Excessive Gas in 5 Month Old and Other Concerns

One of my boys had horrible gas. I learned that rubbing his tummy firmly in circles, then bending his knees and gently pushing them up to his chest again and again, would eventually get the gas to work through.

As for sleeping, is he falling asleep on his own?? If he's not, yet, it's time to start putting him in his bed while he's awake. The first few times might be tough, but he'll catch on quick--it's easier now than later. That should help with the night waking. If he's already falling asleep on his own, you'll probably need to just let him cry it out. It can take 20-30 minutes the first time, but after that shouldn't take much. He'll catch on quick that young.

what kind of bottles are you using? My son was very fussy and he has acid reflux. We are using Dr. brown bottles cause they dont let air bubbles in and that seems to help alot. Also what kind of formula are you on? yea my son did not like the cereal at first with his formula and i now get him to eat it by mixing rice cereal with some apple pedialyte. I do that because he was really sick and that is the only think he would take at that time. With the teething tablets, i use them along with tylenol. I do teething tablets one time then the next i use infant tylenol. I dont even try to fight the dissolving under the tounge. I just dissolve 3 tablets in 1 teaspoon of watter and put it in my little medidropper and give it to him. it seems to help. let me know how things are going? Oh and also with the gas, is he constipated or just gassy? and i would not try the prunes cause they say that and eggs are the last thing you want to try with your baby.

I don't know how you feel about this but one time I was getting adjusted from a chiropractor after child birth - it always does a number on my back. And ofcourse my baby was screaming with gas, so the chiro guy rubbed his tummy in a certain way in a certain direction ( I can't remember what it was) and he stopped, and smiled! It was great. So, he taught me how to do it, now my brother in law is a chiro and says it's true, there is a technique to it. So, if you want I can give you my guy's name, but it's always worth a try with out meds!

Is it possible that the mylecon drops are actually making it worse? My baby had to take salt (low sodium), and we were adding sugar to make him willing to swallow it. The sugar gave him absolutely awful gas. He'd cry for hours at a time, and we didn't know why. He did the same thing after getting an immunization that was liquid and taken by mouth. (I watched him suck it down thinking, "Oh, no! He likes this way too much!")

My son went thru the same thing at about the same age, The only thing that helped was switching to Soy based formula, enfamil with LIPIL. My doctor kept saying he was gassy because he was fussy but I could tell it was his tummy hurting so I tried it on my own and it worked, we noticed a big difference in about 48 hours.

S....try bringing about a teaspoon of fennel and 2 cups of water to a boil and let it seep...strain it into your baby's bottle...feed about half an ounce or ounce...your baby will pass the gas and sleep well...it is safe to do...trust me...I am a 52 yr old mother and this saved me many nights of walking the floor.

He could be having trouble digesting the milk-based formula. We didn't find out my daughter was lactose intolerant until she was 6 months. A huge sign of that for us was crazy amounts of gas and constipation. (I know, I know- they say if you're lactose intolerant you have diarrhea but every kid is different.)Ever since she switched to soy, she's been a different baby. I honestly can count the times we've given her gas drops since switching her on one hang...and she's two now. You may give that a try, though...Soy saved our lives.

As far as the sleeping/eating thing goes. I may be a little more strict than some but it's worked wonders in our house. Just set him up on a 4 hour feeding schedule. Don't let him snack (eat 2oz. now and 2oz. 30 minutes later, etc.). Do whatever you have to do to keep him awake and finish the bottle. Then keep him awake for an hour or so and then lay him down for a nap. If he's used to being held a lot you may have problems with him crying, but you can just ignore it. He'll eventually get tired enough he'll fall asleep.

Hello S.,

I am a mother of two children (4 year old son, 6 month old daughter). A few months ago, my daughter had terrible gas and stomach cramping. Had very similar sleeping problems as you are describing...was so tired but could not sleep longer than probably 10-20 minutes at a time. After trying several things and doing a lot of research/reading, we realized the formula is what was causing the problem. We think she may be allergic to casein (a protein found in milk). She was on Similac Alimentum (which contains casein). Once we switched her to Similac Isomil Advance Soy formula and also changed bottles (started using the Dr. Brown's bottles), the stomach cramping was gone, she was much less gassy and was finally able to get some sleep! The bumps/rash on her face (which we thought was baby acne) also dissapeared in a matter of a few days.

However, since your son has been drinking the same formula, an allergic reaction to the formula may not be the reason why. Some suggestions our pediatrician gave us to help with the gas was to give the mylicon before every bottle feeding and to also burp more frequently (after every 2-4 ounces). Hope this information helps!

Every baby is different. Thay don't "HAVE" to be on other "people's schedule" They make their own by how they feel and how hungery they are and such. Let your baby communicate with his needs to you, not what other people think his needs should be. You are mom, you know best for your child! :o)

Teething tablets, they can still give relief without going under the tongue. I know all about them screaming and slobbering it all out. The nice thing is, you can stuff them all in and it will not hurt him if it is the homeopathic kind.

Gas, Have you tried baby jar food of prunes yet? I realize that he is still very young so I am not sure what he can handle yet. He may need to see a chiropractor. I highly recommend Dr Clarke @ Life Chiropratic on Mur-len just south of 135th in Olathe. He has helped my whole family with many problems. He has been seeing my son since he was 3 days old. Kevin never suffered with tummy problems like my older son did b/c we did not know Dr Clarke until Kevin was born. Bryce is much better now that we have been taking him also.

Good Luck!

My son had terrible problems with being excessively gassy and fussy, to the point where we gave him Mylicon drops (or the generic because it is so pricey) with every feeding. It never seemed to help so I finally just stopped the drops altogether. Ever since we stopped using them, he's had no problems. It may just be an odd coincidence, but I won't try using those drops again unless absolutely nothing else works. We also use Similac Advance instead of a milk-based formula. As far as teething, I have found that if I just rub my son's gums with my freshly washed finger, its more soothing than any teething product I've tried. I won't like, it hurts when he bites down sometimes, but it does stop the crying for a little while. Good luck!

Try and put a warm wash cloth on his tummy for alittle bit. Also tummy massage really works well as well as draw his knees up to his chest. S.