I was reading your blog today, and it reminded me of Matthews spit-up troubles. How is it going now? Any better? Was it reflux? Some of what you describe in older posts sounds like Jack. But I think he just eats too fast sometimes. He can drain an ounce in 1-2 minutes and usually nurses for about 10 minutes each session.

[ShannonMVT]

It is better now. He's been on Prevacid over two weeks. He still spits up but less of the projectile huge amounts and he seems to be sleeping better than he was. He still has his moments for sure...but we have a lot less of the screaming fits, etc.
Matthew probably eats too fast/too much at times as well and I'm sure that doesn't help.

Are you thinking Jack has reflux?

Well, I know he has reflux episodes. He has only projectile vomited twice, but then tonight he threw up and it came out his nose

I don't think meds would help b/c I think he just eats way too fast. Then he takes in extra air and that means gas and gas pains. His belly gets full so then when he burps (hates it when I try to burp him most of the time) I think some comes up with it reflux style.

You know, he has a stuffy nose, I wonder if that could be part of it. His nose has always been stuffy, although it is better at times and overall has improved. It is crazy trying to figure out why he gets so upset sometimes during and after feedings. At least I get some nice feedings so I don't feel so bad about it like I did at first *sigh*

What position do you burp him in Michelle? Kirsty hates if I sit her on my knee and rub her back, but is ok if I put her up to my shoulder. Maybe try another position to see if it helps? Also, do you pat his back or rub?

I've been told it's much more gentle and effective to rub their lower back in a circular motion rather than patting - patting seemingly can move the contents of tummy about too much and can contribute to sicking up a bit more.

[ShannonMVT]

Do you make him take breaks in the middle of feedings to burp? We have to do that with Matthew (or else the air will get underneath the milk and cause more spit up) and it makes him SO mad that I am taking him away from his milk to burp. He also used to be very hard to burp, though a bit easier now. We do on my chest/shoulder, bouncing him on my knee, leaning him forward sitting up.

Can you hear him sucking in air while he eats? Matthew does this sometimes too even though his latch looks and feels great. Usually I can get him to stop if I hold my boob up or reposition.

I gave him probiotics for about a month and that did help with his gas issues (though not with the spitup). The drops are called Bio Gaia infant probiotics or something like that. They are pretty expensive, found them at Target. And be warned if he spits up any of that, it will leave an oily stain on your clothes.

There is also something called silent reflux, where you can kind of hear the milk come up in their throat but it doesn't actually come out their mouth. Kind of the same sound as if something came up your throat and you swallowed it back down.

Sorry Jack is having troubles. It's so hard when something is wrong but we don't know what or how to fix it.

Oh and after I came on here and talked about how Matthew was doing better, he had a horrible evening/night. He would not go to sleep and was spitting up and crying again. But he was also running a low grade fever off and on so I'm hoping his troubles were just caused by that and nothing else.

Jack does the same thing when I take away the booby. He goes nuts! Like how dare I

I burp him over my shoulder or sitting on my lap leaning slightly against my chest. I will either very lightly pat or rub upward b/c I heard the hard patting can make things worse. Usually, I just try to sit him as upright as possible, or hold him vertical in the air. A few minutes of just that usually works up most burps. It is hard though b/c he hates being burped so I have to hold a binky in his mouth most times to keep him from screaming bloody murder while I do it, which just makes him suck in more air!

This is why I think people who criticize others choice to breastfeed or not should just stfu. Either they had an easy baby, or they have no baby and don't realize it is not easy for everyone. I still love it b/c at this point I realize what he is upset about and have weathered through the roughest parts. But for about a week before I figured out why he would get upset while nursing and came up with strategies for how to deal with it, I felt lower then low. Having a baby that seems upset to breastfeed is killer on the self esteem. It has gotten a lot better though, now I just have to deal with him hating being burped and eating too fast. Thanks for mentioning the latch though, b/c I re-watched some proper latch videos and that has helped--Less burps and a calmer (slowed down) nursing session He spat out a ton but that was b/c he overate

I hope Matthew's fever goes away and your night is better tonight Shannon!

[Mars]

I'm sorry Jack is having some problems. Amara used to drink (well gulp) her milk and it made her extremely gassy but she didn't have reflux. I would have to burp her and keep her upright for about 15 minutes after each feed. All the while I held her upright, I would be rubbing her back and sometimes she would still be burping or passing gas. I found that the holding her upright helped a lot.Oh, she was very stuffy the first few months as well.