5-Day Old Old Newborn with Excessive Gas- Any Natural Remedies? ColicCalm?

my daughter Had that problem and she was lactose intolerant. She is now 2 and has since almost completely grown out of it. I still can't give her whole bowls of ice cream and she drinks lactose free milk but she can eat some cheese and be ok. In addition to that, when I switched from breast milk to formula I had to mix her bottles half powder formula and half pre made liquid to balance out her stools from being too runny or too firm. Ask her doctor what he/she thinks about the situation

milicon worked great for my daughter and it's fine to give to newborns! You can find it in the baby aisle of any store. Congrats!

This sounds just like our three boys...it could be just a mild case of GERD - acid refulx - when babys are born their muscles need to strengthen and develop tone. That goes for the sphincter muscle at the top of the stomach and end of the esophagus. Sometimes it takes a while for that muscle to develop properly so it closes completely when food enters the stomach. As a result extra air enters the stomach and bowls thereby producing painful gas, and the spitting up can often be projectile. check out http://www.infantrefluxdisease.com/ it sounds worse than it is, granted no sleep is not what I would call fun ;)

Here's what I did, I nursed alot!!!!! and when I did I was always making sure the baby was propped up so he wasn't recling to a point where the spit up would flow (so much anyway) then at night we rolled up two or three towels and placed them under the head of the matress of the crib so it was inclined. and we let him sleep on his stomach. I know lots of "no-nos" but it was what the hospital told us to do.
Our eldest son had it so severly he had apnea and almost lost his life at 5 days old. He is now a healthy 9 year old! If the baby falls asleep in your arms or on your chest, sleep proped up against the wall with pillows it'll help you and the baby rest peacefully. 4 hr of solid sleep is better than 9 of constantly interruped sleep ... that's been my motto for 9yrs now! lol!

Congratulations and good luck.

Congratulations!

this is my business:
http://www.mamasource.com/business/14059862321568677889

I would not try colic calm...I would try some probiotics.
are you nursing? formula?
either way, probiotics are SAFE and the way to go!

there was an artilce in January in Pediatrics in which they gave babies what's called "probiotics." These
researchers gave probiotics to 83 babies. Half got simethicone, which are the standard infant drops.
The other half received a probiotic by the name of Lactobacillus reuteri.
The babies who received Lactobacillus reuteri showed a significant decrease in their crying scale, in
their screaming, compared to the simethicone babies.

Good morning,

It could be gas, until your milk comes in. If it gets any worse, I would suggest to call the doctor. Better safe than sorry. Congratulations with your newborn.

Hi M. and congrats on your new baby! I feel your pain what with the lack of sleep and everything. The first few days with a newborn are absolute hell, but it gets better very quickly as your milk supply develops and you are able to feed your baby to contentment.

My midwife described that early gassiness as normal gut stuff and the baby's body gets used to processing milk. It will get better soon. If not and there is excessive spitting, you may need to go off dairy for awhile. That is hard, but it sure helps to lose the baby weight! Check out www.kellymom.com for details on a dairy-free diet for breastfeeding.

I will tell you that you are doing the very best thing for your baby by breastfeeding. Introducing formula to a baby with tummy problems is the worst thing you could do, so resist any poor advice you may receive that your milk is the cause. Even if your baby is sensitive to something you are eating, formula would be 100 times worse.

Keep nursing. Anecdotally some women find that certain foods make their nursing babies more gassy-- i.e. chocolate. You could google some of those as well.

If you have milk allergies in the family, it may be the dairy that is upsetting his stomach. In that case, go off all dairy for 4-6 weeks (I know, I know, but you have to go off it for a long time to get it out of your system) and see how he does. Your midwife or pediatrician or a lactation consultant can also provide advice (make sure you have a breastfeeding friendly doctor who doesn't just tell you to give the baby soy or hypoallergenic formula... that is not in his best interests).

