Any Experience with "Gripe Water" or Anything Else That Helps with Gas Pain?

My daughter experienced this at 2-months. I switched her formula to Isomil Advance (soy) formula. It was recommended to me by my cousin. It worked and she's been on it ever since!

My son, who is now 10 months old also had a lot a trouble with gas. Gripewater was the only thing that brought him any relief. You can give up to 6 doses a day and there were many days we used all 6 doses. It's a little pricey and once the bottle has been opened, you need to use it within 30 days, but it's worth it.

My daughter had the same issue and her doctor had us give her Apple Prune juice about 3 days a week and it worked wonders.

Good luck.

I am using babies magic tea that is great for my child. He slleps well during the night without fussiness.

have u tried karo syrup with water in a bottle just add a little karo to a bottle of water it helps loosen the bowels andin return helps with excess gas

If you are breastfeeding sometimes baby can have a sensitivity to something in your diet- often dairy is the culprit. You could try an elimination diet to see if that helps.

My son had a period of a few weeks where he was very gassy around that age, then just stopped and was fine.

www.kellymom.com has great breastfeeding info if you are breastfeeding. Otherwise www.drsears.com has some good advice on helping baby's tummy.

I have given the Gripe Water to my baby from birth for any pain,gas or colic...
It really worked .... He slept well too..

I have bought the ones sold in Indian grocery stores for around $3.99....Brand is "Woodward".

My baby is 15 months & I still give him for pains,it is also helpful in teething..
It has no known side effects...but do not exceed the dosage prescribed....
As always consult your baby`s pediatrician before giving any medication to baby,,,,
Hope this helps & Happy Parenting.

Every child is different..gripe water is given invariably to all the infants in India. It is know to help gas and teething issues like diarrhea. It is very popular and given till 1 year. I give two spoons every day. My daughter had no gas trouble whatsoever and teething she hasent got any yet..I see it coming though (8 mths) ..but is on its way and she still sleeps thru the night and no diarrhea.
Best of Luck!!

K.:

sounds like something is irritating your son's gut... you need to sort out what is bothering him.

drops only treat the symptoms, not the cause.

P., RLC, IBCLC
Pres. Lactation Support Group,Inc
www.lactationsupportgroup.com

I used gripe water for both of my girls when they had gas pains and also when they were teething because all the drool can cause indigestion. I found that it worked very well for them.

Hi K.,
My son had terrible gas pains for a time when he was about 5 mos old. I tried the Gripe Water. I found that it helped some but it is expensive, sticky and you have to toss if after about a month or so. I found that disolving the Hylands Colic Tablets in water and spoon feeding worked awesome. I still drop one or two in his bottle when he is fussy from teething. The other thing that worked well was I laid him on his back and moved his legs in a "bicycle" movement. I hope this helps!

There is a possiblity that your baby is sensitive to milk products. A person that is lactose intolerant has horrible gas pains. You may want to try a soy alternative...the name escapes me at the moment. They are just as nutritious. It may be hard to get your baby to change but it is worth it if they aren't in pain. =)
Good luck!
H.

have you tried to figure out the cause of the gas pain? it might be the dairy based formula that you are using. you should see your child's doctor and discuss options. I nursed and had to give up dairy myself to relieve our son's gas pains when he was tiny. and then when we finally did introduce formula, it was the same thing all over again. I tried soy, organic.... and finally found that he tolerated similac advance just fine. but the others didn't work at all. and now that he's on milk, he can only drink organic... much easier to digest and no gas issues due to the different pasterization process.... but if he drinks regular milk he's gassy...
our doctor told us that 80% of the population has dairy issues but most of the time they just don't recognize the symtoms....

I have never tried Gripe Water. But a drop or two of mylicon in every bottle worked wonders it settles the gas in the bottle even before it goes in the tummy. Also having those curved bottles and releasing the air and letting the bottle sit for a minute or two helps also.

Hope this works.

I swear you'll think I'm crazy, but here's what worked for me... I gave him his formula cold.

When my son had trouble, a friend told me that her granddaughter had bad gas problems. Not colic, but gas bubbles that simply wouldn't come out and hurt her a lot. Their old country doctor told her to stop warming the formula - to give it to her cold. It worked for them, then it worked for me.

It might not work for you, but it's worth a try! I hope you figure it out, it's so completely not fun for anyone.

