Chronic Vomiting

Hi,

I am at my wits end & was wondering if there are other Mums out there experiencing similar problems because I am in desperate need of advice.

My 2.5 yr old has been vomiting constantly since birth. When she was younger she would projectile vomit after being fed her formula at least 1- 2 times daily. When she started on solids at four months she would vomit up her purees as well. I kept hoping the situation would improve as she got older but I discovered that she couldn't tolerate any lumpy or chunky foods as she never chews her food but just swallows every mouthful. If there was a stray piece of carrot or pea in her puree, she would gag on it & her entire meal as well as any formula she had drunk earlier, would come up as well. If I was quick enough and able to catch it in the container I always kept nearby, I would measure the contents & discover at least 250 - 300ml of vomit. So at 2.5 yrs old she is still on purees & has never been able to eat any finger foods. If she is offered any she will just hold onto it & lick it but never attempt to take any bites.

She has had all the tests done & doctors have found nothing physically wrong with her. She has been seeing a speech therapist every fortnight for the past 6 months but I have seen no improvement in her symptoms as she is still vomiting up to 8 times per week. Other triggers to her constant gagging & vomiting are excessive coughing, laughing & crying.

To make matters worse my 16 month old is experiencing the same problems although she does not vomit quite as often or in such high volumes. Her major problem is that it takes me 1 hr to feed her as she just holds the food in her mouth & refuses to swallow. She is also still on purees & cannot tolerate lumpy or finger foods either. I am wondering if there is a genetic component to this as the girls 3.5 yr old cousin suffers similar problems & my cousin did as well till she was 11. My husband disagrees & is no help whatsoever as he blames me for the girls feeding problems, telling me that if both girls are constantly vomiting then I must be doing something wrong.

Please help!!! Motherhood is supposed to be a happy and enjoyable experience but I am finding it to be the opposite & each day dread feeding time as all I seem to be doing is mopping up vomit & re-feeding constantly.

Hi smile

I don't have time to write a full reply right now, but I couldn't get off without letting you know that someone has read your post and has something to say about it. I don't think I know what is wrong, but I do think I may be able to be of some help to you.

I will write out my full reply as soon as I get the time. Until then here is a *BIG HUG*. You are doing a good job smile

Firstly, hugs to you. What a lot to deal with.
Are you in Brisbane? I think I know someone to refer you to, that could help if you are.

Thank you for your responses & kind words.

Today was another nightmare of a day with a highly stressed out me bawling her eyes out when the 2.5 yr old vomited up the entire contents of her breakfast, lunch & one bottle. The 16 month old also vomited up several spoonfuls of food at all 3 meal times but took so long at lunch time that I just gave up after 1hr 15 mins as she hadn't even eaten half.

Don't know how much more of this I can take & feel I am on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Yes I do live in Brisbane so please let me know who you recommend my girls see about their feeding problems. The doctors & speech therapist have not been any help as their advice is for me to continue the girls on pureed food & to feed more frequently in small volumes but this has not stopped the constant & daily vomiting.

Hiya,

I was just searching our Huggies Expert Panel, to see if I could find any questions with similarities to yours. Our Huggies Nutritionist has posted some links for feeding clinics in this post. I have copied them below for you as well.

Feeding clinic links :
Aussie: www.nofussfeeding.com.au
NZ: http://www.paediatricfeedingdisordersclinic.co....
Tresillian – http://www.cs.nsw.gov.au/tresillian/resources.htm
Speech pathologists – http://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/Defa...

They may not be exactly what you need, but perhaps they can point you in the right direction, in your search for further advice?

I hope that helps a wee bit, and that you soon find the help you need for your children smile

dede874, I just tried to message you, but think you have to be following me so I can send you a private message. If you follow me, I'll send you the details that could be worth a try.

Hello again smile

As soon as I finished reading your post the other night I called my Mum and told her about it. She was almost in tears as she understands to some degree.