I'm not convinced it's dairy, may be just new baby tummy troubles. Hang in there, nurse a lot, take care of yourself (let your mom, mil or dh do the housework) and take nice long hot showers and baths. Do not limit nursing time and before long your supply will be nice and strong and you will have a happy, healthy, chubby breastfed baby who will be the envy of everyone you meet. ;)

Best of luck!

hi mallissa my name is T., (mom of a now, two and a half year old son.) if i were you i would bring this up with your childs pediatrican, because theres a possibility he could have an acid reflux problem. my son, (from two weeks after he was born, became colicy, spituppy, gassy, etc. and i didnt find out he had "gerd" (acid reflux desease), until he was eighteen months old (and read he had it in his medical records.) when you do get a professional opinion, make sure they tell you if there is anything wrong, and what exactly it is! (my son "g-i" dr. never did bother to tell us!) and we went through a "liveing hell with "colic" (a general term used for a baby that cries alot,with a reason why being unknown,)for a whole intire year. so get your baby checked out. you wont regret it!

Hi, M..

First of all... CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

I haven't tried ColicCalm, but if it's generally safe to use, then by all means, give it a try.

First of all, excessive gas in a newborn can mean that he's sucking too much air while nursing. Make sure that he's held at a good angle where his head is in line with the breast or bottle, and that his mouth makes a good, tight seal on the nipple area or bottle nipple. I used to use Nuk nipples on relief bottles -- I recommend them because they conform to the shape of the inside of the baby's mouth and allow a good seal.

If he is one of those babies who likes to suck a little, then let go of the nipple and make bubbles, then immediately burp him at that moment because once he lets loose of nipple or bottle, he's sucking air, and that's going to mean gas pain.

Make sure that you are burping baby frequently enough regardless. If he's sucking down too much air, you may have to stop him and burp him every 5 minutes or so, not just when he's through with one breast or with the bottle. It's OK to gently stop him, hold him up, and gently burp him every 4-5 minutes or so. I know it's a lot more work, but you will probably sleep better for doing it.

Another thing to consider -- if you are breastfeeding, what are you eating? You need to be on a relatively bland diet for at least the first few months. Whatever spices and herbs you eat go straight into your breast milk! So if you like to pour Tabasco on your food, you're also pouring it into baby's stomach, and he's not ready for that yet. You can very, very lightly season your food with certain things -- a tiny bit of garlic powder, a tiny bit of onions or basil or other Italian spice because they aren't harmful in small doses -- but no curry powder, no black/white/or red pepper of any kind.

The spitting up can be caused by nursing him in the wrong position or letting him lie down in the wrong position after feeding. While nursing, hold him so that his head is well above his stomach -- almost as though he's sitting up -- this will also help prevent ear infections. That will ensure that the gas and air will rise to the top of his stomach so that he's easier to burp. He may even burp out the gas without being stimulated.

When he's done feeding and you put him down, put him on his left side. Prop him if you have to. This is because of the shape of the stomach and the esophagus (tube leading into the stomach). This keeps the liquid away from the connection between stomach and esophagus, so the pressure on the stomach valve is less.

Newborns often have a very weak stomach valve, and any pressure will cause tremendous spitting up. I know because my son seemed to spit up as much as he drank; understand, though, that the milk mixes with the stomach fluids, so it looks worse than it really is. Still, you want to help him minimize the spitting up.

BTW, have him checked for possible ear infection, too, because that will make a baby scream worse than anything.

Also, don't worry about him farting. Babies seem to fart quite a lot. That's partly because they don't have any shame about it -- you and I as adults try to hold it in and be polite, but they just do what's natural, LOL. Also, their digestive systems are still getting used to the process of eating and digesting, so be patient with thei "new equipment."

Also, If you can keep him from swallowing so much air by positioning him better and burping him more frequently, he won't have so much inside to poot out.

Well, I hope this is helpful, and you and baby can have longer sleep and sweeter dreams! Hang in there, M., it does get better.