(of course, this assumes you aren't breastfeeding... duh.)

they have a produce that is named "gas drops" its used for infants on up. it worked real well for my grandson

I have never used gripe water...akthough after reading some of the responses I may. I hear it's also good for colic. I have an eight week old and a 4 year old. My daughter is addlicted with gas as was my son. I put both on lactose free formula and that seems to have helped immensely. I breast fed and bottle fed with my son and I am doing the same for my daughter. Lactose can be a major cause for gas. When my son was little I tried the Nestle Good Start right away when he got gassy from norma enfamil, he was still very gassy, the I tried soy formula...he puked it up all of the time...then out of desperation I tried Lactose Free Enfamil...major improvement in gas. I did this alll under my Doctor's supervision of course, and back then it was majorly expensive. Target now makes Lactose free formula and it's 12 bucks for a huge canister. I will also say that my sons overall gas problem majorly improved by about 4 months...Poor kiddos..the things they have to go through. My daughter also seemed to exhibit the same symptoms so we tried soy formula first after regular formula, and she also puked it up, so we just went for the Lactose Free formula and it has helped her alot. Oh, I also wanted to mention that with my son we would occassionally try Good Start at like 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months, and he would go back to be gassy almost instantly. When he turned 1 we tried to put him on Skim mlk (under doctor's advice) because of all the intolerance of formula and he became extremely gassy again...so he drank fortified rice milk for about another 1 1/2 years...he is able to tolerate the occasional glass of milk since he was about three, but if he starts to drink it every day we are back to constipation or diarhhea, and soy just makes him puke to this day. He can eat yogurt and cheese fine, but ice cream is sure to give him an upset tummy. So check with your doc, but try lactose free formula.

K.:
Never heard of Gripe water! Definitely switch nipples to the Second Nature brand, most like the breast. Liquid does not come out unless they suck, after 1 or 2 days he will be hungry enough to suck. Most new moms give up too easily after only one or two feedings, but keep trying every feeding for a week-he'll adjust. Really really cuts gas. Also, you may need to switch to a soy formula. He might have allergies or at least be sensitive to everything in that brand of formula. Keep up with the mylicon drops and tummy massage really helps get the gas to pass quickly and less painfully. Good luck.

My now 9 month old son was having gas problems at about 3 weeks old. We took him to our emergency room and the on call pediatrician recommended the Good Start, he was taking Enfamil at the time.., so when I left the ER I went to walgreens to pick up the good start and they didn't carry it but they had another product made by Enfamil, it's called Gentlease and he is still using that product. His pediatrician mentioned to me that it was much better than Good Start but the product was so new that it was not being prescribed very often and I do have a difficult time finding it in the stores.
The only other thing I can say is that you should exercise the baby's legs, like the knees towards his stomach, etc.

Hi K.,

My gassy boy could probably give your baby a run for the money :) Funny we were seeing a gastro specialist yesterday for his acid reflux and there he was tooting away.

We swear Mylicon works, although I know the research does not support it. One of the nannies we were just interviewing talked about Gripe water, although we have not used it. We typically used the "magic shoulder" when he was having painful gas pains (putting him high up on the shoulder so his tummy is right on your shoulder bone and bouncing around the room while patting his back. Sometimes the quicker you bounce the better, sometimes the more exagerated the better). We also do the pushing his legs in towards his tummy while we are seeing the tootie or poop song (a goofy one we made up. He is now 4 months and smiles the minute I start singing it. I push his knees up to his tummy and pull his legs all the way straight on the pull out. We have always been swaddlers since he was premature by quite a bit, but I was just reading in Dr. Karps Happiest Baby on the Block book that swaddling helped some of his patients gassiness. So if you are not doing that you might want to. If your little one is not used to being swaddled, they might not like it immediately, but give it a couple days to let them get used to it.

What level Dr. Brown's nipple did you try? Our son should be going to the level 2, but gags on it since it goes too fast. Dr. Browns does have a preemie nipple I believe. But if you are not having a problem with the Nuk nipple working, then why change it!

Good luck.
S.

I have had a WONDERFUL experience with Gripe Water. My doctor recomended it to me for my son (who is now 2) when he was a few weeks old. He was very gassy, constipated and just plain cranky. My husband was in the Air Force in South Korea at the time and I had no sleep. Along with the gas drops, within a few days he was a happy little baby. He was sleeping more, and when he was awake, he just took everything in. It calmed him really well. I recomend it to EVERYONE! Although, I don't believe it works for everyone, my best friend used it for her baby and it did not seem to work for her, but it is worth the try. It is all natural so it won't hurt the baby. I also recomend buying it on the internet, we found a website that was like $6 or $7 a bottle, in stores I believe it is around $10. I bought it in bulk, when my son did not get it or missed a dose, I knew it! You have to be consistent with it, don't skip any doses.

