Painful Infant Gas - Need Help!

Seems like we got something from the health foods store called Nylund's or Hylund's something or another...they'll know. There's a varity for different needs: colic, gas, etc. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't (like the Mylicon). They're great, tho, because they dissolve on the tongue and it seems like they weren't that expensive. It's been 15 years since I've had an infant, but I bet they still make it-it worked more often than not.
If she's not spitting up, she probably doesn't have that reflux stuff, but don't rule thtat out.
Good luck

Hi there. I have heard that something called Little Tummys Gripe Water works really well. I think you can find it at most drugstores. A good friend of mine has an 8 week old and she has been struggling with gas. They gave her that and it calmed her right down. It's never fun trying to sooth a child with gas, so my heart goes out to you. Good luck!

It is probably something you ate. (sigh) Try first removing cabbage family foods first, then beans, then other foods you can think of.

1) It could be that your baby isn't latching on well when nursing so she sucking in air while feeding, so her tummy is filling with air as well as milk. Check that.

2) The gas could be caused by your diet. I know some babies are sensitive to cows milk, if their Moms are drinking it or eating a lot of dairy, this causes them (the baby) gas. You might try eliminating dairy from your diet for a week and see if this makes a difference. Take a look at your diet and see if there are any other potential 'gasy' foods, like broccoli, cauliflower, ham, beans. Look at eliminating them.

3) The Mylicon drops can be very effective. I have a nephew who was the most colicky baby ever, and when he finally got the drops it made all the difference in the world for him. His Mom also dropped dairy from her diet.

4) Use a warm hot water bottle to prop your baby on their side when sleeping. The warmth will comfort them and help with the cramping they are experiencing. If not a hotwater bottle, a bucky pillow that you have put in the microwave for about a minute to warm the contents, no risk of a leaking hot water bottle.

5) You can also bicycle your baby's legs when changing diapers or playing with them. Physical movement helps to move things through the digestive system and you may find yourself playing a little horn with all the toots that will follow.

I wish you well. It's difficult for parents to watch and hear a baby in pain because of what comes naturally, eating.
You might want to call a lactation nurse to see how your baby is latching on for feeding. Just another thought. Take good care!!!

M.,
I feel your pain. When my daughter was born she was colic and I tried everything and didn't want to give up breast-feeding. The best advice i got was from my acupuncturist who had me only eat scrambled eggs, olive oil, and zucchini for 2 weeks...I know it sounds brutal but so worth it. After that things got better in 24 hours, something in my diet was too acidic. After two weeks you can start introducing things one by one again. In my case it was tomatoes and orange juice. Also get the Baby Book by Doctor Sears, there is a chapter about colic baby massage...such a big help. My daughter is 2 1/2 and we still do the massage, also if you see an acupuncturist they too can give you a baby massage that has to do with massaging their lower legs. Hope this helps, I know it can be hard. Good Luck. A.

Hold your baby facing you, thumbs under her arms, supporting her head with your fingers. Bounce her slowly like a frog over her legs. Make her little body gently accordion up and down. Air will burp up and gas will bubble down. She'll even sound like a burbly little frog!

This helped my colicky little boy a lot. I showed it to a friend yesterday and her 3 month-old immediately gave a looonnnnnggg fart and giggled.

your diet can cause her gas, keep a journal and keep track of what her gas pain is. Their digestive system is still delveloping and some have gas regardless of what you eat. Sometimes a bath and massage can be helpful. Good luck

Both my daughter and son would get painful gas and have lots of crying. I would lay them on their backs and pump their legs up to their chests slowly and try to work the gas out. This would help and so did a warm heating pad. I tried grip water and mylicon but neither worked for me. My children where also breastfed only. I tried to stay away from Milk and broccoli both of which I thought caused my babies to be fussier. Milk especially. Good luck. With time the babies immature digestive system will get better. Congrats!

In our case it was definitely dairy that was the culprit--and many, many babies sensitive to dairy are also sensitive to soy, so read those labels! Casein (milk protein) intolerance causes intestinal lesions, very painful and slow to heal. Takes about 2 weeks for casein to leave your system (and hers).

I was VERY skeptical about the various "don't eat this or that" prohibitions until I came down with a really bad flu and could only eat the BRAT diet for a week. My little girl responded very quickly, becoming the happy little cherub I always suspected was buried underneath that screaming, twisting, suffering nightmare.

So look out for milk, whey, sodium caseinate, and any soy derivatives. Try it for 2 weeks. In 6-18 months try working in dairy ingredients that have been either cooked or fermented--both processes help to break down the proteins.

