Help with a Gassy Baby

Oh the memories of watching my little girl cry out in pain from a gassy stomach. Mylicon, gripe water and massages did nothing for my child. The only formula that worked was Nutramigen Lipil by Enfamil (very expensive but worth it) and the Playtex Bottles with Drop Ins. They were live savers. My daughter is now 2 and can eat anything and is the happiest little girl! It does get better and you will get through the colic!

Try a couple of drops of peppermint oil in warm water, old remedy but worked on all 5 of mine including the breast fed baby. Good luck

Have you tried rice water? When my oldest was gassy a Thai lady gave her rice water? Also what kinds of cravings did you have when you were pregnant? I was all watermellon. So when my daughter was first home from the hospital, I gave her a sip of watermelon and she quit crying. But all this is back in the stone ages. (1978)
Have you tried the bottles that are airless? My daughter (middle) says they work good for no air in them.
I am just thinking so I dont know is this is good advice or not. Thanks for reading this. L. N

how ironic! I was just writing to the request right before yours and told her when she gets to colic to write me! and here you are in need of that very advice! I have the absolute cure for colic! it worked on my son the very first time, and he had it bad for a while before my grandmother gave me the secret. you will be sleeping by tonight i promise! here it is... go to the store and buy some fennel seeds (in the spice isle) they are natural and licorice flavored and safe for your baby. put 1 teaspoon into a little water and boil on stove making a tea from the seeds. let cool. strain the seeds. pour the tea into a baby bottle with just a bit of sugar to sweeten so the baby will drink it up (about 4 ounces). no gas just sleep! AHHH! now wasn't that easy! the very first bottle was the very first night that anyone got any sleep in my house! sweet dreams!

Hi C.,

Your baby sounds identical to mine. I suggest going to see a gastroenterologist as soon as possible. It may be reflux. My son used to have a lot of Mylicon as well. He had burning in his osophagus and wanted to drink constantly to ease the burining. He had to go on ranitidine but really needed an antacid as well. My poor baby really suffered. Also I suggest trying hte Playtex Ventair. They are great and so much easier to clean as well.
Does he also arch his back? If so that is a dead giveaway that he has pain.
I also recommend the Nutramagen. It needs warm water to mix it up and then shake a lot. Let it sit for a while so that the bubbles go out of the mix as that really adds to gas.
Best of luck.

W.

I haven't had a chance to read all your responses, so IDK if this has been suggested. I have 3 boys, & this worked well w/all of them. Karo syrup!!! Put a teaspoon in the bottle & it helps w/gas AND constipation. Also, lay the baby on its back, slowly lift both legs up towards nose of baby. If the baby has gas, you will instantly hear the gas being released. If he's anything like my boys, he'll think it's hilarious & you will be sooo releaved. Hope it works for you.......worked wonders for my boys!!!

daughter had the same problem, lasted for along time ended up giving her different formula's and went from there to soy bean milk. At last relief for both of us when she was a little older made to switch back to watered down formula. Please check with your Dr. he may have some help for you yet.

It all sounds too familiar. My daughter use to scream and cry after feedings. I switched her to a soy based formula and it was a 180 degree turnaround. She was much happier, less fussy and I wasn't as wound up having a screaming baby. I started with the Good Start and eventually went to Similac. Either one is great. I don't recommend Enfamil, everyone I know who has used it (my child included) had severe constipation as a result. The mylicon works pretty well I still use it sometimes when she's gassy and she's 17 mo now. I would also try a different bottle. They're a little more complicated to put together but well worth it. I would use the platex bottles that use the bag it's supposed to work more like the breast. Hope all this helps. Hang in there, once you get it figured out you'll both feel better.

We used the Air Vente series of bottles with our little girl. Also, we had to burp her alot more than usual. The Air Vente Flow bottle let all the gas out. you can shake the milk to smitherine's and still all the bubbles will evaporate. Give 'em a try!

