Spits up only after nursing

[intokermit]

Every time my ds nurses he promptly spits it all back up. He doesn't do this when I pump and give him the milk, so why is this happening?

[dewoman81]

my dd does the same thing at almost 6 months. Everyone says it is a laundry issue and not to worry if she is gaining well. Your letdown maybe a bit too fast for your babe and he swallows a bit of air. Nothing to worry about as long as he is gaining well. :)

[RedheadbyChoice]

Yep, as long as babe is gaining and not in pain, all is well. You might try nursing babe in a more upright position and not jostling as much after you're done nursing.

[intokermit]

I'll try the upright position and not jostling. My concern about the letdown is that he's tugging on my nipples, acting like he's not getting anything.

[RedheadbyChoice]

Is baby gaining? Giving you the diapers daily? Swallowing when nursing? If yes, then YOU ARE MAKING ENOUGH MILK FOR HIM AND HE'S DRINKING IT!

Sorry to shout at you, sugar, but if babe is gaining, then yes, babe is getting the milk. It's all about input and output, as in what goes in, must come out.

When does he tug? After the letdown, while he's doing the active swallowing? Before then? Later, after he's been drinking a while?

Have you had supply issues in the past? Do you work outside the home and babe gets bottles of EBM on a regular basis? What makes you think that you're not making enough milk for him?

[intokermit]

I didn't say that I wasn't making enough. For the past 2 months I've only been able to pump and feed him that way. We just started nursing, so I don't know if he's gaining from nursing. He weighs 15 lbs. at 2 months, but he has also only been bottle fed breast milk. I was just saying that I wasn't sure that his spit up was because of a fast let down, as he tugging on my nipples like he isn't getting it fast enough. Make sense? And he tugs thru the whole feeding.

[RedheadbyChoice]

Ahhhhhhhh.

Honestly, my babies tug the entire time that we're nursing; I guess I just know that as normal nursing feeling.

Are you still using bottles with babe or exclusively nursing?

[intokermit]

Still use the Breastflow bottles, as he's spitting up so much after nursing, he's hungry. I pump and give him that after nursing

[RedheadbyChoice]

has babe been evaluated for reflux? have you thought about eliminating dairy? how much does babe spit up?

[intokermit]

I'm lactose intolerant, so I don't do dairy. It could be reflux, so I'll ask his ped. and just a few min. ago he threw up a great deal all over me, him, and the floor.

[SingingMom]

A baby is usually much better at getting milk out than a pump. Since you are feeding him your milk in a bottle, it isn't likely that he has a reflux problem when nursing but not when bottle fed- that's just not likely.

What is more likely is that he gets far more milk directly from the breast than he does from the bottle, very quickly. And then throws up the excess. This is more common than you might think. It may look like a lot of milk all over the floor, and the pajamas, and everything. But he probably has even more in his belly. The breasts are capable of making an amazing amount of milk, very very quickly.

Another possibility is that his latch may be a bit wacky, on top of that, and he may be swallowing a lot of air. The gas in his belly may be triggering enough discomfort to get him to throw up a lot. You could try burping him very frequently while nursing.

It's hard to evaluate a latch remotely, KWIM? And since he's been bottlefed, he may be used to tugging at the nipple. If he's just now transitioning to nursing at the breast, it make take him a little bit to get the hang of handling it.

My first baby did quite a lot of throwing up. And it hit at about this age. Looking back, I think I had a VERY plentiful supply and I was drowning him in milk. And then, throwing up is unpleasant, so he would want to comfort nurse afterward. It's possible that your baby is taking a bottle after nursing for comfort rather than from hunger.

This is distressing, but almost all babies overcome this problem for whatever reason as they grow older. You'll get through it, momma!