It sounds like a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. Try nursing only one side at a time. If that doesn't help after a day or two, try nursing the same side for 2 feedings, and then the other side for two feedings. Also, when feeding on demand make sure the baby is truly hungry. I found that I could often mistake tiredness for hunger with my son. Nurse the baby after she wakes up from a nap, not as a way of getting her to sleep (other than the last feeding of the day, or during the night, if she still nurses at night). This way she will be awake for the feeding and more likely to drain all the milk properly.

You might also want to check your diet for anything that could be causing gas--beans, garlic, cabbage, etc.

Let us know how it turned out!

There are some tablets, I don't recall who makes them but the are all natural and are called "collick tablets" I believe, ask your pharmacist. I used them for my daughter and they were AWESOME!!!

I had that with my first (I have 4, and nursed all of them). What I ate the day before had a HUGE impact. Try cutting out these things - onions, garlic, tomato, citrus, anything acidic, or rich - like cream based sauces/soups - alfredo for example. Broccoli is extremely painful for them too. Sounds bland, but you can do it! Your baby will be so healthy from you nursing! I still used Mylicon drops (the generic ones work just as well - at Walmart it's around $3/bottle!), because he still had his gassy moments :) Good luck!!!

My son drove me crazy until my pediatrician gave me some information that basially explained that some baby's digestive tracks take a good 6 months to develop to the point where they don't have problems with gas any more. At about 5 months he finally stopped having problems.... I breastfed 100% and I tried avoiding all kinds of different foods and burping him in every possible way, but honestly nothing besides Mylicon helped at all, and that was only a little. Good luck!

Maybe it's what you're eating. Sometimes if a baby has a dairy allergy, it can cause painful gas when the mother eats cheese, milk, yogurt, whatever. Also, broccoli causes gas and there are other foods like that you should avoid while breastfeeding... Ask your doctor or lactation consultant.

Try Baby's Bliss Gripe water, you can get it at Roth's

Have you looked into your diet? My son was gassy when I ate veggie stir fries with cabbage, broccoli etc...Do you give her tummy time? When on his tummy my son gets rid of his gas..Also, you can put her on her back and rub her tummy, move her legs up and down. Or try rubbing gently her anus with warm with cloth/paper towel. That seems to stimulate the reflex to strain to poop so she can get some relief.

My first never had any problems, but my second who is three months gets bad gas when I eat lots of onions and cabbage-family food. It's a little hard to cook without some things, but I just omit onions and add more garlic.

I also took the baby to the chiropractor for craniosacral therapy. It definitely helped a lot. Studies show it helps 80-90% of babies with colic.

Also the posts about focusing on the latch to make sure she takes in less air, which was hard for me because my flow was too fast for her at first.

I will also sugest this Gripe Water too!! My daughter had colic so bad I thought we were going to get kicked out of a hotel. I found out that you can get it at most any health food store. (Nature's, Fred Meyer) Good Luck, C.

HI M.,
I found that gripe water works the best. It is natural and you can find it at Fred Meyer, Walgreens. I wish I would have known about it before my gassy boy was over a year. It helped far more than the other stuff!

She may be sensitive to something you are eating. I never had a problem with my other 2 but my 3rd was sensitive to the broccoli that was eating. You can try cutting stuff out like dairy cabbage and gassy foods. Good luck and keep nursing!

Most important thing that comes to my mind is your diet. What are you eating that can cause gas in babies? Usually, gas is much decreased in breastfed babies.

Stay away from chocolate, broccoli, coffee, gosh I can't remember them all, it's been a few years since I nursed my babies.

Also, if you place her facedown on your lap, sideways, and rub her back, that should help to pass gas.

M.,

I'm sure you have gotten lots of advice, so I'll be quick. Have you tried a probiotic? It seemed to work for our daughter. They have one at Fred Meyer in the refridgerated part of the natural section. It worked for our daughter. THe other thing we did was what I have dubbed the "poop position". It seemed to make it easier for her to pass gas and to poop. I would sit with my feet on a high foot rest with my knees bent, so she could lean against my legs with her back and be facing me pretty upright. I would put her legs in a squat position, with her butt against my pelvis. WIthout fail, she would pass gas. It also gave us some face time to interact.

Good luck.
K.

Try Colic Calm. It worked amazingly for my son when he was around that age. He, too, had painful gas and this stuff worked like a charm. Plus, it is all natural and my son loved the taste (tried gripe water and my son hated it).

www.coliccalm.com

Also, you might try examining your diet. Caffeine really affected my little one, as well as if I ate raw onions and spinach. The rule of thumb is, if it will make you gassy, it will probably make your baby gassy too.