What formula are you using? With my first, we breast and bottle fed and had no problems. With my second (now 4 1/2 mo old) we had horrible gas problems. No matter what I ate, he had gas and was really fussy. My doctor suggested we change formulas. We changed to Nestle Good Start with Natural Cultures (no I don't work for them). They have the 'comfort protiens' which make it easier to digest and this one has the 'Natural Cultres' or probiotics. The 'good bacteria' that helps the tummy and it is similar to what you pass on in your breast milk.

It took a few days, but now, with the new formula we are having NO problems.

Hope this helps.

I just went through the very same thing with my baby. She is now 2 1/2 months and has finally outgrown it. She is still pretty gassy but isn't crying all of the time. I maybe give her mylicon once a day if that now. so, here is what I did. I burped her evey 1/2 oz to 1 oz. I also went to Cost plus nutrition and bought Kid-e-col, Dr. Christopher's brand. They had to order it for me but they got it in whith in 3 days. It was $14 or $15 dollars I think but it was worth every penny. I noticed a difference with in 2 days. It is a liquid form of catnip and fennel. My husbands grandmother swore by it and so did my sis-n-law. So, I tried it and it seems to have worked. That and I think she has outgrown it some too. I read in a book "Healthy Sleep habits, Happy child" that fussiness in babies tends to peak at around 6 weeks of age (from the babies due date) and begins to taper off after that until the baby is 12 weeks. That was deffinately true for my kids. Just hang in there it will get easier. I've been through this 4 times now and it does get better.

If you are breast feeding then the food that you are eating yourself passes to your child. Make sure that you no longer eat the foods that cause gas for your child. Ask your doctor what foods to stay away from. Try that. Sometimes kids just have colic so it may also not be what you are eating but more than likly it is.

Hi C.! I'm a new mom too, my little girl is 4 1/2 months old now. I like the the vent-air bottles, they seem to work well. The other suggestion I have is baby massage!! It can definitely help w/the gas, plus you & baby will love it! Good luck & congrats!!
H. B

It sounds like your son has the same problem as my kids did at that age. I had to switch to soy formula. When I switched to Soy Formula, it really did help the gas problem. Hope this helps!

Dear C.,

My grandmother told me when I was having trouble with my daughter to boil a tsp. of fennil seed (on the spice isle) in 1 cup of water. Cool. Give it to him in his bottle. It worked for me & for my next door neighbors little boy and his mom was a nurse! It supposidly sooths their tummys.

Good luck,
C.

Take note of what you are eating. Some really nutritious foods like broccoli can give you gas which will transfer to the baby through your milk. My doctor told me to be careful about combining above ground vegetables with below ground vegetables; for example lettuce and potatoes (salad and fries). Also my daughter was able to take Emfamil Lipil with only a little difficulty but Similac gave her very bad gas and even vomiting sometimes. I also started adding just a little (a teaspoon or less) of rice cereal to her formula and that helped to keep it down.
Hope this helps.

gripe water is something you can get at some Wal Marts (Little Tummy brand), Babies R US carries them, and most health food stores. They are a natural herbal suppliment that helps with gas. They are wonderful.

My daughter had colic when she was born and I found out it was due to immature intestines which will get better as they get older. I had to put my daughter on Soy formula which did not give her as much gas. I also tried burbing her after every ounce so I did not let the gas build up in her. The doctor also gave her medicene for the colic. Good luck.

Hi I work for a naturopathic doctor and she can help you.She treats alot of babies who are constipated, who have colic, who are gassy,And the best thing about it is... its done naturally.I read you are tired too you might want to check her out for yourself as well.Everyone who comes in is happy with the out come.If you are interested call ###-###-#### Excelon Health her name is Dr. Amy Neuzil and if you say K. refered me, she'll give you a twenty dollar discount off the initial visit.Good luck and congrats on the new baby.

