Babies with Gas

Have you tried "Bubbles Be Gone" from the health food store? It is the ONLY thing that worked on my son. A few drops and within 5-10 minutes, he was fine. We struggled with gas and pains and crying, too.

My daughter was the same way and the doctor told me to give her a little bit of sugar water to settle her stomach and from using all kinds of gas meds, i found that the litte tummy's work best. I wish you luck! It does get better and slowly easier. It may also be something that you are eating.

Babies magic tea was the last remedy that worked for our gassy baby who won't sleep through the night.

Mylicon never worked when my baby was little. We used Gripe Water, which you can get at Mother Earth or other health food stores. It is all natural and has ginger and fennel in it. It can be used on all ages, even adults. My midwife recommended it the day my daughter was born and let me tell you, it worked wonders! It is almost instant relief and soothes them. The other thing I did was use acidopholis pills (again all natural) and just opened up one capsule and would mix it with breast milk and give it in a dropper. This is what actually helps their intestinal tract mature and develop properly. So you can use both and they work great.

How old is your baby?
Mylicon and gripe water are good starts.
Are you breastfeeding? If so, you should be aware of what you are eating. Avoid gassy foods like broccoli, cabbage and tomatoes. Dairy can also be a culprit. If dairy is a problem, you will need to give it up for one month in order to see results as dairy will stay in your system for that long.
If you are not breastfeeding, perhaps it is your formula. Maybe try switching formulas from dairy to soy or vice versa.
By making "bicycles" with his legs as he is laying down, you can help him relieve some of that gas. Make sure he gets exercise by moving his arms, his legs, etc. Baby massage can also help.
I'm sorry your baby is in pain but maybe one of these suggestions will help trouble shoot his ailments.
Best,
H.

Hi,
My son went through the same thing up until a month ago. He's 6 1/2 months now. He was breast milk only and the doctor kept telling me all babies get gas. But this kid tooted up a storm, and they alwalys stunk. My grandma has been around 14 babies including her children, grandchildren and greats, and she said she'd never been around one this gassy. He had terrible gas pains, you could feel it start bubbling in his stomach as soon as he started nursing. He also threw up alot(vomit not spit up), and only pooped about every 5 days. Which the docs also said was normal for a breast baby. I kept asking for a referral to a gastroentologist but they wouldn't give me one. Mylicon was my lifesaver, I gave it to him several times a day. I kept a food diary to try to figure out what I was eating that was doing it. I figured out that the worst pains came after I ate dairy. Especially, heavy dairy like cheese. We finally ended up with the referral. The gastro told me to go ahead and give him solids. My pediatrician had said to wait till 6 months. After he adjusted to the solids all his problems went away. He goes to the bathroom everyday, AND NO MORE MYLICON!! So maybe if you try to give him a little cereal, oatmeal not rice (rice makes the gas worse according to the gastro), he'll get better. I would just make it with your breast milk, very, very runny and see what that does. Ask your doctor first, but solids did wonders for my baby. He never gets gas pain anymore. You can also try letting the shower massage his belly. That did wonders for Brayden. Good Luck!!

My son had the very same problem with gas at a very young age. I was told to try a few different things. Burp him more often during feedings, also let him have his naps during the day sitting upright in his carrier. If you are feeding him breast milk with a bottle you might try changing the nipple type. Some nipples take in more air than others which would cause more gas.

Hope these ideas help !!!

any chance that it's acid refux? there doesn't have to be spit-up for there to be reflux- there is also 'silent' reflux, too. I am listed here under 'businesses,' as I am an Infant Reflux Counselor & Educator...

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/t106000.asp

I went through the same thing with my daughter. Try not to eat alot of dairy since you are breast feeding. We did the gripe water thing too. It took a couple of days to kick in but it really did work. I know how hard it is to listen to your baby cries and you're really going to get sick of hearing this ( I did) but it will get better. Just takes a little time. Another thing that we tried was peppermint water. take a couple drops of pepermint oil in a 4 oz bottle with a tea spoon of sugar. It helps the stomach. or desolve a couple peppermints in hot water, chill and give it to him. hopes this helps.

