Re: 5 month old-extreme spit up/vomit

Posted By Cyndi on January 12, 1999 at 22:20:48:

In Reply to: 5 month old-extreme spit up/vomit posted by HER on January 12, 1999 at 17:07:24:






My five month old baby spits up all the time after eating - he seems happy, but the spitting up lasts ALL THE TIME no matter what we feed him. He eats every 3 hours - about 5 oz of formula.  He also has cereal and baby food twice a day.  When he eats, he burbs and always has some come up, then later, any where from 15 minutes to an hour he burbs and spits up again.  Sometimes he doesn't even have to burb, he just shoots it out of his mouth.  It is not projectile, just yucky.  this lasts all the time.  He cries after he spits up.  His spit up is also starting to smell like sour milk or rotten eggs.  It looks curdled also.  e is my first baby, so yes, I am a paranoid parent.  We also live in an area with no doctors - the closest one is in Anc 800 miles away.  Thank you for your time.
I am not a doctor, just a mom, but I have three children and all were major spitters!  Let me tell you, first time mom or fifth time mom, all concerns are warranted.  Does your child have check-ups?  Have you been keeping up with his growth, in terms of weight, heighth, and head circumference?  When babies have check ups, their growth is plotted on a chart, one for each of the three mentioned and then one to compare weight with heighth.  These charts have a line that shows what the average is for a baby at the age in which these values are taken.  In general, if your son is consistently climbing up the growth curve, whether at 20th percentile or 90th percentile, then you do not need to worry.  If, however, he drops significantly, say from 50th percentile (which is what the average child is) to 20th percentile, or drops below 5th percentile, then follow-up should be done.  Don't panick if you weigh him and he has dropped on the chart.  He could have a growth spurt the next day.  Have him weighed now, then again in a couple of weeks. You also could try switching him to a soy formula.  Many babies are lactose intolerant, but outgrow it.  My middle child still does not do milk products well.  He had a lactose intolerance which, after he started formula at 8 months of age, caused spitting up, loose stools, and a slow in weight gain.  After the switch he did great, and was much happier!  You can still do yogurt, but might want to cut back on other dairy products until you know if that is the problem or not.  Also, make sure you talk to your pediatrician, or a doctor at least!!!  He can talk to you about these issues.  There are other causes, such as pyloric stenosis, that require medical and possibly surgical management!  Do not delay on this visit, or at least a phone call if you can't get to his office.  If there is an underlying medical condition, your baby could become dehydrated and seriously ill before you know what's going on.  I would weigh your baby first thing in the morning and call the doctor.  Your concerns need to be brought to his doctors attention immediately!  Good Luck!
Cyndi