What would you do...with a puker?

[Franni]

I am a little torn about what to do here and am looking for input.

DD is now 8 months old and recently in the last month has started to vomit often. When she was an infant, she was also the spit-up queen but it wasn't anything to be alarmed about. Usually occurring a few minutes after a full feeding, etc.

Well, now she started on vomitting. There is no rhyme or reason (not that I can tell) when it occurs. It has happened when she is happy and peacefully playing, after a meal, before a meal, hours after a meal, when she is crying, when she is in the car seat, when she is lying down, sitting, being carried. So to my eye, there is no discernable pattern.

I spoke to her ped and he had said that maybe she had the touch of the stomach flu. We went to him when she was doing this for a week. Outside of the vomitting, there is no change in her demeanor. She is happy in general. The only thing that has been difficult has been sleep but she has always had problems sleeping. So might be totally unrelated.

I was worried that she might have reflux or something, the ped checked and said that he couldn't see anything in her throat. He basically said that the vomitting is normal and she would outgrow it eventually.

What concerns me outside of her puking is that it just started happening. It is nothing like a spit up. She has thrown up what she ate and what she has eaten hours ago. If it is immaturity in her digestive system, shouldn't it have happened from the very start? Why was her system alright the first 7 months and then all of a sudden become immature? We began solids at 6 months and she didn't begin to throw up until about 7 months.

I am at a loss. I am wondering if I should take her to a specialist. Some of the testing is very invasive (sticking a probe down her throat), so that's why I am torn. Am I just being paranoid? I would feel bad if there is something wrong and I did nothing. I would also feel bad if I subject her to all these painful tests only to find out that she is fine.

What would you do?

[solongtogo]

Vomiting is not normal, so I beg to differ with your ped. I'd get a second opinion there....

[mindy75]

ITA with Solongtogo. I'd get a second opinion. What is your DD eating/drinking? Have you ruled out food allergies/milk intolerance?

[Sophia]

I'd take her to another ped.

[lil_nance]

I agree with the allergy possability. I'd get a second opinion.

[Marisa]

I'll agree with the allergy possibility as well. Sometimes an allergy takes a little while to show up (the few weeks between intro'ing solids and seeing the reaction) as the body detects the food as an allergen and starts building up antibodies against it.

[Franni]

She is still on breastmilk now. do you think I should do an elimination diet and take her off solids? I don't see a link but I have not been taking copious notes of my intake.

[Marisa]

It sounds like she was doing the normal infant spitting up when she was exclusively breastfed, so it's likely that it's not something that you're eating that's bothering her -- in my opinion, of course. It sounds more likely that it's something she herself is eating, since the timing is so close to her starting solids. I'm sure you know what she's been eating, since that's something you monitor pretty close with an infant, and you can try eliminating things from her solids diet to see if it helps. But speaking with an allergy specialist couldn't hurt either, they can do a scratch test or some bloodwork, much less invasive than a tube down her throat.

[dana b]

there's a big difference between spiting up and vomiting -- for vomiting i would insist on seeing a specialist - and for vomiting, i would go through with the procedures. we were all pretty sure ds had reflux, but didn't feel it was bad enough to go through all the testing, so we just waited until he outgrew it. at 10 mos old, he still spits up, but maybe just a couple of times a day now. both of my kids have only vomited once and it's really hard to watch a baby vomit.

[janu98]

how many days in between did you wait to introduce new foods? I have been introducing a new fruit/veggie every 3 days.... DS seems to be doing well but today he threw up. Should i wait more days in between to introduce new foods?:confused:

[luvnu43]

My niece kept throwing up, she has a digestive issue.

Is DD pooping normally? My niece wasn't and so her poor little body had to dispose of that food/drink somehow, it was puking.

The tiny hairs in her lower intestines don't move things along like they should.

She is on laxatives for the rest of her life now.

I don't want to scare you or anything, just offer another angle to consider. It took three doctors, two specialists and about 13 mos before she was diagnosed.

I hope you have answers soon!

[MichelleRenee]

Other than a food allergy all I can think of is pyloric stenosis, but I don't know if that applies to babies her age or with her symptoms. That is when the muscle grows over the opening to the intestines so food can't get through, but I thought that was just something newborns experienced.

I would definitely get a second opinion.

[Franni]

janu we do introduce one new solid every week. The standard is every 4 days. I would do more if you have allergies in your family.

vomiting vs spit-ups When she was on breastmilk ONLY, she had spit-ups. A little here and there. This time around it is vomiting, it is when she is actually throwing up her entire meal and sometimes the meal before that.
I think I will try to get a second opinion. The wait for a specialist is long though.

For now, I am starting from scratch. Rice cereal and breastmilk for the week. Then we will add one new food a week. I will stop the dairy and the caffeine because I have added those back recently. Hopefully this will be enough.


Thanks for all the opinions and thoughts.

[E&O]

We went through aphase this past winter when my DD would projectile vomit every night when we gave her her nightime bottle. No other time throughout the day. After a week of this we saw our ped and it turns out she had an ear infection. As soon as we started antibiotics the puking stopped. About 3or 4 weeks later, the puking started again and sure enough another ear infection. Don't know if the circumstances are the same but just another idea to check out.