Heidi is giving you great advice. More importantly what does his dr. say?! He sounds lactose intolerant. More than likely a simple change in both of your diets will do the trick. Call the dr right away. How old is he? Look online for advice in ADDITION to calling the dr.

my son had something similar to that. are you just breastfeeding him or your bottle feeding him? if you're breastfeeding you need to watch what you're eating. cant eat cabbage and i dont know what else. but eat banana's drink lots of stay away from soda's. most improtantly you need to massage his stomache, im going to try and discribe it by typing it out. lay him on his back in the front of you with his feet facing you then you need to put your hands on his chest start at the top by his underarms. the four fingers from each hand must go down his ribs and the thumbs must go down his stomache.then you need to excercise his feet. this one is harder to explain. but grab his knees make sure they are able to bend but rotate them in a circle going outwards if you need help or have a question email me at ____@____.com regarding baby with gas so i'll know. i hope this helps.

K.

TRY THE DR.BROWN BOTTLES. THEY ARE THE BEST!!!

Well one lil advise that I can give here, there is a tea that you can buy to give to your lil one, my lil ones went threw it and it worked good for me. its called anes tea you will find it in the supermarket where the spices and herbs are. Its pretty good try it..and it is very very cheap..nad you can give it the a lil baby just wait for it to cool down of course..

I too have a breastfeed 2-month old with a lot of gas problems. I went to his doctor about him always screaming and fussing during (and after) feedings and she had me cut out ALL DAIRY from my diet along with no chocolate, no caffeine and no spices (including garlic, onions, etc.). She also put him on liquid Zantac that I give him once a day because she thinks he might have a little acid reflux (common in babies). The dairy seems to have helped a bit, but he is still gassy and the Zantac has lessened his vomiting, but he still spits up. Maybe check with your baby's doctor and see what he/she says about limiting your diet and mediciation possibilities for the baby. Hope that helps.
By the way, my husband feels the same way as you on the "maybe this is our only child", but I still want another in a couple of years. I feel the same way as you about sex - I just can't bring myself to have it.

G.--

I so totally feel for you on this one. My daughter screamed almost nonstop from 2 weeks to 2 months old, and it was so agonizing; my love seemed to go nowhere with her, and all she could do was to cry and scream and glare at me all day. Some nights my husband would come home from his typical 14-hour workdays to find me just glaring right back at her, and that was when he'd send me out to get a break. I hope someone can help you do the same; you need that before you start finding yourself thinking the unthinkable. HE WILL STOP CRYING SOONER THAN YOU THINK! And before you know it, he'll be smiling, then laughing, then learning to crawl and walk and draw valentines for you; and someday soon you'll be sitting beside him at the zoo watching him learn to eat an ice cream cone, and your heart will nearly burst with love as you realize that everything you've ever hoped for from motherhood is coming true. You can make it through this! Just keep loving him with all your strength, you can do it.

MEANWHILE... something that my midwife suggested that really helped was to lay my baby on her back and bicycle her legs, in case she's gassy. Mylicon never did the trick for us, but this exercise usually brought about at least a few minutes of relief. I also later came across the tip to roll colicky babies, belly down, back and forth on top of a beach ball--same general concept, just massages out some of that "tummy music".

Another thing I would have tried if I could is to get him checked out by a chiropractor. Yes, many chiropractors treat newborns, and for them all it takes is the tiniest bit of pressure (equal to the weight of a nickel), precisely delivered, to permanently relieve a pinched nerve that may be disrupting your baby's digestive system. In fact, very often, the first neck injury a person gets occurs during birth itself! (Hey, it was hard on both of you, right?) My chiropractor, Dr. Racine of Winter Park (www.drracine.com), told me of a study done on newborns in Germany. Out of the study group, the researchers honed in on all the classic "collicky" types--incessant crying, sleeplessness--sounds familiar, right? Then these babies all received a treatment like what I described above...and immediately, 100% of them went right to sleep. No more problems afterward. Meanwhile, further study of the entire group (even those that seemed "normal") revealed that about 20% of the 500 or so had spinal misalignments from birth. It just makes sense, when you consider what they've been through to come out into the world. You never know.

I wish I'd known about all these other suggestions, too. They sound great. I'll be praying for you and for all the other moms who have to go through this!

When my daughter was a baby, the Walmart Brand gas drops worked for her and the Mylicon ones did not. I suggest trying a different TYPE of gas drop?

Our baby was very gassy too. She was primarily on formula at the time. We switched her formula and haven't had ANY gas problems since. Be patient with him!

