Gassy Baby Need Sleep Tips

Updated on August 30, 2011
M.W. asks from Santee, CA
16 answers

My 8 week old usually falls asleep around 9pm and sleeps soundly until she wakes to eat. After eating I'll put her back in her bassinet and she grunts and wiggles and wakes herself up constantly. she is super gassy and has tummy trouble. I have found if she sleeps with ms it's usually longer without grunting but I am worried of making that the norm because she may never want her crib when we move her to it. But I don't get sleep otherwise... Any tips? We give her gripe water, tried mylicon drops and sleeping at an angle. Nothing works. Anything else we can do? Even encouragement would be welcomed:)

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Featured Answers

M.L.

answers from Houston on

take her legs and press them into her stomach.. helps get that gas out!! I loved cosleeping, and transitioning to the crib was fine. Dr. Sears has lots of sleep advice for you here:
http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/sleep-problems

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More Answers

M.Q.

answers from Detroit on

Are you nursing or is she on formula? Babies this young really do have a hard time digesting milk proteins. If you are nursing I would cut dairy from your diet if she is on formula talk to your pediatrician about switching formulas. Congrats on your little one!

2 moms found this helpful

L.A.

answers from Austin on

Momma L is correct that is a great way to get things moving in there..

, the other thing we did was sit in a chair, place your baby across your lap on her tummy of course turn her head to the side and lightly burp her.. Start from the lower part of her back and work your way up burping her up to her shoulders.. Do this a few times.. Helps get some of that gas out of there..

1 mom found this helpful
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B..

answers from Dallas on

Try probiotics. They help with good bacteria in the gut. They are really the only thing that helped with my son's gas. You can get them in a vitamin or natural food store. They will be with the refrigerated vitamins. If you use a bottle, you can put the directly in there. If you breastfeed, you can take them and pass to her through your milk.

I totally agree with Momma L. on that leg pumping technique. Dairy could be a problem, too.

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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

Infants have no control over their appendages and they have what is called a "startle reflex" which means, any movements they make, wakes them. Because they have no control over their limbs. Yet.
And infants do make noises when sleeping.

Burp her.

Or, swaddle her.

Or she may have to poop.
Babies grunt at those times too.
My son did as an infant.

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J.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

It's something she's eating. Colic is the catch-all for a fussy baby, but the docs don't know why.

It takes my milk 8 hours for something I eat to show up in it. I took out so much in my diet and my son was still colicky, so I realized that it must be eggs, so I stopped eggs. That morning, I ate oatmeal and he was just as fussy. I stopped oatmeal. I also can't eat cheese, milk, nuts, or corn (including corn syrup). He is the happiest baby ever!

If I eat something that upsets him, I'll open a capsule fo PB8 and dump 1/4 to 1/2 in his mouth and then latch him back on to wash it down. Within 2 minutes, he's mellow and happy again.

I also found that taking potassium gluconate in the am helps his intestines, especially when it's hot out.

PS we co-slept with each of our kids....we have 4. We'd start them off in the crib and then put them in bed with us. When it came time to move them into their own rooms, they've all been fine. They all sleep in the dark and sleep all night.

Trust me, she's not getting enough sleep if she's that uncomfortable, so you want her to sleep soundly as this sets up sleep cycels for the rest of her life.

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C.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

I agree with the leg pumping gently towards the tummy. Also, I was stunned the first couple times when my MIL (Mom of 3) would rub and pat my firstborn's back for 20 minutes even after getting a little burp. I thought it would be going on too long and then after 20 minutes she would get a decent burp out of him. Not saying you aren't doing that already but it would really get to the point I would be thinking aw come on, no burp is coming and there it was!!!!

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C.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

Our guy had a combination of acid reflux and colic. We found this homeopathic medicine that did wonders for him, and it works for just about everything. It's called Colic Calm. Despite it's name, it can be used for other things beside colic. We even use it when our little guy is teething and it does it's magic.

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K.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

We had the same problem wih my now 3 month old daughter. What helped for us was to make sure she was almost sitting up while taking a bottle. We burp her a few times during her bottle and for at least five minutes after her bottle. About 15 minutes after her bottle we give her tummy time. All this seemed to help and we have a much happier baby now. Hope this works for you, good luck!

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D.W.

answers from Los Angeles on

I don't have any ideas for gas that other people haven't already said. But I have encouragement for sleeping arrangements. My daughter slept in our bed with us until she was 3mo. Then she transitioned to a swing in our room, then to a swing in her room, and when we could tell that she wanted to start stretching out, she started the crib in her room. All of these transitions were easy. I would not trade the time that I got to sleep with my daughter right next to me for anything. If you like letting her sleep with you, then do it.

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M.B.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hi there,
I don't know if you breast feed or use formula, but you might have to put her on a special formula like Enfamil Nutramigen, I had to use this for both of my children who had stomach issues. Once I started using this product, the tummy issues went away. Unfortunately, this formula is the most expensive on the market........formulas.......they're such rip offs!!!! They know you have to feed your baby, so they hike up the price just because they know you have to buy it anyway. I'm so sorry your going through this. I know what it is like to be up all night long with a baby who is uncomfortable.
Good luck to you!

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C.A.

answers from San Luis Obispo on

The best advice I ever got for parenting was, "Don't start what you'll want to stop". So, if you won't want her to sleep in your bed, don't start letting her sleep in your bed. I had a very gassy daughter as well and nothing seemed to work. She eventually just grew out of it. If you are breastfeeding, you need to be very cautious about what you eat. I had chicken parmesan one night when my twins were babies and one girl was totally fine after breastfeeding and the other was up all night with gas. Another time I drank a protein drink, and one twin was fine and the other had a terrible reaction.

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S.B.

answers from Redding on

Ahhh. Gas makes babies so uncomfortable.
Try to get as much out of her as possible either by burping or moving her little legs. You can also lay her on her tummy across your lap with her little tushy elevated. Air rises.
I joked that we should have named our baby Gus because it was only one letter away from gas. He was a gassy baby.
It does tend to work itself out as they get to be more upright, etc.

Hang in there!

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J.G.

answers from Springfield on

The fact that she sleeps better with you might have nothing at all to do with gas, as many babies prefer to sleep with Mommy and Daddy. Ours sure did, and we all slept much better when we brought them into our bed. At that age, very little is habit forming, and we had no trouble transitioning our older so into his bed. Our younger son still makes late night visits, but we're ok with that.

I agree that the Sears Doctors are an excellent resource. They have great tips and very loving advice.

Good luck! This is a tough sleep age.

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L.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

I know this will sound gross, but this procedure was the ONLY thing that worked for my dd colic when she was an infant.

Take a rectal thermometer and lightly coat the end with a safe lubricant. Insert the thermometer gently about 3/4 of an inch into baby's rectum. GENTLY put a mild pressure on the side of the thermometer slightly opening the anus. The gas will vent.

At 8 weeks, the anus muscles are not fully developed and often with clamp tight when they need to let go!
Make sure you clean the thermometer completely after each use. Also, use a water soluble lubricant - not Vaseline.
Love L

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