I have recently used Gripe Water and it did seem to give my son some relief. I also use the Colic Tablets and those actually seem to work better. Try and place the tablet uner your childs tounge and hold it there for a quick second or two and then give your child a pacifier (if he will take it). That usally helps the tablet disolve. The one hard thing about the Gripe Water is if you use a dropper to dispense it your son may have a hard time swallowing it (mine did) I ended up putting it in a bottle, that worked better. Good luck!

I am from Russia and my parents, my husbands parents, grandparents, friends... all used Gripe Water for their kids. I have lived in the US since I was 10 though and am determined to do things according to US doctors. My baby was having terrible gas pains as well. I switched 2 pediatritians who had nothing to say and the third recommended Gripe Water. I've been giving it to my daughter (who is now 4 months) and it helps. I don't think you need to give it at every feeding like the bottle says though, and I took a break from it for a few weeks before going back (sadly the symptoms returned). Overall, I say go for it! But be careful with herbal stuff just like you would be with chemical medications. Don't overdo it and make sure to take breaks from it to see if you still need it. Good luck!!! Get some sleep! D.

Hi K.,
I have used Gripe water on a regular basis for my son. He just turned 9 and I still give it to him of course in a larger dose now than when he was a baby if I find him burping too much. I am originally from India and my mom raised my sisters and me on gripe water and is a very common thing there. Also I am one of those moms who gives him almost 99% of the time only natural products and very rarely pharmacy or drug store medications. He is extremely healthy and does not even have a cold.
If you want to get in touch with me please feel free to call me ###-###-#### or email at ____@____.com

Sounds like you are having similar problems as we did. Our daughter would scream in pain and was not having regular bowel movements. My brother-in-law, a chiropractor, suggested the following: switch to Enfamil Nutramigen formula & stop breastfeeding as she may have had a milk intolerance or allergy, give bifidum and a digestive enzyme (we only did this for a few weeks) and a few drops of flax oil to get her bowels moving. The digestive enzymes & bifidum were powdered tablets that we broke open and just gave her a dab on her tongue before each feeding - we got at GNC. The flax oil - we put a few drops in her bottles until she was going regularly, which for her was at least once a day. Prior she was going once every few days. The Nutramigen was the lifesaver - we are also using Dr. Brown's bottles. It is very expensive formula but for us it was extremely worth it as our daughter was no longer screaming in pain. I have been very successful at getting the formula on ebay for a substantially lower price than it is sold in stores. Although all babies are different, this is what worked for us. Good luck!

I'm not familiar with the names you mentioned. When my little boy was that age I used 'Little Tummies' Gas Releif Drops. It 'seemed' to work in 5 minutes or less.

Hi K.,
I used Gripe Water religiously with my 3yr old daughter who was a 'sensitive' baby. Worked like a charm. I purchased it online in an effort to get the best price but then when my sister-in-law who is from India became pregnant she informed me that this is very common in India and some Indian grocers will order it for you. It was much less expensive and did the same job as the Gripe Water you see on amazon or drugstore.com. Good luck!
W.

Hi K.,

My daughter had really bad pains too when she was only a few weeks old to the point where she would cry so much and end up throwing up. I never used any of the "medications"...i didn't want to use medication on such a tiny infant. Gripe water is made with natural herbs. Mainly fennel seeds(I belive). I started giving her Gripe water once a day and her gas pains went away. Also, i was told by my mom who used gripe water on me that is was also great for teething so I continued giving it to her through her teething stage and she never had any problems.

Hope this helps,

M.

My daughter had a lot of gas problems since she was a day old. After several frustrating visits to the dr. I found out that regular formula was too harsh on her newborn tummy. So I switched her formula to Enfamil Lactofree and found she was better after 24 hours. Her gas problems went away and she actually started sleeping all night since she was 5 weeks old. I wouldnt expect that, however I've had a lot of friends who experience the same problem, especially in Formula's that are high in Iron. Once they switched to the Enfamil Lactofree they no longer had fussy, gassy babies. :) Not all formula's are made for all babies unfortunately so you just have to see what works best for yours, and remember it takes a day or two before you'll notice a difference. My daughter is now 9 and has no problem whatsoever with lactose at all. When she was a year I switched to whole milk and never had a problem. Hope this helps.

Gripe water works best, in my experience.
In all honesty, tho, I haven't tried anything else- didn't have to.
I used it for the first time when my son was 3 days old - and maybe a handful of times since then. I offer it only when all other methods of consoling have failed and his tummy seems distended. Just under a teaspoon each time. He usually ends up with a big burp about 10 minutes after taking it :)
And that marks the end of his gas troubles.

Hi K.-
I'm sorry to hear about the pains, I assure you, this stage will pass too.

Gripe water is available at ethnic food stores, especially Indian food stores. I dont know where you live, or I can tell you of one in your area. They sell the real gripe water. Other versions are available at lots of vitamin stores. Check out this:

http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/browse/sku_detail.j...