Hope this helps and good luck!

I had this same problem with my daughters, and well it is a struggle to get through. My advice to you is after you breastfeed get a bottle with warm water in it and let baby drink it all, burp her then wrap her up tightly in a receiving blanket, then lay her on your lap slightly bouncing her while patting her on the back. This method use to work for me. They sometimes let out a loud juicy burp. I am native american and we have a what we call a baby board or papoose board and we would tie baby up in this and just by doing this it put pressure on the belly and helped them sleep. I hope this is some help to you. Good luck.

Hi M.
I had the same problem with my first daughter. I didn't read the posts so I apologize if I am repeating. Try eliminating dairy from your food intake, that helped my daughter a ton. There little systems just can't take that much dairy from mom sometimes in the beginning, after a few weeks I was able to slowly reintroduce it in my diet.
Also holding her face down over your forearm, the caterpillar hold they call it and patting her back, the pressure of your arm on her tummy and patting her back will help give her relief too. Gripe water and mylicon also!

You could try Hyland's Colic tablets. You can find them at Fred Meyer, New Seasons, Whole Foods. They really help ease the pain of gas.
The next I'm going to suggest, I think, is the key, though you may or may not like hearing it ;) Examine your diet. Are you eating caffeine/chocolate? For sure these will cause a gassy/fussy baby. If cutting those out doesn't work, move on to dairy. ALL dairy, even small amounts. And, for some people, gluten will cause a fussy baby as well.
I know diet changes can be tough, but I noticed a HUGE difference in my little girl when I cut these foods out, and then if I accidentally ate some, or thought, "Oh, this one little bit will be fine..." For me, when I saw the difference it made in my little one, and how much PAIN she had been in, it made it not worth it anymore. After she was about 6 months old I was able to add back in small amounts of some of these foods. You'll just have to test what works for you and your little one.

Good Luck, and maybe some other mommas had some more advice :)
B.

it might not be gas at all but acid reflux

#1, get some "Gripe Water" which can be purchased at a European or Arab Delicatessen. That really helps gas - Super Supplements has it too.

Also, try to cut out dairy for a few days, see if that helps. Your baby might have a food allergy to something you are eating.

I have more tips I've responded in the past.

Go to Fred's or any drugstore and ask for the Hyland's Colic Tablets. They were phenomenal in helping with my 3 little ones when they were infants. They are homeopathic and completely safe and gentle for your baby and truly are miraculous for taking away the pain of trapped gas. They cost about $5 but last quite a while. They are little tablets that dissolve instantly in their mouth so there is no worry about chocking and they taste a bit sweet so the little ones like taking them. Hope your LO feels better soon!

S.
www.hazelaid.com
All natural, organic, handmade hazelwood necklaces for the relief of eczema, acid reflux, & teething pain for babies and their families.

Gripe water! It works much better than Mylicon. You can find it in the natural food section of most grocery store, and Target and BRU carry the "Little Tummies" brand gripe water.
Good luck!

If your little one starts experiencing this again, try giving her a probiotic, like bifidus or primadopholus. The powder can either be sucked off your nipple during feedings or finger fed to them.

I started my son on bifidus when he was 2 weeks for gas. He was in so much pain and Mylacon and Gripe Water only relieved it very briefly.

You could put your daughter on a daily dose anyway, just to help her system balance out its ph. It takes awhile for their systems to finish developing and the probiotic gives a healthy flora to her little tummy and digestive tract. You can get probiotics at the health food store (other stores have it too, but may not have one that is for the little system).

Good luck,
D.

It is hard to see your baby in discomfort/pain. But, ALL babies have gas and for most it is uncomfortable because their digestive systems are so immature and because it is a new sensation for them. I am a Postpartum Doula and have yet to meet a baby who doesn't have gas. Of course, we all do!

Studies have shown that Mylicon does nothing to help. And dietary changes are also very unlikely to help. And, I would absolutely NOT recommend giving the baby a bottle of water. This is very dangerous advice.

Have you tried putting baby in what I call the "poop position"? This can help baby release the gas. What you do is hold the baby to your chest, with their back to your chest. Pull the legs up so that the baby's butt is lower than their knees and hold them there for a minute. If they have trapped gas, this can be very effective.

Hope your baby's discomfort eases up soon.

I would definitely look into acid reflux.

Also, try Colic Calm. You can find it online. It was miraculously effective with my boys.

Good luck!