I have two boys, 4 and 2! Is your little guys spitting up? My second was very gassy and spit up which of course made him cry quite often. I figured that the spitting up was normal, it didn't seem excessive to me, but come to find out he had acid reflux! Once we got him on medication he got much better and eventually he grew out of it. Something to consider. It is exhausting, I know. If you think it might be reflux then try keeping him in an upright position for at least 30 min after feeding and a trick that I tried was letting him sleep in his carseat(I actually placed his carseat in his crib, just to get him used to his room) this helped keep him upright at night so that he did not experience reflux while he was sleeping. He woke up a lot at night from the reflux and this really helped. Although he is only 5 wks so you may want to try the carseat in your room if he is still sleeping in your room. If you don't think that it is reflux, you may consider switching formulas to see if that helps with the gas. Sometimes certain formulas don't sit well in babies tummies and it causes gas and constipation! Just a couple of things to consider...hope this helps. God Bless. Oh by the way, I breastfed exclusively for 7 months with my second and he still was fussy and gassy...that is why I am wondering if it might be reflux.

What are you eating? I know that was my biggest lesson with my 2 month old. They say Brocolli, Cauliflower will give your baby gas. I have found any tomoto base sauce is something Grace gets upset over also. BUT the Mylecon is still flowing, we call it "liguid gold" in our home. Hope this helps...

A. W (mommie to Grace Faye)

My son too had bad gas problems at about the 5-6 week range. I made sure and watched what I ate (cut out dairy, onions, anything cooked with onions, caffeine, etc) out of my diet. Don't know if that helped, or if he just needed to get a little older. I read somewhere they go through a growth spurt at that age. Once he hit 2 months he seemed to get so much better about the gas, began napping better during the day and also started sleeping all night. All I can say is hang in there. It does get better.

I found that gripe water worked much better than mylacon. You can get it at some HEBs and at most health food stores.

One suggestion I can give, doesn't help prevent, but it does help to relieve the gas. You may have already heard of it, but it works. If you sit down & put the baby face down right above your knees so the baby's tummy is across your legs, then either bounce a little &/or pat the baby's back.

Mylicon NEVER worked for us, but definitely try Baby Bliss Gripe Water - I swear by it. It worked even better than any of the meds my little ones were on. And I have told at least 20 mom's who have replied that it worked for their little ones too. Good luck, G-D bless.

Congratulations and hang in there! :)

I cut out dairy and it helped SOOO much. I bet your formula is also dairy-based, but you can change it to soy. Unfortunately soy is another leading digestive irritant to new one's tummies. The leading food irritants that can cause gas are dairy, wheat, soy, and citrus.

It might seem overwhelming to change your diet, but remember that it's really just for a short time and your little one is going to feel so much better. When I was sad about not eating ice cream anymore I just remembered the 3 am screaming gas pain he was in and it was easy to give it up. It's not forever.

Welcome to the club!

Most of mine were gassy too... it was the onion and the garlic I used in cooking. I cook Italian, Mexican and Chinese a lot.... and I found out onion and garlic are in most everything (even ketchup!). So I stopped most of the onion - Vidalia onions (if you can find them) don't cause gas - it's all the other ones.

The wonderful thing I learned - which helped tremendously - is to sit down and turn the baby over on his tummy, over your knees/lower thighs. Then bounce your legs - using the balls of your toes. The position coupled with the bouncing puts them right to sleep. It puts pressure on their tummy and helps expel the gas too. It's the most fantastic thing I've learned being a mom. Once I learned that trick.... life got easier.

Good Luck - and e-mail if you have any further questions: ____@____.com

K.

Congrats. I know the feeling. My little one will be 3 months next week. When I started him on formula, the doc gave me Enfimil Lipil which gave him terrible, painful gas. Try Nestle Goodstart, which all my friends say is a bit easier on the stomach. We use the Parent's Choice (wal-mart brand) Organic formula and it has worked the best, plus you save a little. I too was giving my little one Mylicon every couple of hours til we got the formula straight. Trial and error. My doc said it takes about a week to get all the effects of the old formula out of their system, but you should see a difference in a couple of days. Good luck!

