Gassy Baby :(

My best friend had her baby on 9/10 and he has gas problems. She is trying to beastfeed but suppliments it with Isomil. She swears by something called "Gripe Water". She gives him a dropper full. It seems to help. She also gives some warm sugar water...Just a dropper full and it seems to help. Exercising my daughter's legs seemed releive her discomfort. In any case GOOD LUCK. You csn get get the "gripe water" at a health food store. I have found it at HEB in the baby section not the medical isle.

My son also had very bad gas. I started giving him Mylicon drops after every feeding, used Dr.Browns bottles (uses air vent to keep air out of babies tummy) and used Enfamil Gentlease formula. It really worked wonders. His gas got better by the next day.

Good Luck!

My son had colic, only at night when everyone else wanted to sleep, he completely wore out 3 perfectly healthy adults! My grandmother was the only one that gave me advice that worked! Buy some fennel seeds, brew a tea with a teaspoon of seeds and a cup of water let it cool or add a little cool water and a bit of sugar and place it in the baby's bottle and give it right before bedtime. And then you both can sleep like a "baby"!!!

My son was the same way- cholic and gassy until he was about 3 months old. The doctors wouldn't change his formula (they said he would grow out of it)- regular Enfamil Lipil. So we changed his bottles (regular bottles let lots of air into the stomach), we used Doctor Browns bottles (they have these special tubes in the center) and gave him Mylicon drops when he needed it. For the 1st month of life he was so gassy and cholicy, after we switched the bottles no more cholic!

My son was on lactofree, but not until he was 6 months when I stopped breastfeeding. He did not start to have any problems until I went back to work and he went to formula. We tried several (Enfamil regular, Gentlease, etc) and found the Enfamil Lactofree worked best.

I can't suggest any formulas but I can suggest a home remedy we use for the colic. Right before you feed your baby formula you can give he/she some Chammomile tea (Manzanilla). What I do is i take a pinch of the flowers and boil them in about 8oz of water. Then I strain it and mix half water and half of the tea you just made in a bottle. Usually 1oz./1oz. I have used this for my three children and it works wonders and it's natural so it's easy on the tummy. I have 3 children 5,4 and 4 mo old. Hope this helps you.

J. Ortiz

You say he is gassy but did not say if he is in pain or if his weight gain is normal. If he is not screaming, drawing his legs up to his chest, crying and is gaining weight at a normal rate then it is nothing to worry about. You need to give each of the formulas more that just a few days try. It sometimes takes several weeks for the babys system to adjust to a formula change.
Good luck
P.S. I am an RN

That sounds exactly like me, don't bother going to Neocate just yet. If I were you I'd try Gentlease and the A.R. Lipil first. Nutramigen didn't help my twins either, and we were on it for 3 months. I finally went to a GI doctor and he said some babies are just fussy, but they were gaining great and if Nutramigen wasn't making them PERFECT don't bother with it, because its so expensive.

The best thing we've found for gas is Hyland's upset stomach and Hylands Gas pills. These are homeopathic and safe for baby and can be used AS NEEDED. They dissolve very quickly in the baby's mouth and work in SECONDS - you'll see the baby physically calm down within 20 seconds - they are so great. We have 4 baby boys (well, age 7, 4, 2 and 6 months) and found them with our second child through our doctor. You can buy them at a health food store or online (probably easiest to get them online unless you have a health food store that is pretty big and carries a lot of hylands remedies).

you can also put a pill on a little baby spoon with 2 drops of water to have it already dissolving first if you want to -best for babies under 2 months.

The reason I suggest both upset stomach and gas, is that we found that sometimes one worked and sometimes the other. So try both and keep both on hand. Then, when it's time for teething, they also have teething pills that work well!

There is also a colic pill - but I havent used it much. The gas and upset stomach work wonderfully though.

Best,
A.

have you tried a lactose free formula or you could try a soy one too we found lots of help with Similac Sensitive RS it's lactose free and has rich starch added to help decrease spit up
hth

My son had horrible gas as a baby. My sister-in-law is from Germany and suggested I give him fennel tea. You can find fennel seeds at the health food store. Get a tea ball and make just a little bit of tea. We would give my son a few sips after every meal and it worked wonders. He would burp and toot for awhile afterwards. Completely got rid of the tummy aches and fussing.

Sounds like my kid who has dairy and soy protein intolerance. I would get on the Neocate asap or even ask a GI doctor if there is something else. If your baby is allergic to these proteins and continue to receive them then the symptoms can get worse. I'm an adult doctor, so spent a lot of time on this, when my pediatrician sort of dismissed it. My daughter is 2 and still cannot have dairy without bad reflux, diarrhea, and rash, adn of course GAS. Good luck!

you should try enfamil gentalease that worked for my daughter

Have you tried the Mylicon drops? They're in a green box next usually with the baby toothpastes and pacifiers. My daughter was very fussy and colicy, and I changed her to a soy based formula rather than a milk based one. I found that good start or similac were the best. Good luck.