Hi Grace,
I have two boys a 4 year old and a 1 year old. I had that problem with the first one. I would stay up trying to comfort him and would end up calling the doctor @ 3:00am asking her what i should do. She would tell me it was gas and to rub his tummy and try to burp him. Realistically it didnt help. With my second, he never cried about gas problems. I dont know if it was because of the bottle or what. For him I bought the Avent bottles. Although they are pricey, I think that might have done the trick. Also I used the Playtex Vent-aire. Thats all I can reccomend and I hope it works for you. Good Luck!

Hey G., my daughter (now 7m) had the exact same problem. I was breastfeeding exclusively for the first few months then went to supplementing bottles when I was out or sick and went to bottle totally at 6m. I could feel her tummy growling and gurgling and she would just cry. Mostly toward the evening though but not always. We switched her bottle type to the playtex drop ins (less gas)and her formula to Enfamil Gentle Ease (purple label). That seemed to help a little. The mylecon did nothing, I tried Little Tummies and it worked better. Also, when I was bathing her, I would pour water over her tummy and do a massage, that usually resulted in her passing gas, worked every time! You can do it with lotion too. Google infant massage and it will pop up different methods. She eventually grew out of it, as yours will. I know what you mean about the sex part too, LOL! Its my first baby, but those thoughts will fade in time too. I used to get aggrevated when people would say that to me, know I am passing it on to you, ironic!! Feel free to email me anytime if ya wanna chat. ____@____.com luck, girly.

Hi, I had this problem with my 9 month old as well. Have you had the baby checked for acid reflux disease? It causes a lot of gas problems and really hurts them.

I totally understand the gas issue...My baby is going through the same thing. She is now 5 months and is getting better. B/C of breast feeding I found out that the lactose was the culprit, along with wheat bread, orange juice and veggies..I started with mylicon and it was not helpful. Then tried Gripe water and the best type by far was "Baby's Bliss" I also got homeopathic gas relief medicine called "cocyntal" and that works great as well relieving her gas pain almost immediately. Also, when you nurse him try to gas him like every 5 min during the nursing or holding him upright when he is done for a few minutes. Another trick I learned was sleeping her upright so that way she would relieve some gas while she was sleeping. She now sleeps on a pillow instead of lying flat. Hope that helps.

Please go to this website www.colicease.com
my son had colic, gas, acid reflux and every other problem you could possibly think of. THIS STUFF IS A MIRICLE after the first couple doses my son was 110% better
I swear by this stuff its all natural ,no drugs, I used everything before my sister found this on the web
the mylicon drops, little tummies, etc
i just ordered a bottle for my brother's daughter and she's doing awesome now as well,
ALSO it only takes a little in your baby's milk and they even have paci's that hold the medicine and it doesn't taste bad
It's not that expensive 19.99
but think of all the other stuff you have tried it will well pay for itself. I know its called gripe water but maybe this is a different one than the one your using
I hope this work's for you
good luck
J.

Hey Grace I have had lots of gassy babies and the mylacon drops helped a little, I also held them tummy on my forearm and swung them back and forth with the pressure of my forearm on there bellies it seem to help. I also gave small amounts of camomile which helped ease there little bellies however I am not too sure on how good it is but hey it worked and my kids are still kicking lol hope this helps. A lot of the reason as well is what you are eating gets transferred to the lil one, so that may be a factor as well. Candy

You are breast feeding, so everything you consume so does your baby, I had the same issue, stay away from things like green peppers, broccoli, beans, apples, strawberries, fast foods etc., anything with the red dye #5 and other things that would normally give you gas. I switched to formula to help and she feels 100% better, we use premixed Simalic Ailmentum. She loves the taste and she is a happier baby.

my guess is he is allergic or "sensitive" to something you're eating. Most likely culprits are milk, wheat, soy or eggs.
It can be a long and tedious journey to figure out what it is. First stop consuming milk products, give it some time (like a few weeks) if he seems to do better, you've figured it out. If not then try going without wheat....etc. Does that makae sense. A lot of main stream docs don't seem to consider this, but I can tell you from experience it's real, and your baby doesn't have to suffer. Let me know if I can help. I've been there..

Sincerely

M.

It gets better don't worry! It's great that he is letting the gas out. If he wasn't that's when you'd worry. It's completely normal. If he is fine without the mylicon and letting the gas out without it, then I would hold back on giving it to him alot, because there will come a point where it doesn't work for him anymore (and that will be the point you feel he/you really need it).