Peace and blessings,
Syl

Hi M.,

Congratulations! Could be Reflux, have you tried raising his matress at one end, put a blanket or a few books under it so he isn't flat when he lays down, that could help. If he is on formula you may have to switch around until you find one he likes, he may be lactose intollerent. Call your Pedi, mine was really helpfull with my young son, he had Refulx but it took a little swapping and changing formula first to find that out. Hang in there, its a tough time but it does get better:-)

Jo

Sounds like acid reflux. Have the doctor test him. He wants to eat all the time because it soothes his throat. Hiccups are another sign of reflux. Dr. Brown bottles are the best. I did try probiotics for my son and they seemed to help. He eventually grew out of the painful gas, but I thought it would never happen. If it is reflux, elevating his crib will help too. My son was put on meds for the reflux. It didn't stop the reflux but it protected his throat from the acid. Colic Solved is a great book to turn to as well.

First, congrats on your new baby! It's definitely hard in the beginning but once the baby learns about day and night it gets better. As for the night-time gas, I'd definitely check with the pediatrician to find out if it's acid reflux or not. If it isn't, my ped. told me that babies don't have the natural movement to get gas out so we have to do all the work for them. After my son ate every time I'd hold him sitting up and move him around in little dances while I sang. Worked almost every time to get lots of gas out. The couple of times he had it bad I laid him tummy down across my legs while I was sitting and I'd rock my legs back and forth while massaging his back up and down and from the sides. My Mom taught me this technique and it worked. He would get the gas out and usually fall asleep right there on my legs. I hope this helps!

M., try cutting out any caffeine or nicotine from your diet. Also any spicy foods that you eat, chocolate is another thing that can cause gas in infants. Remember, almost all soft drinks have caffeine, and chocolate too!!!!

Sounds to me like he is eating to fast. I had that problem. Try pumping just a little milk out right before nursing. It will slow the flow down some and help with the gas but it's perfectly normal for nursing babies to have gas. It's also normal to want to nurse all the time. My oldest daughter nursed every two hours for the first couple of months. Just relax. If it's just spit up and not vomit don't worry about it. But if the milk comes out to fast they have to swallow quicker and that causes them to get air.

Please call your pediatrician. Hope you get some rest soon. This is a 24/7 job, dear.
Blessings

Start by eliminating some of the "worst offenders" from your diet (milk/dairy products, broccoli, nuts). he's going to want to nurse all the time because that's part of being a newborn anyway, but constantly spitting up will make him want to nurse more often.

My best wishes to you and congrats on the new blessing in your life ...

My baby was the same since from his first day of birth. I tried lots of remedial options but did work only one and that was babies magic tea.

cograts M. on the new baby,
my advise to you, after having a very colicy baby is "gripewater"...all natural, but much better then mylcon. it's in cvs, walgreens & all healthfood stores.my son also was calmed by the sound of the vacum...though i didn't have the energy to actually vacum, i just let it run for a while. :-) remember, this will pass....it's very hard now, but they do get better!! i promise!!! good luck & god bless...J. j

All babies fart a lot; he's perfectly normal. I would avoid medicating a five-day-old if possible. Please see a lactation consultion to make sure he isn't gulping a ton of air while nursing. That would make him spit up, get the hiccups, and fart a bunch later. My son is like that. I have a milk oversupply/overactive letdown and he gasps and gulps until it settles down. The things I do are: feed on one breast only, because that reduces the spitting up, and burp frequently. But see a lactation consultant; she can help you.
Another thing that really works is infant massage and baby fart aerobics. If you're in Gainesville I know there is an infant massage teacher here, if not you can look it up in a book. Itsy Bitsy Yoga has some great moves for infants to move gas through. These have worked well with my son.

I have a daughter who will be one in a few weeks. She was really bad with gas the first couple months after she was born. What I found to work is called Gripe Water. It's all natural medicine you find in a normal drugstore. It's usually right next to the Baby Gas-X and Malacon. It costs the same as those ones too but works so much better. I hope you will try it as you will find yourself getting a whole lot more sleep.