I have a medical condition called Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome, and while it doesn't sound like what is happening with your daughers, it has some similarities.
From the age of 2 1/2 I would vomit for seemingly no reason and continue to do so for up to 3 days. I couldn't keep anything down. My Mum was sure there was something wrong, but nobody would believe her. They just thought I had a tummy bug or something. I was 8 before doctors started to believe her that something was wrong, and that was only because she had taken me to the emergency doctors 4 times in 3 months.I was diagnosed with CVS and they did heaps of tests on me. But here's the thing - they can't find anything physically wrong with people who have CVS either.

I suppose the point of my story is that even if they can't find something phsically wrong, there may be something going on. Just keep pushing them to do something about it and eventually you will get there.

Good luck. I hope that you find your answers soon smile

Thank you Zinkles for sharing your story with me.

I empathise with your poor Mum who must have suffered so much watching you go through what you did as a child and not have found any answers or diagnosis for your medical condition till you were 8 years of age!

I agree that CVS does not seem to fit what my daughters are suffering from. During my extensive research online for answers, I did come across this puzzling medical condition but after reading about it, found that it didn't match my daughters symptoms as they do not have attacks of intense nausea before the vomiting starts and the retching doesn't last for hours as is the case with CVS.

I certainly hope that you have outgrown this debilitating medical condition which sounds like a lot to have to cope with.

My 16 old month baby boy is having a very similar problem of vomiting. He had this problem from birth and they kept saying it will go away after he is one year old. now he is 16 month old and still experiencing the same problem. Feeding him also takes alot of time.
I was wondering what was the conclusion of this post, maybe it can help me figure out the problem I am having as well.

Hi Rana,

I'm very sympathetic to your situation and what you're experiencing with your 16 month old son but I'm afraid I don't have any encouraging news for you.

My almost 3 yr old daughter has only in recent months come off purees and been able to manage solid food and praise the Lord her vomiting has ceased. Although she is a very fussy eater and still takes up to an hour to eat some meals, I am thankful that she is able to consume a variety of foods and textures and no longer vomits after enduring her almost daily vomiting for over 2.5 yrs.

My younger 21 month old daughter however is still vomiting almost daily, sometimes 2-3 times/day. I am at my wits end with her and have no idea how to stop it. Even with the smoothest of purees she still gags and vomits up huge volumes. I am not over feeding her, as my husband blames as most of the time she vomits at breakfast and sometimes after just a few spoonfuls. I have tried everything, different purees, reducing volume, cutting back milk but nothing has worked and she continues to vomit daily.

Both girls went to see a paediatric gastro who simply told me to take a wait & see approach with the younger one as she would eventually outgrow the vomiting. He offered to do a gastroscopy on the older one but we declined.

We were admitted to the Ellen Barron Family Centre back in August for help with the girls feeding and swallowing problems. The Child Health Nurses there were very helpful and offered all kinds of advice such as encouraging self feeding (which my girls don't do), limiting meal times to 30 mins (take away food if not consumed within this period), no wiping of mouth, hands or tray during meal (ie, let them make mess & only cleaning up after), no meals in front of TV, eating meals as a family so they can see and mimic your eating habits and most importantly to not make a big fuss or stress out when they vomit (which is impossible in my case as I always break down and cry or scream at the girls). The girls did OK at the centre and didn't vomit often but that was only because they hardly ate anything as I had to clear everything away after 30 mins if they hadn't finished their meal.

I put into practice all the advice when we returned home but it only lasted 2 weeks before the girls were back to vomiting again.

I used to blame myself a lot for the girls feeding problems, especially with my unsupportive & unsympathetic husband telling me constantly that it was my fault the girls were vomiting & that I must be doing something wrong. However, after trying all different methods & ways to stop the vomiting, have come to realise that I am just extremely unlucky and cursed with 2 children who have feeding and swallowing issues as they just don't know how to chew & swallow their food properly like other toddlers can from a much younger age. Apart from my sister-in-law who suffers similar problems with her daughter (although on a much lower scale) I have not come across any other mums experiencing feeding, swallowing and vomiting issues with their babies. It is very frustrating to look all around especially when out shopping and seeing all the babies in the food court happily chomping down a variety of chunky foods without any difficulty.

I hope your son outgrows his problem soon as I can certainly empathise with what you are going through.