Sick and Tired

Adorable Grin

Adorable Grin

I feel guilty in admitting this, but I am sick and tired of baby puke.  I know, it is called spit-up to make it more palatable, but baby puke it is.  There is not a day that goes by that I am not regurgitated on (several or dozens of times) by my now almost seven month old, and it is getting old.  I keep hoping he will grow out of it and start to keep his food down.

I sometimes worry about his digestive track, and I have forcefully kept myself from google because of this.  He hardly ever has what I consider to be a normal bowel movement, it is always very wet, yellow and hardly ever has “curds” in it.  If he wasn’t growing like a weed and in the 50th percentile for weight and 80-90th for height I would be really worried.  I hesitate to talk to my doctor about it, because I don’t want to seem like one of those moms who worry all the time about their children’s pooping habits, but I am one of those moms.  Is this really a bad thing?  Should I worry more about my child’s pooping issues?  Does this mean that since he is an almost exclusively breastfed child that I am eating the wrong way?  Should I have started solids sooner?

It has only been the last week that I have made a concerted effort to really try to get Quinlan to eat solids.  He didn’t even want to try the rice cereal and it is only this week with sweet potato and now carrots that he has shown any interest in solids at all.  Sweet potato got the thumbs up as well as a few raspberries.  He would show his appreciation (or so I thought) by eating some and then blowing raspberries and getting sweet potato everywhere.  Then I tried carrots last night and low and behold, just eating, no raspberries.  I haven’t yet tried this morning but I am hoping it will go as well.

I was also told that if we started him on solids he might stop wanting to get up in the middle of the night to eat, that it was habit.  I am now not so sure.  For quite a while Quinlan was sleeping from about 10 pm until 5ish.  Now he goes to sleep at about 7:30 pm (I feed him to sleep) and starts crying for a snack about 2:30 am.  He then wakes up again betweek 4 and 5 am for another feed.  It is making me a little cranky.  I can’t blame him or ignore him, so I am getting really tired.  If I wasn’t a morning person before it is really unlikely I will start to become one now.

So the bottom line is I need some advice on stopping the puking, and helping his bowel solidify some of the poop.  Or maybe I just needed to vent a little and then some reasurance that despite my fears, since Quinlan is a happy and well adjusted baby, he probably isn’t suffering with his pooping and puking problems.

Quinlan Happy in the Sun

Quinlan Happy in the Sun

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6 Responses to Sick and Tired

  1. Lexi says:

    My son was Spit Up Champion of the World, and it did taper off as more solid foods were introduced – by the time he was eating two solid meals a day the spit up was more or less gone. And I started wearing girl clothes again. The reduction in laundry was a pleasant surprise – I’d forgotten what it was like to wear the same clothes for more than 4 hours in a row…

    We also had some hiccups in the sleeping schedule with solid food introduction. It settled down about a month after one ferber session. Now, at almost 12 months, he sleeps 8pm-7am daily, except when teething. Then all bets are off.

    If Quinlan was malnourished, he wouldn’t be growing so well.

    Panic not!

  2. Carrie says:

    It sounds like he has normal poops. Not all breastfed babies will get those curds (I know my first rarely did once she passed 3 months). And now that he is starting to eat solids his poops will get more “solid” themselves (In fact, you will miss those breastmilk only poops…they smell SO much nicer LOL)

    Since he’s growing well and consistant I wouldn’t worry. he is only 7mo so maybe his digestive track is still a little immature and that’s why he pukes. Some babies just do that. Just keep telling yourself that it will pass.

    As for the “if he eats solids he’ll sleep through the night” that is c-r-a-p in my experience. As he gets older and learns new things he’ll wake up to try them. And as he moves about more during the day he won’t eat as much SO he’ll probably wake up and need a nibble. Babies consume up to 25% of their daily calories at night. True, some babies can sleep through the night but I suspect those parents are sometimes fibbing 😉

    Sounds like he is a perfectly normal, happy, healthy little guy.

  3. Lexi says:

    Duh – it settled down about a month *later* after one ferber session. Not a month after one ferber session. Fingers are disobeying basic commands today…

  4. Helen says:

    Hey there- My husband sent me to your blog to see if I could help. I’m a pediatric nurse and I’ve got two teens myself.
    I wouldn’t worry about the poops, all sounds pretty normal there. His poop won’t start to solidify until he’s taking more foods. There’s a wde range of what is normal with poop. Soft and easy to pass is what you want. How often isn’t as important, neither is the colour unless it’s black or bloody.
    At this stage though, foods are more for fun and learning to eat than about getting nutrition. Breastmilk should still be the mainstay of his diet till at least 9 months or so. Until then, just very gradually introduce new foods and give it a few days between each new one in case he gets any kind of reaction. Offer foods after breastfeeding at each meal and start with only a few spoonfuls, working up to around 2-4 tablespoons of each type. Don’t offer the mixed foods until after 9 months or so. After 9 months, you can start giving the foods first.
    The spitting up is a bit more concerning. It’s normal for babies to spit up until around 5 months of age, when the sphincter at the top of the stomach isn’t completely developed. By 7 months it should be doing it’s thing and keeping the food down. I wouldn’t worry if he was spitting up tiny amounts once or twice a day, but if it’s more like vomit- that is: coming up with some force behind it or causing him distress (he cries when it happens), or happens nearly every time he eats, then it should at least be investigated. It’s a very good sign that’s he’s growing well. Likely his digestive system is just taking it’s time developing completely. Watch out for over-feeding though. Some babies will eat when they are upset about something else if food is offered and will take too much and then spit up. If you think he shouldn’t be hungry yet (just ate well an hour ago for instance, try some other soothing techniques before offering food. babies get bored, tired, etc…)
    I could go on an on. One thing I would like to give you that might come in handy is the number for Healthlink BC. You can speak to a registered nurse (could be me!) anytime of the day or night, from anywhere in BC by calling 811. It’s a great service and we have loads of info to share.

  5. KTP says:

    Gwen,
    Don’t shy away from asking your pediatrician anything, ever. Suck up your shy hypochondriac ways and ASK. That’s what they’re there for. I guarantee – any crazy thing you ask that you think might be annoying is NOTHING compared to some of the stuff they’ve heard in the past.

    As for the nighttime sleeping, I found it helpful to do a “dream feed” when I went to bed around 10:30 – the baby barely wakes, feeds, then goes back to sleep – and that made him sleep longer and skip the 2AM snack.

    good luck. It sucks, but then it will be over too soon.

  6. Hi Gwen,

    Netchick sent me to say hi.

    Not being a Mom I can’t say I understand exactly what you are going through, but I can certainly respect your need to call spit up what it is lol. The picture you paint is refreshing and realistic. I can’t help with advice, but can help with the venting 🙂

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