Gripe water has been used for generations and is perfectly safe. My grandparents, parents and I used it. Even adults in India use it for gas pain and such.
I used it nightly with my 2 month old when she had nightly colic. It helped for sure. I also used to slow dance with her to music or take her for a car drive. Those used to really calm her and distract her.
Other methods that I've heard are putting them in a carseat atop a running dryer, or running the vaccuum cleaner. The white noise calms them. Or putting them in the swing or bouncer.

All the best luck to you. It will pass, trust me.

Gripe water was our svaing grace .... teh gas drops for our son were like water ... never worked ... It helped with gas - and also the "fussies" .... I recommend it to EVERY new mom now!!!! (It helped that every Mom from the previous generation with a European background kept recommending this stuff ... if it has worked THIS long .... we HAD to try it!)

L.

K. -

I'm sure you've had tons of advise on this - - but my son (now 7 Months) had the same problem starting at about 7 to 9 weeks. Gripe Water did not work for us.

My Dr. recommended Enfimil Gentlease which helped some. I also started burping him after every 1 1/2 to 2 oucnes - sometimes it took 10 or so minutes to get a burp. If he was super hungry and didn't want to take a burp break - I just made sure that he gave me 2 or 3 really great burps at the end of his 5 to 6 Oz. bottle (again, this sometimes took 10 to 15 minutes). I also used "Little Tummies" gas drops - not sure this helped as much as it made my husband and I feel like we were making it better.

After about 3 months, my son's gas got much better. He is quite the gas-bag still, but not as in much pain and is much easier to burp.

Good luck!

I tried Gripe Water with my son - and unfortunately for us, it didn't do much other than get me through another week with some hope. And as I recall it was a little pricey, maybe around $8 or so.
But, it didn't hurt him any, and it gave me hope so maybe that's worth $8!
Good luck to you - I know how tough it is. and how long it feels. but it does end in a matter of weeks so hang in there and try not to let it get to you.

Gripe water did work for my son for his gassy tummy. I still use it when he get really bad hiccups. It makes them go away immediately.

One thing I have heard is that the Goodstart with the Dha/ara upsets some babies stomachs because of all the proteins in it. You could try changing to the regular goodstart to see if that helps. There is actually no scientific proof that the dha/ara in formula form are actually beneficial(at least that's what I've read).

I have two friends that swore Gripe Water was the only thing that helped their babies. I never used it, but they sure do sing its praises. I'd try it - I don't think it could hurt.

Hi- You did not mention if you are breastfeeding, bottle feeding or both. If you are using a bottle at all you might try Dr. Brown's, I found them to help with gas.
If you are breastfeeding be sure to watch what you are eating and try to keep track of anything you eat that might be a trigger.
I am not sure what the colic hold is, is that the same as the football hold? You might also try peddling his little legs.
Lastly, my pediaticians office recommended inserting a thermometer in the rectum! It seemed to help.

My youngest son (now 3.5) had very bad colic and we did use gripe water. I am not sure how much effect it had, but it seemed to help a bit.

The biggest help we found was to let them sleep sitting up in say a bouncey chair, with it vibrating. Another thing that REALLY seemed to work? A CD called "for crying out loud". It's tracks that have background noise SPECIFICALLY For Colic babies. My son's favorite track was Car windshield wipers in the rain. For the first say 6 mths of his life it felt like it was ALWAYS raining, but it was WELL worth it!

Also if I don't know if you have tried to see if there's a cause in the formula for his gas? They had me move to lactose free formula for 2 weeks to see if that had any effect and after about 10 days we saw a DRAMATIC improvement! After lactose free you would move to soy and then to those REALLY expensive ones that are super easy to digest. (hopefully you can figure it out before you get that deep).

Definitely keep up with the gas drops as well.. and the pediatrician also recommended camolmile tea really diluted when they are just crying because of their stomach but you know they shouldn't eat yet. Colic kids always think they are hungry because it hurts, but overfeeding them makes it worse! =/

If you have any questions, just let me know!

I actually used gripe water on my daughter... technically I am not sure if it worked or she got a little older and the gas worked itself better.. I thought I liked it better when I combined it with the gas drops... you can buy it at whole foods... also she slept much better when I put her on her stomach.. with my other 2 I didn't do that.. but my 3rd needed something she was very gassy and up a lot... also... try and feed him every 3 -4 and get him on a schedule... because what happens is you think he is hungry b/c he is cryine but really it is gas, so you are just adding gas on gas.. that really helped my little girl.. once I put her on a 4 hour feeding she really calmed down.

Hope it works... good luck!