I used Infamil Soy

Hi there my best friend tried powdered goats milk and brown rice syrup from whole foods, and she said it worked wonders! Hope this helps and good luck!

Try baby mylecon (generic brand works fine). also you can help your baby by bending his legs at the knees and gently pushing them (his knees) up toward his chest. Do this exercise repeatedly. I felt that it help my twins "work out" the gas by getting their bodies moving since they aren't able to do it themselves.

My baby was the same way he is on Nutamigen but still tends to get gassy from time to time. My sister is a pharmacist and she told me to give him the mylicon drops and cola syrup. You can find it at wal-greens or CVS. My grandmother used to give it to us and it does work for an upset stomach. Whatever dosage you give of the mylicon drops give the same amount for the cola syrup and mix the two together. Oh and the cola syrup will be on the aisle with all the antacids.
Good Luck

T.,

My darling daughter has had severe gas since she was 2weeks old. We first started giving her mylacon, that sorta worked but not long enough. Then we changed her formula to Enfamil Lacto Free, things started looking up, but not enough for her to rest comfortably. Next I changed her bottle to AVENT, and that helped ALOT. But the final thing that tied it all together was Gripe Water. She is 16months old and is offically lactose intolerent (that had a lot to do with the gas), but I just give her lactaid milk and gripe water when the gas appears and she is happy. Basically, what I'm trying to say is it is all trial and error but definitley invest in some Gripe Water. Good Luck and Stay Strong.

I have had the same issues with both of my kids. My 2nd child was even worse than my first which I find to be common. Are you using powder or pre-mixed formula? I don't know why but my daughter could not tolerate Nutramigen powder but did a complete turn around with the liquid. I did this with the advice of my friend who's daughter could also only tolerate the pre-mix formula. My GI said he sees it ]alot with premies. They get the pre-mix at the hospital and are doing great and when they go home they start to have problems again and it ends up being that they switched to powder at home.

Good luck

For our boy this remedy worked wonderful. It started to work through 10-15 minutes. Sometimes I gave him several times for one hour.
http://www.hylands.com/products/colic.php
You can buy it everywhere... Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Sprouts, and etc.
And I gave him this too, I started to give him probiotic when he was about 2 or 3 weeks old.
http://store.natren.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PRO...=
Now, when he became older, I gave him this probiotic
http://www.country-life.com/moreinfo.cfm?Category=9&P...
We bought it in Sprouts.
During 6 monthes of his life, he had colic only 3 or 5 times.
Good luck!

You might look into dairy allergies. Trying soy products really helped my niece when she had this problem, but I'm pretty sure it was a product her doctor recommended. It can't hurt to try especially if the gas makes your baby uncomfortable. Good luck!

OK my dears, I'm going to let you in on the greatest Mommy secret in Scotland! It's called Nurse Harvey's Gripe water and it's absolute magic! I'm not sure how you can get it but, GET IT! Maybe , it can be ordered on the internet? Or an import store? or Fiesta? Your baby will let out a belch that would do a sailor proud! It is made from a extract from dill weed that is natural & harmless . My Scottish girlfriends just could not believe , we don't have it here.It is a staple for households with small children & babiies in Scotland. My daughter was horribly collicy , until Maggie mailed me some. It was an instant success!
L.

My little boy was very gassy and also had reflux issues. We switched formulas until we came across a few that worked the best for us. These included Similac Isomil Advanced and Similac Sensitive. We preferred Similac over Enfamil because he would spit up more with Enfamil. To help the gassiness, we would give him gas drops, we preferred Little Tummies Gas Drops over Mylecon, but we used them both. The directions say it is fine to give it to them at every feeding, and that is what we did for months until his plumbing started working better. Thank goodness, we no longer have a need to use the gas medicine or the special formula. Good luck finding the right solution for your little one. Sometimes it takes trial and error, which can be frustrating.

ACIDOPHILUS- powdered form for infants, tiny vial, you get it at PEOPLE's PHARMACY on Lamar Blvd. and they can tell you how to use it.
I kept reading how it worked so much better than gas remedies for babies, got some for my 2mo old and we have not looked back.

lots of useful advice here: www.kellymom.com -including this issue.

This might not be gas it may be reflux. in that case I loved Prevacid 75 solutabs for my kids.

Mylanta gas works great, but another issue you could be having is switching the formula to often can make matters worse.

A. J

T.,
I truely feel for you. I've been through this myself. I always give my new mom friends a bottle of the Mylicon drops. I know they are a little pricey but they are fabulous. Also, for my twins I used Gripe Water. I put the recommened dose in EVERY bottle of Soy Milk they drank. It was wonderful, I didn't have nearly the problems as I use to. Unfortunetly I just moved to Temple so I don't know where you can find it, but I use to get it at the health food store. I always got the one that didn't have to be refridgerated though. I would just premeasure the water for every bottle and add the drops to that so when I put in the formula it was already there. And with the non-refridgerator one I didn't have to worry about it going bad in the premeasured water. Good luck.

