4 week old nursing til he pukes all night long. Help me!

[Mizyellow]

This is  my 2nd sweet little boy and I thought nursing this time was going to be cake. He latches like a champ, is gaining weight, good to go right? Except I think he is colicky or something, only at night and the only thing he wants to do is nurse. Trouble is he throws up everything. I know people say it looks like more than it is but his spit up covers my entire side of the bed, it covers me, him and everything around us. He spits up like this at least once a day sometimes more like 5 times a day. At least one time a day this is the routine: He wakes up, cries to nurse so I nurse him. He pulls off, I burp him. I nurse him again. I burp him. I try to put him to sleep (as it is usually 2AM) he screams bloody murder. I see he is in pain so I try to get gas out. He tries to nurse on everything. I pass him off to my partner who carries him around the house. He calms, but still tries to nurse so I nurse him. I burp him. He screams i try to get gas out. I put him in swing to see if that helps, he calms for 3 minutes and then screams. I bounce him around the house. I am trying to not pull out my hair at this point. He wants to nurse so I nurse him, he vomits up copious amounts of milk all over the place. He is calm and happy, I am a mess. I clean up vomit. He wants to nurse. I try not to gouge out my eyeballs. He nurses and goes to sleep. Repeat.

I have cut out dairy, I give him gripe water. I burp often. I am at my wits end. Do I give him a paci? Help me please.

[sahmmie]

I had a son just like this!! He had reflux and threw up nearly everything he ate!! Even worse than your son because he threw up all day long too. 

If he's generally a happy baby he's probably fine. Some reflux babies are in lots of pain from acid backing up along with the puke and these babies cry a lot, sleep poorly, and often begin to refuse feedings. Doesn't sound like you have this problem, thank God.

If he sleeps fairly well (for a newborn ;) and he doesn't seem to be miserable, then what you probably have on your hands is what we in the the "reflux world" call "happy spitters." They eat enough to thrive, they're happy most of the time, but the throw up/spit up a lot. (My son used to splatter the walls and I often had to take a shower and change my bed (I always fed him at night in my bed) multiple times per night, so I know what you are saying about the amount!!! Also, it seems your little guy is a gassy baby which could be related to reflux, but could also be normal gas/colic that babies often have. My son literally had to burp after a 1/2 ounce or after 2 minutes of feeding.

So, here is what I learned over time which helped. First, if he's a reflux baby nothing but time will change that. He'll outgrow it. Until then, here are some things that worked for me. 

1. Try feeding him small, frequent meals. (I know this is tough with a newborn who wants to nurse when he wants to nurse, but smaller, more frequent meals can reduce the spitting up).

2. Try to limit the crying/screaming by getting to him as fast as you can (I'm sure you are doing this already because you're a mommy ;) but I thought I'd mention it) because babies swallow a lot of air when they cry and the more air they swallow before they eat, the more likely they will throw up that meal. If he takes a pacifier, that may help keep the crying down during burping, but some babies swallow a lot of air when they suck a pacifier too. You just have to try different things to see what helps. 

3. More frequent burping may help. You might have better luck pulling him off and burping him before he pulls off himself. By the time he pulls off he's probably already experiencing some discomfort.

4. Have his latch checked. If he's not making a tight enough seal, he'll swallow a lot more air than if he is making a tight seal.

5. This worked wonders for my son.... I'd give him a dose of Mylicon *before* I fed him. He burped more easily and spit up less when I did.

6. Keep him upright for a while (most docs suggest 30 minutes) after a feeding. I know this sucks at night when all you want to do is get back to bed, but it really does help some babies. 

7. Keep your chin up. Things will improve when he's doing more of his eating during the day and not so much at night when he's expected to lay down and go back to sleep. Also, reflux improves over time. 

8. Keep a food diary and maybe even try eliminating dairy for a few weeks. Lots of refluxer/spitters are intolerant to cow's milk (and/or soy) and this can be a big problem which is easily solved by removing it from the diet.