Check the nipples. I don't know about Dr. Brown's bottles, but the bottles I have have stage 1 and stage 2 nipples. This may help prevent him from drinking too fast.

are you giving him pumped milk?? if so check your diet...certain food can increase his gassiness, for instance broccoli. For more information to help lesson his gas through your diet you might speak with a nutritionist or the la leche league in your area.

However, if your son is formula fed you might see if a different type or brand of formula helps the situation. You might see if he is lactose intolerant by changing to a soy formula and seeing if that helps.

I hope something I listed helps you out!!! Good Luck ;-)...

Try infant message. It worked wonders for my son. I took a class in this, but there are many good books on infant message. Here is one list on Amazon.com "Infant Massage--Revised Edition: A Handbook for Loving Parents". Any book store should have this, or similar books.

There are a couple stomach message techniques that work very well for clearing out gas and constipation in infants. I still use it at times on my son, who is now 11.

the only bottles i swear by are avent ones!

Hey C.,
What I did was give my son a probiotic from when he was 2 weeks old to about 10 months. He was fussy a lot and when I started to give it to him I never had to buy mylicon again. He was happier and slept great. A probiotic is good bacteria that helps with digestion, there are other things that it helps with like immunities, but it's not bad for the baby and you can buy it at any whole foods store. I bought Nature's Way and gave him 1/2 tsp once a day in breastmilk in a bottle. Hope that helps. I will use it agian when I have my second.

Hi C.,

Check out this website:
http://www.oil-testimonials.com/7532 it is really neat and very informative. If you find something on it that might work contact me at www.youngliving.org/sherylhawkinson. I will be happy to help you.

Since you are breast feeding talk with a lactation consultant. They can help you to figure out if something that you are eating or drinking could be contributing to the babies discomfort. Make sure the baby is latching on correctly to lessen air intake, and to decrease possibility of problems created by a bad latching.

Just a quick note, the Pediatrician thought my youngest had colic even though he was exclusively breastfed which is very unusual. After several months of pain for him, worry and aggravation for hubby and I, I took him to a different doctor and found out he had reflux. Properly diagnosed with medication to help relieve pain, and life was much better. Moral of the story-trust your mother's instinct.

As for the bottles my 4 sisters and I only used the Playtex Disposables. They are easy to heat up, and once you squeeze the air out you don't have to worry about excess air going into the baby's tummy.

Good Luck!!

My first son had some problems with gas the first few months of his life. I was told by the nurse to give him a little chamomille tea very diluted, no more than about 1 oz. It really seemed to help. Another friend, also a nurse, told me to lay him on his back and slowly pump his legs by bringing his knees to his chest and down. It also worked, after the first few pumps, every time his knees got up, he passed gas. I also cut out the foods that were bothering him since I was breastfeeding. I stopped eating chocolate and spicy foods. The chocolate was the finally thing that stopped all of the problems.
My sister had a little girl the same time I did, she had colic for the first 4 1/2 months of her life and cried almost day and night. My sister tried everything and even had perscription medicine for gas. It turned out that that what
my sister was eating was causing the problem, since she was breastfeeding. AFter she had cut out all chocolate and milk products (even foods that had milk in them), her daughter stopped crying and was very content. Everty time my sister accidently ate something with milk in it, her daughter started to cry again.

The good news is most people say that the gas and colic problems stop about age 3 months. I know that that is a little way away for you, but maybe between trying what worked for my sister and me, and knowing this too will pass (no pun intended) will help encourage you.

Try gripe water....it works wonders!!

C., I feel your pain. Of course my son is now 16, but I feel you cause when he was a baby I felt like he lived off mylicon. I felt like Mylicon just didn't help much. My son had colic for at least about 6 months. Besides that he also had acid reflux where he would through up all his milk just about every time he ate. As far as sleep. I felt I never got any sleep. I was tired all the time. I tried everything the doctors told me to do to help with his colic. I also was a new mother and desperate for help. I was so desperate I even would put him on top of the dryer of course in his car seat and turn the dryer on for about 5 minutes. That helped some. I would take him for a car ride right before his colic would start and that helped alot too. Of course my son's colic would start at a certain time every day, so I sort of prepared for it. Also giving your baby some camomille with some sugar helped alot too. Putting some olive oil on your babies tummy and then wrap his tummy with a some sort of towel will help. Keeping his/hers tummy warm really helps. But don't use a heating pad. Unfortunately for colic its something that they will eventually grow out of and then you can finally get some rest.

