my shoulder when i pick her up.

It usually happens when you least expect it so bedtime etc when in babybag,pjs etc make sure you have a towel covering all of them at the nightfeed,evening feed etc as if you have to change them/clean them up that will unsettle them more etc.

It can be tough. But please ask if bubs is in pain or not from it and that will determine whether it is truely reflux or just an immature valve which is a bit floppy at present.

 

[mrsdcooper]

hi its the first port of call with gaviscon, we had that and it didnt make any difference. so we went back and our doc prescribed DOMPERIDONE its an anti sickness medicine that has really helped her. also were advised to try the staydown milk from SMa as it thickens in their stomach and stops them for being sick, you mix it differently to normal SMa so make sure you read it... we were also reffered to a peaditician and are under thier consultancy to keep an eye on her.

good luck

 

[minip2p]

Liam is 1 month old, he is not in pain when being sick as he does not cry and most of the time you don't know it is coming until he brings it up and we get a nice wet patch or our top.

He can even bring milk up up to an hour or so after feeding, or even over night as at times in the morning he has a sickness stain at the side of his mouth and his moses basket sheet is stained.

I also wonder thinking about it if it is anything to do with him being breast fed and bottle fed, he dosen't get a lot from the breast as OH has to use nipple shields as he won't latch, then he takes around 4 fl oz of bottle, I wonder if it is anything to do with the mix of breast & bottle or taking too much with both ?

I suppose also he dosen't wind very well either as you can hear it on his chest but he does not do big burps and sometimes don't seem to have wind, again I wonder if some sort of gripe water before feed would help ?, he is either sitting in our arms or lying depeding if he is going off to sleep

 

[Scottish Sam]

When you say he is being sick, is he throwing up quite a lot or does it look like a mouthfulls worth? As its quite common for young babies to posset, heres a great link to explain it more
https://www.childhealth.co.uk/common_childhood_complaints/possetting.php