My daughter had a lot of excessive gas problems as well when she was born. I used to burp her on the washing machine as it was going, I have a electric razor and I would hold it on her back for a while and then burp her, and also lay her on top of my legs with her stomach on one leg and burp her and sometimes that would help get the air out as well. Good Luck

Hello M.!
Congratulations on your new baby! I just finished a massage DVD for parents of colicky baby I have been working in the field for wc years. The Video is $29.99. You can contact me online at:www.TheInfantMassageInstitute.com or call me at ###-###-####.Easing colic through massage:A Natural approach. It's really working! Call me today. M. Berard, President of Infant Massage Institute, Inc.

I know exactly what you are going through.My son had colic and my daughter spit up all the time. The best thing that you can do for the colic is watch what you eat.Onions, collard greens, anything that you know makes you gasy will make the baby gasy. If you feel gas try to get rid of it before feeding him. You can also try mylecon drops(do not get the generic because they do not work)they seemed to work for me.As far as the spitting up just keep a birth cloth handy and maybe a heavy towel if its real bad because its probably acid reflux and something they have to grow out of. Just keep feeding the baby even though the spitting occurs. Watch to make sure that the baby is gaining weight too. If the baby is spitting up and gaining weight then there is nothing to worry about but if the baby is spitting up and not gaining weight it means that the baby is not getting any food and you need to tell your doctor. GOOD LUCK! I know that it's hard now but hopefully by 3-6 months things will get better.

Hi M.,

Congrats on the birth of your son! He sounds perfectly normal to me, he is sleepy during the day and awake at night due to nature. Back in the caveman days, it was safe for babies to sleep during the day when their parents would be keeping an eye out for predators and they would be awake and cry at night to keep the predators away. Mamas have also evolved to deal with this, if you are breastfeeding, you will probably notice that your milk production is higher at night. Early on, newborns sleep during the day and eat all night. Tough on Mama, but totally normal.

I would avoid medications or anything other than either formula or breastmilk unless your pediatrician suggests it. The hardest thing for me as a new Mama was to sleep when my son slept, but it is the best advice I can give you. Sleep during the day when he is sleeping and do your chores and feed all night. It doesn't last long and you might be shocked later to find out that you kind of miss the bonding time you got in the middle of the night. My son is 3.5 years old, and he was just like this. Now he is a perfectly normal little boy who sleeps well from 8pm to 6am daily and lucky for me, still takes a nap during the day for about 1.5 hours. Sometimes, I still nap with him:)

Get some sleep!! You can be on email and internet in the middle of the night while feeding:) C.

when i was nursing certain food made my newborn gassy, garlic, onion, and salad. also mylicon worked really well for me for getting rid of the gas. hopefully this will help you.

Congratulations on your newborn! Sounds like he has colic which is a term for excessive gas. My newborn (now 3 months old) had terrible colic from day one and has just recently started to get better. Some things to try: if he's breast-fed, eliminate all dairy from your diet! If he's formula fed, switch to a soy or hypoallergenic formula such as allimentum (check spelling on that one). Hold him up for at least 10 minutes after feeding and make sure he burps! Burp frequently during feeding to get the air out. Try Gripe Water, you can find it at Target or any health food store. Drape him over your legs, belly down, and pat his belly, this will help get the gas out. Last, and I know no one recommends this, but the only way my very colicky baby would sleep was/is on her tummy! We got a heart monitor made by Bebe (I think it's called Bebe Sounds Angel monitor) and it detects her heartbeat. An alarm goes off is it doesn't detect her heartbeat for 30 seconds. It has worked great for us and now she sleeps so much better than when I put her on her back!

Best of luck. It's tough to get through but most babies get better around 3 months. You will get through this!

S.

