Mysterious nightly vomiting

Mama Bear

Mon, Oct 16 2006, 11:19 pm

I'm cross posting this to four message boards and then I'll compre notes Smile

.

Shimon Moshe has been mysteriously throwing up EVERY SINGLE night for a while now. He'll go to bed with a bottle of milk and after he finishes it, instead of falling asleep he cries and cries until he begins throwing up. We finally decided that perhaps milk is a bad idea at nighttime becuse maybe his stomach gets overly full and can't handle the load. So tonight I gave him water instead. (He can only fall asleep with a bottle, as a means of comfort.) Hooray, he fell asleep without vomiting. I thought we found the cure. No sirree - within an hour he was awake and crying hysterically, untl he threw up.

What can this be? Is he vomiting out of stubbornness, I.e. from crying in refusal to go to sleep? Or maybe he goes to sleep with a too full tummy? He usually goes to sleep about 2 1/2 - 3 hours after dinner. HE doesnt have huge dinners. but maybe I'm overfeeding him? OR does he have to eat earlier than that?

What do you all think?

Thanks.

shayna82

Mon, Oct 16 2006, 11:23 pm

maybe acid reflux, a stomach irritation. by not giving him milk for that last bottle, is not a valid case study. to throw out the idea that the milk isnot bothering him, he needs to be off it fo rlonger than one feeding. cuz the milk is still in his system to a certain extent.

my son would spit up a lot, he eventually grew out of it. im not sure if you are talking a big spit up or a full fledged throw up. its definitly something your doctor needs to know about for health reasons. he needs that food staying in his body.

micki

Mon, Oct 16 2006, 11:28 pm

does he like going to sleep?
does he fight the whole thing or he goes happily?

my oldest hated going to bed and threw up nightly to get our attention and have us come back.
when we set a routine and basicly told her this is how it goes, and throwing up will not get us to take you out, also when she gotused to doing things every night in the same order and she knew what was coming next- meaning after bath, the same story nightly etc... now it bed time, she stopped.
she was 9-11 months old at the time.

Mama Bear

Mon, Oct 16 2006, 11:30 pm

he doesnt go to sleep happily or readily, but I dont think he would throw up to get our attention - he is not smart enough for that. he may, however, b ethrowing up as a matter of crying so long and hard until he's coughing and coughing and throwing up.

he throws up a lot in general, and it can be triggered by anything - a gag reflex from administered medication or too much food or food he doent like etc.

micki

Mon, Oct 16 2006, 11:40 pm

mindy do you have a carbon copy, down to where you sit set schedule for putting him to bed?
that will help him know what is coming next.
and yes he is smart enough- not on purpose but crying hard will make him throw up eventually.
you want to get him to go to bed happily,with no crying and then he will stop throwing up.

list your bedtime routine here- and for $50 I'll analyze it for you Wink

Annie

Mon, Oct 16 2006, 11:41 pm

There are kids who puke easier than others. In my family we always knew who the "pukers" were. Whenever they had a bad cold, or swallowed something a little funny or cried for a long time, they threw up. My point is that some are more "prone" to it than others.

The problem with continual vomiting is that it can really irritate the lining in his throat and cause damage to his vocal chords (long term crying will do that as well, but it will take longer b/c it doesn't have the acid). Also, the acid coming up with the puke from his stomach will eventually start to affect the enamel on his teeth.

Is there *anything* you can do to ease his bedtime routine so he's not crying? How long does he cry for at night?

I would definitely talk to your doctor about it. It could be as simple as the fact that he's falling asleep drinking something and he gags b/c he's mostly sleeping but there are still drops falling in his mouth. If he's got a tendency to puke anyway, this could trigger it.

Mama Bear

Mon, Oct 16 2006, 11:48 pm

oh micki, my bedtime routine is very normal - bath, get into pj's, bottle and bed. he just wants to stay up and play, that's all.

truth is he just started this vomiting business the past 2 weeks while also dealing with his premolars coming in, and an ear infection. so maybe he was just crying from pain.

maybe I'm shaking him up too much while dressing him - he is all over the bed and bedroom while I dress him, and giving him to drink right after that makes his stomach churn?

maybe I should sit with him for five minutes quietly and read him a book or something before putting him to bed? Yeah, right, like he'll sit still for fiv eminutes Wink

shayna82

Mon, Oct 16 2006, 11:51 pm

what if you find a toy that he enjoyes a lot, a small dinky thing, but only take it out for those hard to get in to bed routine times. I do that, and its great. it keep them happy and distracted, and in one place on the changing table, and then its shema, bed- good night. it depends on the age, but for that age- until closer to two , I keep the bedtime routine short and simple. the more you hang around, the more they will keep you running.

micki

Tue, Oct 17 2006, 12:00 am

he falls asleep and then wakes up to throw up?
in that case I bow to annies wisdom- it must be something physical like a gag reflex.
that I never experienced unless a kid is sick.

as to bedtime, try dimming the lights, putting on soft noise like a water sound, and not tickling him or doing anything wild.
then - will he sit on your lap for a min, to hear hte first few pages of a story? pick one that is repetetive and make it almost musical by repeting the sounds. read until he jumps up. then move on to the next item, like singing shema while he drinks the bottle in his bed.