My DD was gassy up until the age of 4 months. I was nursing so switching formulas was not an option. I tried the mylicon drops but my pediatrician recommended gripe water. I tried a couple of brands. However, Nancy, the owner of the Breastfeeding Shoppe recommened Baby's Bliss gripe water. This was the best brand recommended from Moms. It worked within a matter of minutes with my daughter and the crying and curling up would stop. You can purchase it the placed mentioned above or I think I saw it at Walgreens recently. It is a safe, all-natural liquid thata contains stomach calming ingredients such as ginger and fennel. I would highly recommend it.

My daughter had the same problem, and our doctor recommended Alimentum by Similac. It's like liquid gold, but it's worth every penny. Our daughter was collicy for the first five months, and the predigested formula cured it up almost completely. It stinks and it costs about twice as much as the regular formula, but for us it was a God-send!

I didn't breastfeed either of my kids. Both of them started out on Enfamil Lipil, which is the "highest" level of formula, supposedly closest to breastmilk. For both kids, it caused major gas issues. As soon as we switched to just the regular Enfamil, both kids were fine.
We also used the Mylicon drops for my daughter, and they helped quite a bit as well.
Hopefully, your little guy won't need any additional medical intervention. It's so tough for them at that age!

My son was a preemie and so he had a lot of gas issues. We, too, started on the Enfamil Lipil which didn't work well for him at all (gas, spitting up, etc). What we ended up with for Joseph was the Goodstart, and he stopped spitting up altogether. Sometimes we would put a dose of Little Tummies gas drops IN his bottle of formula so he was taking his meds as he ate, but as he seemed to get a little better we'd refrain and give it to him after his bottle because we saw him improving as he aged and didn't want to just medicate him unnecessarily. (we found Little Tummies at Babies R Us; seems like Walmart only carries the Mylacon which is twice as expensive, lasts half as long, and Joseph didn't like the taste as much).
It's heartbreaking to hear your baby cry in pain! Warm baths help in a crunch. But we SWEAR by Little Tummies gas drops!!! Good luck!

Hello T.,

I am a mother of one and was experiencing the same problem as her doctor said it was the muscle flap not strong enough yet. But she farted and burped like a grown man so I have delt with it since she was born on aug 3 but just recently tried the Dr. Browns bottles and they are amazing. She could soak a spit wrag in one spitup. I have been using the Dr. Browns bottles and they have been wonderful she has only spit up on me once. This is much better than before. They are Pricey but they are well worth it. Hope this helps.
L.

My son had this problem, and my grandmother told me to strengthen the formula slightly. I left 1 oz of water out of a lg. can of mixture, and that did it. She said the gas is caused by the hunger when they are not getting enough food, but their tummy is full of liquid, so no more will fit. It is important to give extra liquids when strengthening the formula, in between feedings. I would try the Isomil at a little higher strength before getting radical and going to the Dr. We also used Mylecon (they make generic symethicone liquid too), and if you give that before each feeding, it eliminates the gas as it is formed. I was able to use that with my daughter, and she had little or no pain like her brother had. Better living through chemistry!! The Doc said that if the baby drank the whole bottle of Mylecon, it would not hurt her, and babies without pain and suffering are less nervous as older children and adults.

The Best to you!

D.

Hi T.,

Your child could need digestive enzymes or acidophilus. They help to balance the digestive tract in order for it to function optimally. I am a chiropractor and we can use Applied Kinesiology (aka muscle testing) to determine if your child needs either (or both) of those supplements. It is very common in infants, especially if they have been on any antibiotics at home or while they were in the hospital. They are both available in a powder that you can add to your childs formula. Also, we can use muscle testing to determine which formula is best for your baby. If you have any questions, or would like more information, please don't hesitate to call me at ###-###-####. Thank you! Dr. Sandra S.

My now 4 month old baby was having difficulty sleeping because his formula was making him so gassy. I switched him to Infamil Gentlease. It's in a purple can. It has really helped him a lot and he started sleeping through the night at 3 months...yay!!

I hope this helps.

~M.

Mylicon (sp?) Drops (the real stuff not the store brand because of the inactive ingredients) always worked GREAT for both of my GASSY babies. Also, I had to use Enfamil's GentleEase for a while with my son (who is now 16 mos.) & that seemed to help to. If you are breastfeeding you might have to change some of your diet temporarily.

BE BLESSED!

I went through this with my little ones also. So i talked to the pediatrican and everything. Well one day i was with my grandma and she told me to try a peppermint candy (the ones that are white and red) and put it in a bottle of water and let it desolve and feed the baby the bottle so i tried it and it does actually work. I know it sounds crazy and thats what i thought too but it does work so if u want to try that. I hope it works for u.