Breastfed Baby That Is Gassy

I dont think you have anything to worry about. Some kids are just gassy and its normal. Gas can be painful. I would just bicycle her little feet at this time or do some tummy time. A baby is often growing quickly so there are many different changes going on in her body. It will be better by the time she is 4 months old

I breast fed for the first 7 months and gave my son gas drops every night because they helped him. I found a few things to take out of my diet but he was still gassy. When he got older and did not have the discomfort I stopped giving them to him. He'll be 2 this year and when eats foods that I know give him gas I still give him gas drops.

It really shouldnt matter what you eat. Talk to a lactation specialist for the best advice. Hopefully your baby will grow out of it. My son is breastfed exclusively and is gassy too. He used to get fussy at night but it only lasted a week or so. I also used gas drops and still do when needed. He is still gassy sometimes but not in any pain. Good luck.

Hello katie I had the same problem with my daughter, if you pump I can tell you that if you about 1-2 tspoons of the baby pear juice in her milk it will help her to go to the bathroom. Pear juice is a natural laxtive. I did this with my daughter because she to was screaming and became so constipated. I put the juice in breast and also, formula because sometimes the baby intakes to much iron and it causes problems, so don't be affraid to try baby pear juice it will keep her regular...hope this helps.
Blessing's,
Rabbi L.
www.hamishkandavid.org

My son is almost five months now and for awhile there he would scream so bad it would almost make you cry. He was up sometimes half the night....at times 2am or so. I was going crazy. So on the worse nights I gave him 1 ml of maloox. My sister-in-law had a son with acid reflux and that was what she gave her son. We were working with a doctor to find out about the acid reflux issue, but found with the maloox it had simethocone in it and it worked. I only gave it to him a few times. We tried the infant drops and that didn't really help. The Tummy Soothers helped some. And the Gripe Water helped better....but still not perfectly.

He's gotten to where now he can push the gas out himself. He will really strain and fart up a storm now. He's so gassy poor thing. I tried eliminating everything that might cause gas...for me that's just about everything I eat. So it was hard. Problem is it didn't help. I even took Beano everytime I ate. No help. I have noticed that certain things make the gas worse...like raw onions, bananas, certain beans, old eggs...but that just increases it more.

I'm afraid that you will just need to pump her little legs at night, give her the infant drops (it helps a little and won't hurt her..my oldest got them constantly...she was full of hot air as well), and then just pray her belly gets use to the gas quickly.

I pump my sons legs now when he starts to squirm. I touch his toes to his nose one at a time...he thinks it is quite funny. And the gas just shoots out. I do that for a few minutes and that gets the bulk of it out.

It will get better...it's just painful waiting for that to happen.

I feel for you.

My son was the same way, until I started limiting dairy intake. Are you still eating things like yogurt and cottage cheese? My son is doing MUCH better now-- hope you find a solution!! Remember, as rough as it is, he will soon outgrow it as his digestive system matures.

K.,
I breastfed both of my boys. They both were very gassy. Early on, I discovered that I had overactive letdown. Basically, when I let down, way too much milk was coming out and I had to pull them off once I let down and spray into a burp cloth until it was less intense. If I didn't they would kind of choke and cough and thus swallow air! Otherwise, I always made sure I got a burp out of them. It is so important to get that burp out! Also, they do have exercises that you can do(like laying their back against your belly and bicycling their legs for a bit) or infant massage. I really think the key is getting the burp out. I always would nurse for about 5 minutes and then burp, and then put them back on. Good Luck!

I had a similar problem with my son but he did not cry out in pain he just was gassy a lot.

After change of diet. Visits to the chiropractor, etc. The doctor final determined it was my nerves. I said that was impossible because I was not nervous but finally a four months I decided to quite nursing because no baby should have to have so much gas. The gas went away right away.

So if your diet is free from gassy food. It may be nerves.

S.