I hope this info helped

my daughter was gassy from the minute she was born & the nurse at the hospital told us to put a warm pack on her tummy (outside her clothes) and then swaddle her - it would dispel the gas in no time! It was amazing!!

Hi C.,
I use mangosteen juice, it's safe for infants and people of all ages....colic is acid reflux in babies, and mangosteen juice gets rid of acid reflux, helps baby to sleep better too. And the best part is that it's natural! Good for many other things as well....you can visit my website.... www.freedomfrommeds.com or give me a call and we can talk. ###-###-#### W.

C.,

Talk to your doc. My son was the same way and he was put on zantac... it helped so much. Also, look to what gassy foods you may be eating and consider cutting things out. Also, if you are looking for good baby books try The Baby Book by Dr. Sears and Baby 911 (cant remember who wrote this one... but it was a lifesaver)! Good luck!

Well first of all congrats on being a mommy.As a mother of 3,I too had a gassy baby. My solution came to me after the birth of my 2nd baby who is now 2 and have continued with my 3rd baby who is now 6months.I dont no how disaplined you are about your eating habits but this is what I did after reserching .......a lot. I dont eat any thing that has dairy in it.AT ALL> Yup it was hard at first but let me tell you that has made such a drastic change, for the better.Im NO DOC.,but this really helped.I truly believe that what ever we eat will affect our babies.My colic diet includes NO Diary,spicy foods,Beans of any kind. Start reading labels its amazing what youll read.Its a challeng,and its hard but having a happy baby is so much better then having a colicy baby.It worked for me. If your interested in trying this out call ____@____.com

I don't know if you already found a remedy, but I had the same problem with my daughter and the only thing that helped us was burping her after every ounce of milk. You might want to try it if you have not done so already.

Colic is often side-stepped by just breastfeeding as the other foods are much harder on the digestive system...you might want to try exclusive breastfeeding for a couple of weeks and see if it clears up?

My daughter has a three month old son and gives him a natural remedy for gas and hiccups. You can buy it at a drug store or grocery store. It is a combination of fennel and ginger. I think it's called Gripe Water/ Tonic. Ask the pharmacist. Works like a charm for him.
Good luck,
J.

Bless your heart (and his, too!) My grandson had really bad reflux for the first year of his life. I bought him the Dr. Brown's bottles, and they seemed to help him a little, but he would always projectile vomit at almost every feeding. The only thing that helped him (in addition to the Mylicon drops and a prescription from the pediatrician), was using heat on his tummy. My husband (who is like a furnace) would hold him when he would cry, being sure to hold him upright and with his tummy facing my husband's chest. This always worked after a few minutes.

Another suggestion: A friend swore by rubbing oil on the baby's tummy. Again, the heat produced would calm the baby and help him release gas. (She used cooking oil--!!!--but I'm sure baby oil would work, too.)

One word of encouragement--he will outgrow this in time. I don't know how long it will take your son to get over this, but he WILL.

I feel your pain! My 3 month old had much the same problem. We also used Gripe Water and Reuteri powder to help him. Both are available at Whole Foods. He still has lots of gas, but it has gotten better as he gets older. Hope this helps!!

Breast fed babies are less likely to get colic unless you are eating the wrong foods. Green vegetables and onions give you gas. If you get gas from certain foods stay away from them because the baby will have the same reaction. Try the Playtex bottles with the drop in bag. Make sure that it is BPA (an ingredient in plastic that is harmful) free. Those nipples are shaped like a womans breast so they suck in less air.