Mama Bear

Tue, Oct 17 2006, 12:32 am

he already has soft lights and a sound machine. he has a soothing nighttime routine. it sounds like something physical to me, but it can also be stubbornness.

right now he's sleeping schedule is so messed up due to yomtov, so we'll wait and see what happens as time goes on.

Annie

Tue, Oct 17 2006, 1:17 am

Give him a few days to get back on schedule, but keep his bedtime as consistent as possible and look for his cues. Does he give you sleepy cues earlier than his bedtime? Is his afternoon nap later than usual?

I would really recommend trying to get him away from the liquids at night, for a lot of reasons. Getting off milk is a first step, but you should try giving him water while you're reading him the story, and then less and less each night in bed.

Is he on antibiotics for his ear infection? Depending on the abx, one of my kids (the puker in my family) will almost always puke.

Is the crying at bedtime new -- and consistent with the ear infection, yomtov schedule mix up and molars? or is it something that was going on before.

Also, before I give you more unsolicited advice, please remind me how old your little guy is :-).

MOM222

Tue, Oct 17 2006, 10:37 am

My dd did the this for a few weeks when she was 11- 12 months old.
Until today she can throw up very easily. All she does is cry a bit, start coughing and she throws up.

Every night she would cry... After she threw up, I would go in,open the light, wash her, change her....

My mother said she was doing it for attention which I thought sounded ridiculous at that time. But I listened to my mother and the prob. disappeared.

I put on two sheets with plastic inbetween (like the plastic mattress pad). Then when she threw up I went in didn´t open the light, quickly stripped the top sheet. Then took off her pj, cleaned her a bit, (no bath...) let her sleep in just an undershirt and walked out. NO talking, giving time.

I felt gross that she wasn´t clean properly. After two night she stopped throwing up. She tried again about a week later one night.

Hope this helps, and they are wayyyy smarter than you think.

JMto2

Tue, Oct 17 2006, 10:41 am

My SIL had something like this it lasted for two weeks and then she took him to the doc and they took tests everything was fine and then they said that its some sorta virus it lasted around four weeks and then the kids stopped vomitting.

cindy324

Tue, Oct 17 2006, 12:55 pm

Hah! You better believe he's smart enough, don't let the small package fool you!

Anyhow, This is the age for separation anxiety, and it rears it's ugly head around this age, even if you never leave him. Although my kids weren't pukers, they did give me a hard time with bedtime around the 8 month - 12 month stage. They would go to bed no prob, until one day they would scream bloody murder when put into their crib. By the time I had my 2nd and 3d, I learned to not give in, and it ended after a few days. My first one , OTOH , I gave into and ended up in my ended for the next 4 years Rolling Eyes

My niece was just like your son. She would start crying, and if she cried long and hard enough she would vomit on cue. My SIL asked me for a favor once to come with her to an appointment so I can watch her DD while she went inside. As soon as she went inside she started crying, so I (foolishly) picked her up and tried to soothe her by holding her. well, I don't have to tell you who got vomited on BIG TIME. worst thing was we had to take the city bus home, and I stunk up the whole bus.

Good luck , and I hope it will resolve itself soon. Meanwhile I like the idea of the double sheets. Very smart!

NumberOneMommy

Tue, Oct 17 2006, 8:33 pm

My son used to make himself throw up starting from about 10 months old and the pediatrician kept telling me he wants attention make him sit in his throw up. We did that and it still didn't work. It ended up that he has reflux and a lot of food allergies. So it's not always for attention. You have to know your child and if you think there is something wrong don't just ignore it.

Mama Bear

Tue, Oct 17 2006, 8:47 pm

He is 13 months old. annie you couldve seen that in my signature Smile

. BH tonight he went to bed without a problem. He was crying from exhaution from 6:30 pm but I kept him up til 8 so that h wouldnt treat the sleepingtime like a nap. I'm holding my breath that he doesnt wake up soon and start the charades all over again. Momm 2222, your idea is smart but once h is crying so badly that h's throwing up, ther'es no way I wont go in and comfort him. 2 sheets is a smart idea, mayb ei'll invest in some new shets.

Annie

Tue, Oct 17 2006, 11:31 pm

at 13 months, he certainly knows what's going on, and that if he cries you'll come in.

However, I'm not a big fan of letting a child cry, especially if they're "pukers" as many are in my family.

Someone above mentioned following the same routine every day at EXACTLY the same time. I would do the two sheet thing during this time, but still try and limit the drinks in bed. Maybe extend the bedtime prep a little bit. Add in a story or some rocking, but always have the same cue (Ha Malach, or whatever) as the very last thing you do. And at 13 months you can tell him "this is what we're doing now b/c mommy doesn't want you to throw up anymore b/c it can't feel very good."

If you do go in, I agree with whomever posted above -- no lights, a quick change, put a t-shirt on him and then leave.

Good luck.

Try to read his cues to make sure that the bedtime you've set for him is the right time. Make sure he's a little tired, but not overtired b/c then they get their second wind.

Oh, and signature lines?? I'm supposed to *read* those LOL