Here's a website that helped me a lot when my babies little (I actually had two reflux babies). www.infantreflux.org 

Good luck and congratulations on your new little love bug!

[Bokonon]

Could it be forceful letdown?

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html

My son was an excessive spitter, but he was growing well and healthy.  He outgrew the spitting up around 6 months.  It was unpleasant but not a medical concern.

[khalf]

I also had milk over supply/ forceful let down that caused spitting up in my son around 7 wks. I would not have suspected this w/out the suggestion of a nurse from the birth center where he was born. He had been spitting up a lot. He even got some of that brick dust coloring in his diaper which is why I called the bc. I also rec kellymom.com. The biggest help was expressing some milk into a burpy until the "geysers"  became drips when starting a feeding on a breast. Our severe spit ups went away w/in a month. A little over 6 mos he magically had a drastic reduction in any spitting up! if your son seems like he is guzzling milk rather thann nursing in a normal pace and heseems to be swallowing a lot of air - it could be over supply.

Hope you guys get an answer and some rest soon:)

[EchoSoul]

Agreed. My son was like this, and it took a few months to realize I had Overactive Letdown. Side-lay nursing helped a LOT! And block feeding. He only chokes once in a blue moon when he's nursing side-lay. Popping off constantly can be a sign that he's trying to control the letdown to the point he doesn't choke.

[gemasita]

I was thinking oversupply too.  Maybe he wants to comfort suck but has to keep drinking because the milk is coming!  Or maybe he's refluxy and keeps nursing because he wants to make his tummy feel better.  I don't know if this is a good suggestion or not but maybe try a pacifier?  It just sounds to me like he really wants to suck but is full.

[EchoSoul]

One of the tag-alongs to Overactive Letdown is foremilk and hindmilk imbalance. Baby gets filled up on the foremilk because of the forceful letdown, and gets none of the hindmilk. And because the foremilk is the thirst-quencher part, baby gets none of the fattier, sustaining hindmilk and is hungry again soon after. So feeding on one breast for a couple feedings in a row gives baby the hindmilk. Are his stools green and mucousy?

[Christalena]

Hey there.  I hope by now you've discovered the cause and cure for your l'il guy's vomiting.  In case you haven't, I would recommend checking with your pediatrician about the possibility that your son might have Pyloric Stenosis.  It's fairly common, and more common in boys than girls.  It develops at around 3-6 weeks of age.  It's like you said - it's not regular spit-up, it's copious amounts that require full-size bath towels to contain!  Here are a couple of informational links that talk about it, so you can see if you think it might be something to bring up with your doctor.  I only know about it because my daughter vomited like this for a short time and when I brought it up at her checkup our doctor mentioned that I should keep him informed if it got worse, because it might be this issue.  Because you explain symptoms of dehydration, it sounds like it might be this.  I know that they can treat it and it will not be something that will affect him always, so that's great news!

Good luck Mama.  And kudos to you for so far not pulling out your hair or gouging out your eyeballs.  I'm sure you'd find those to be only temporary solutions to venting frustration... ;-)  Hang in there, as with all things baby, it will pass and you will survive!!  Hugs to you.

Pyloric Stenosis

Different causes for Vomiting in Infants

http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/digestive/pyloric_stenosis.html

http://knol.google.com/k/vomiting-in-infants-and-children#

[Fulhouse]

I'm A week behind you. My baby is 3 wks now. She does The full throw up occasionally. Where it looks like the whole feed comes up in about 3 heaves. My lc says that if it's right after feeding and comes back out like it went in, with little distress ( baby not acting too distressed before the puke), it's overfeeding. Since I am pumping and bottle feeding and supplementing, I agree with her. My babe wants to sit and sip for a looong time, and probably overdoes it for her small stomach.

What I am doing that seems to be working so far is when I get the feeling she is full but still needs / wants to suck, I put the paci in and still hold her close like feeding. She likes that for a little while. If I put her down and give her the paci she is insulted. . Then she drops the paci and seems peaceful once she's sucked it awhile.

Good luck.