Infant Gas - Largo,FL

Hi C.!
My son is now 15, but I remember some of the days as if they were yesterday. One of the things, besides the drops, that helped to give him relief, is I would lay him on the floor (on his back) and take both of his legs, bend them and gently push his knees up towards his belly and hold them there for a few seconds. Sometimes I would take and do one leg at a time for a change in pattern, but mostly both legs at the same time gave him a lot of relief.
Hope this helps....L.

The gripe water worked best for us. Didn't get rid of the gas completely but must have helped with the discomfort as the crying nearly stopped. We also manipulated our son's legs to mimick riding a bike. It had us rolling on the flooring laughing as he farted each time we moved his legs! We were able to stop the gripe water around 5 or 6 months. One tip: it is REALLY sticky and sweet so we kept it in the frigde to keep the ants away.

Oh, trust me, I feel your pain...or the baby's pain really. We went through serious colic for 3 months. Milicon didn't help my little one - but everyone on here told me about buying an over-the-counter in the vitamin/herbal isle or at a Vitamin Store - called "Gripe Water." It's a MIRACLE! It doesn't completely cure gas, but it definitely helps pass a lot of the gas and also calms the baby and she'd usually stop crying after getting out some gas and relax and go to sleep. It made her and us feel so much better for her. I highly recommend it. The only other thing that helped her was holding her and sitting on my yoga ball and bouncing up and down. I've heard that movement helps with gas and some pressure on the tummy too - like laying her across your thighs and gently bouncing (but mine didn't like that) but putting her over our shoulder and patting her back helped somewhat too. My husband also found that in addition to pushing her legs up to her chest (lay him down and take his ankles/shins and bend at the knees and push up so that his thighs almost touch his tummy) or gently massage the tummy in a circle motion - counterclockwise. You can also sit him in a warm bath (I mean to where the water is over the tummy - like in the sink sitting up) if he likes water so far. It's so heartbreaking to see them in pain - I know. So hope one or more of these suggestions helps you guys. Hang in there - their tummies develop and it gets better.

C.,

My son also started having problems with gas/colic at that age, fortunately for us it only lasted until he was 3 months, and it did progressively improve during that time lapse. I breastfeed him so I was also told to lay off the dairy, but that did us no good... I did however notice that certain foods did worsen the problem, so if you are breast feeding, you will have to pay attention to what you are eating. There is no miracle cure for colic , its all about giving the babies some time for their digestive tracts to mature...everyone will have a suggestion on how to hold them, soothe them, but you need to find out what works for you, and the one thing I kept repeating to myself in those hours of frustration and dispare is that "this is just temporary"...:) It too will pass!! Good Luck !

if you are not breast feeding, talk to your pedi about changing his milk. i could not breast feed. my daughter did better when we changed her over to a Nutramogen - it's not milk or soy based. It's like a baby version of lactaid. It helped a lot. The gas drops helped some and so did bouncing her on her tummy. lay him across your legs and jiggle him real gently. it helps move the gas or something. it also helps slow or stop the crying.

The gas relief drops helped my 6 months old daughter alot. U can also read more at babycenter.com on different reliefs for gas.

I found that the warmer the milk, the less gas episodes my son had.
Also, to comfort him, keeping him upright like over your shoulder while you walk around, helps relieve the gas quicker. I would hum to mine as it was a similar sound to what he heard in the womb.
Gas happens. It's more a matter of how to reduce the occurances and then relieve and comfort for shorter experiences.

It could very well be colic. It shows up around 2 weeks and the signs are much like gas. Most posts I have seen show that the gas drops don't help much for gas. If he begins crying in the late afternoon/evening and cries for hours then he probably has colic. This could last until he is 3 months old. It only lasted about one month with my daughter, but I also read the book Happiest Baby on the Block (it's short). It is packed full of great information including gas, digestive system and how immature it is in new borns, sleeping, comforting your baby. It saved me!! It's a popular book. It's hard to get thru the first half, but it's good background / research / history of why babies are the way they are when colicy, gassy, etc. I hope this helps you. I know how emotionally and physically exhausting it is fo you. Hang in there!! Oh, by the way, one night my husband was playing around with ways to sooth our daughter. He laid her on the couch next to him and put some throw pillows on her belly. She stopped crying immediately! So we started putting a pillow on her belly during the evening when we could sit next to her and make sure it didn't move on to her face.

are you nursing him? If so, when my son had this, the dr suggested cutting all milk products out of my diet (including cheese, pudding, everything). But it worked.

Hi C.,

It could be a combination of what he is eating and that his digestive system is learning how to function outside of mommy. If you are breastfeeding, you may want to eliminate milk products which are a common culprit. Other "fuss foods" can be found at www.askdrsears.com Or, if he is on formula, you may want to call your pediatricians office for a recommendation. We used so much Mylicon I thought we should get stock in it :-) I hope he feels better very soon.

We also used the "gripe water" and it worked wonders. You could actually hear his tummy gurggle after giving it to him. Also, it is all natural. It has ginger in it which makes sense because when we get the stomach bug, doctors always suggest ginger ale.

We also used the "superman" hold which seemed to help. Its where you lay him tummy down across your arm with his head rested in your hand. It was easier for my husband to hold him this way, but it really helped.

Another suggestion that the other moms have recommended and helped was limiting your diet (if you're breastfeeding) or switching to a soy based formula (if you're formula feeding). I was breastfeeding and I swear it seemed like I ate nothing but chicken, potatos and corn. :o)

I know it is nerve racking to feel helpless when your child is uncomfortable or in pain. And I know this may not be very comforting to you, but it will pass as his little tummy develops. Hang in there Mom, your doing great!

OHHHHHH gas!!!!! It is a tuffy. Are you nursing or using formula? I am currently pregnant with my third daughter and breastfeed my other two girls. My first daughter was fine until I switched her to formula. I went for weeks with her being fussy trying to figure out what was wrong with her. The Dr. finally told me she was mildly lactose intollerant. I switched her to a soy based formula and that made all the difference in the world. If you use formula, that may be an option for you. If you are nursing, check what you are eating. What you take in, the baby takes in and typical foods that make you gassy could be making baby gassy.
A little comfort tech my Dr. showed me to help baby alieviate some of the gas was to lay him on his back and grab a hold of his knees and shins with your hands. Strech his legs out long then very slowly push his legs up to his belly and gently roch from side to side. Repeat this several times and you will actually be able to he baby pass the gas out. It helps baby by relieving that pressure and discomfort for a while, but for long term comfort, you really need to figure out where the source of the gas is coming from.

Just went through the same thing with my newborn....I am bottle feeding and found that changing the type of bottle I was using was the magic fix (I did the gradual change from pumped breast milk, to milk based formula, to Soy formula to see if that would help....after the bottle change we are back to a combo of breast milk and milk-based formula....the Soy just made her constipated) I also learned a little trick that after mixing the formula, if you have a lot of air bubbles just add a drop or 2 of the mylicon drops to the formula and all the bubbles quickly disappear..

Maybe my newborn's digestive system may have matured more or maybe it is just that she isn't quite as sensitive to our busy surroundings (a two-year old brother in the house).....it may have had nothing to do with the bottle change....but I was looking for something to help the "I am uncomfortable" face and body movements she kept making....now she is a very content baby!!

Hope this is helpful!!