I would contact a lactation consultant or visit your local LLL support group. There could be other causes to gassiness, besides diet. For example, you could have over supply or over-active letdown, causing the baby to gulp lots of air in at the start of each nursing session. Could also be that you are not burping well at the end of the nursing session. Are you switching sides during each feed or nursing on one side only? If you are switching sides, I would try only nursing one side per feeding. The thinner foremilk can cause a baby to be more gassy, whereas the heavier, creamy hindmilk does not. If your baby is not taking in as much hindmilk, she could also be gassier than normal. Could be the latch is not perfect yet and she is gulping air in as he eats. So, definitely try to contact a lactation consultant so they can help you trouble shoot better in person. Good luck!

Oh poor baby, I remember when my son did that it would break my heart because it seemed like nothing would work. I started to watch what I ate and it seemed dairy, chocolate, nuts and especially onions would do it. If I left those things out and he still had gas the gas drops and some work with the legs would really help. You just have to listen to the baby. Just keep trying different positions till it is better. Does she burp really good while she is eating. Maybe you need to change the way a she is eating. Too fast?? Good luck. I hope it gets better soon!!

FWIW, my baby fed exclusively on breastmilk for the first 4 months of his life and no matter how I changed my diet (and yes, I did give each change 1-2 weeks) nothing fixed the gas problem. Sometimes there really isn't anything *you* can do as far as your diet is concerned and you'll need to look into 'treating' the gas as opposed to 'preventing' it. We used the gas drops as well but they had minimal effect. Our baby was colicky and screamed and cried for weeks on end. Fortunately at around 14 weeks it just stopped without reason.

K.,

I had the same thing happen with both my babies. My youngest is only 1 1/2 months old. I did the same thing u did for my first and had the same result. I decided to try something different with the 2nd. I tried organic gripe water that you can buy at walgreens. It really works!! She is sooo much better. Plus I drink chamomile tea twice a day to soothe her belly. It passes in brerastmilk and my pediatrician recommended both solutions. So far I have seen a vast improvement. I only have to use the gripe water when she gets real fussy. Drinking the tea seems to help a great deal!!! Plus burping often is very important to reduce gas bubbles getting further down during feedings. Good Luck!!!!!!

This may sound terrible, but let me be the first to tell you -- it's okay to give your child gas drops (assuming you already are trying everything else and nothing is working) -- my daughter had bad gas when she was a baby- it was so bad we even carried gas drops in our diaper bag-- I also exclusively breast fed- she was just more prone to gas- one thing though -- I noticed she had worse gas when I was eating onions, while my friends' daughter had really bad gas when my friend would eat nuts... maybe its different for everyone. I just wanted to tell you its okay-- because I remember feeling guilty giving her the drops, but she's two now and perfectly healthy-- it was just a phase (she stopped having gas problems at about 6-8 months)

Dear K.,
I've been their, done that. It drove me crazy. My 1st son was the same way. I exclusively brestfed for the first four months, and my son cried to eat, then the gas would hit and he would cry again, finally he would poop, and then shortly after cry he was hungry. I tried altering my diet and nothing seemed to work. As much as I hated to start the gas drops it was the only thing that seemed to help except a warm bath and that was not practical several times a day. After four months my milk production slowed and I started formula. That also caused gas, but there are a lot of new formulas out there now for sensitive stomachs. I had never heard of acid reflux in babies but looking back I think that might have been the cause. He did finally out grow it but it took about a year of rough nights and walking the floors at all hours. I suggest you push your peditrican to help you,if it does not get better. I got so sick of hearing "brest fed babies are never colicky." and "It's what your eating dear" Don't loose hope. It will get better.
Best of luck
Peggy
p.s. My oldest, Joey, is now 13 and almost as tall as I am. Don't blink it goes by fast.

K.:

Call a Lactation Consultant.... there are lots of questions to be asked to sort out what is going on.

What you are looking for is the cause so that you can address that rather than a bandaid to cover it up.

You are welcome to call or e-mail me off this list.

P., RLC, IBCLC
Breastfeeding and Parenting Solutions

Are you burping her enough? Anything else that is gassy to adults can be gassy to them....my cousin couldn't eat green beans at all. Onions are gassy. I know what you mean....one of my kids was gassy all the time no matter what I did, I was eating bread a water!!!! She should grow out of it soon, don't worry.