What medical problems could cause my child to spit-up during feeding?
One issue that we mentioned is reflux which will cause your baby to be fussy and remember that the majority of children who have reflux and reflux is very common just because the gastro intestinal track and the muscle tone is not good, is painless and babies grow and develop normally and we do no interventions. Another common cause of fussiness during feeding is an allergy and one of the common allergies we look for is called a milk protein allergy. Human milk is made out of a human milk protein. And the main formulas and it doesn't matter what the brand, is made of a cows milk protein similar to the milk we buy in the supermarket. And when we say someone is allergic milk we say they are allergic to the protein. This is different from than lactose intolerance. Lactose is a sugar found in milk that actually lactose intolerance in infants is extremely rare, unless you are born with a genetic deficiency in that enzyme. Lactose intolerance in general is something you gain later as you get older, so when were talking about allergy we are talking about a milk protein allergy. Infants with this usually you will see are really upset with feeding. They are taking the milk and their arching and their gassy and their really fussy during and around feedings, and it sometimes very hard to distinguish between that and reflux and just normal stretching, but they are really fussy with it. When we think a baby has a milk allergy and their on formula we change them to either a soy based formula so instead of the cows milk protein it is a soy protein or we change them to a hypoallergenic formula. A hypoallergenic formula basically what they do is they take the cows milk protein they break it up into little pieces and they wash them so they are easily digested. And depending how severe you child's symptoms are helps us differentiate whether will try the soy formula first or go right to a hypoallergenic formula, because up to 20-30 percent of children who are allergic to cows milk protein may also be allergic to soy. So sometimes we'll skip over that point. It just really depends on your child's symptoms.