I just had to say CONGRATULATIONS!!!! My little girl just turned 8 months and it is the best ride around!! Enjoy. As for gas I was told by my doctor it was common for the first few weeks and for me to try and eat a balanced diet and stay away from food that might cause gas - peppers, raw onions. It seemed to work for us. Amazing something so little can have so much gas!!

Congratulations! Your baby is probably adjusting to life outside of the womb and the gut needs to adjust to eating mommy milk now. Things should settle. Make sure you burp several times, during the session and then after to let out build-up. Sometimes another burping 15 min later works well too for some gassy babies. If you don't see improvement with a little time (or it gets worse) then you may consider an elimination diet for yourself.... call a local lactation consultant (I love Lucille at Morton Plant in Clw) and get guidance and check out sites like mothering.com and kellymom.com

As for nursing constantly....that is very normal. You should be nursing on demand...meaning whenever he wants, not according to any clock, schedule, or unfortunately not what is easy or convenient for you either :) This is all part of a newborns daily life and just takes some getting used to.... Sleep is a thing of the past for now, but don't worry, everything goes sooooo fast amd soon you will wonder where your little newborn went. Enjoy these precious days (and nights), they are only little for a very short time even though it feels like forever until you get some rest! Nap whenever he naps, forget the housework and just enjoy!

DR. BROWN BOTTLES!!! These are a little more expensive bottles but a guarantee they will help if not cure the gas. My DD has used them on all 3 of my grandsons. My 1st little GS had a terrible time and would projectile vomit everytime he ate and cry and cry - we tried the bottles and he kept everything down the first time and was 80% better and Mylacon drops helped with the remainder.

I've never heard of ColicCalm, but I have had great luck with Gripe Water.

Sorry I don't have any advice. Just wanted to say Congratulations! And tell you to hang in there - it will get easier and you will look back on these times with a blur. I know it is hard to feel that way now - being overwhelmed and all - I hope you can find support to get through these tough times. As crazy as it is - try to enjoy every minute - it goes by WAY TOO FAST! It seems I was just pregnant and now my daughter will be 1 year old in 3 weeks. Enjoy that little man!

Hi M.,
The way you describe your son is exactly how my son was when he was first born. Gas at night, lots of spit up, burping/passing gas and continuous hiccups. Also my guy seemed to have phlegm in his throat all the time. He wouldn't sleep. Mylocon seemed to work a little. Grype water worked okay, but not all the time. My poor little guy was suffering (mommy and daddy too bc he would not sleep bc of discomfort at night). Finally, and I mean after weeks, the dr. finally gave in and we got him tested for acid reflux. Bingo!!! Zantac worked miracles. Just something to think about. It never hurts to ask your doctor what he/she thinks. Explain to him/her exactly how you did in your post. Good luck and trust me, it will get easier.

Hello!!
You can offer him medication that contains simethicone. It is an antigas, it doesn't interfere with other food or medication and is eliminated through urine. Do you breast feed? because mommy's milk is gentle to baby stomach and if you do you have to watch what you are eating because some food you eat affects your milk and may cause colic. You have to watch caffeinated drinks such coffee and soda. Try to write down what you ate when the baby start to have the gas episodes. You may have an idea what kind of food irritates the baby stomach and you should avoid them. Good luck!!!

The only thing that helped my girl was age! I think they all go through this, both of mine did. Another reason why you sleep as much as you can during the day. Funny how it doesn't seem to hit them during the day huh? I swear, after being up all night, the sun would start coming up and off to sleep they would peacefully go! Cruel and yes, a a$$ kicking. I tried mylacon and gripe water, but nothing worked for me. I did sleep them in the bouncy chair after night feedings and that sometimes helps. Most of the time hubby or I ended up in the recliner with her asleep on our chest. Time will make things better, take any offers of help you get!

take as much help as you can . make sure he gets lots of fresh air during the day. walgreens have a lot of products for gas/colic i forget the name of one but it is a clear liquid in a bottle -Gripe water.......................
also think about hiring a nanny for a few hours to recover if you dont have help, a good mum is a rested mum.
good luck