Newborn Gas and Grunting

My son had that. It was terrible. We ended up taking him to the doctor and turned out he was suffering from acid reflux. We got some zantac and it helped things so much. He was able to rest and quit with the awful gas and grunting. Have you taken her to the doctor?

Hi K.
This one's quite simple! Get yourself some paediatric pro-biotics - Reuteri make a good one just for infants.
A few drops really help a baby's digestion....and relieves the problem of gas.
Some other tips:
Feed your baby in an upright position and after burping, let her sleep in a semi-upright position too (such is a comfy baby chair).
Gripe Water is a good old trusty favourite too.
A warm hot-water bottle wrapped in a wrapping blanket and placed under her tummy while you burp her also offers relief - watch out for the safety factor obviously!
And if all else fails - a nice bumpy car ride works wonders.
But do try the pro-biotics - they are excellent for adults too and older children.
All the best to you
Jewel

Way to go on nursing. Congratulations on your baby!! I say ditto to the gripe water, probiotics and nursing and bottle feeding in a fairly upright position. Our daughter has been very gassy from the beginning. My diet played a huge role in it also, but even when I changed what I ate she sometimes still would suffer from the gas. That is why the gripe water and especially the probiotics were essential. Good luck.

My daughter didn't grunt loudly at night, but we had a wonderful nurse in the hospital when she was born that gave us some advice about gas. When she was awake (and sometimes when she was sleeping on our lap) we would move her legs like she was pedaling a bicycle. Kind of like the exercises we did as a kid. This helped the gas to move through her system and we didn't have an issue with gas becoming painful and didn't have to use the OTC stuff for gas. Hope this helps. If you are still concerned be sure to bring this up when you have your next check up.

A great place to contact for breastfeeding information is the Le Leche League. That what they specialize in, breastfeeding. I am sure that they could suggest something to help with this problem. You can contact the Texas chapter here to find a chapter in your area: http://dev.lllusa.org/TX/ .

Have you tried the gas drops (mylicon or Walmart brand - pharmacey area) that you add to the bottle. You can also just drop them in her mouth. That helped one of mine. Also the playtex bottles with the drop in liners really helped when bottle feeding. Maybe nurse / bottle feed closer together so she isn't so hungry and eating so fast. jus a boupleof thoughts. Mine all outgrew colic by about 8-10 months. It was a long 8-10 months too. Good luck.

Hi K. - I didn't have the exact same experience as you, but my daughter did have a lot of problems with gas. A nurse told us to put a warm compress on her tummy & then swaddle her tight. It worked like a charm every time to dispel her gas & help her sleep better. I found some kids' hot/cold packs that are filled with gel & would warm them for a few seconds in hot water - just be sure to not put it directly on her skin. Good luck!

Hi K., Yes my daughter had the same thing. The Doctor explained that there colon muscles are not strong enough and everytime they "poop" they grunt and it's painful. It will eventually go away. I hope this helps.

Good luck,
E.

I tried to stay awa from drug intervention if I could. Mylicon is great but we only use it as a last resort, instead what we do is 2 infant massage techniques that help the bowels.

One: the paddlewheel. Place your palm under the baby's chin, with your fingers pointing toward his shoulder. (It doesn't matter which hand you begin with since you will use both.) Draw your hand down his chest, and into the diaper area. Your stroke should be smooth and firm enough that you feel the "dip" when your hand leaves his ribcage. As your hand is around the belly button, place the opposite hand under the chin and stroke downward, so your hands are making circles over the baby, with one hand always stroking. Do this until your hands/arms begin to tire.

Two: Baby is still flat on his back. Place the baby's heel up next to his bottom by bending his knee sharply. Move the leg, still sharply bent, until the top of the thigh rests against the tummy. Get both legs in this position. The baby may be a tad confused at first, but later he will actually assist you-babies love this so! Grab the baby's ankles and gently shake his legs in an up-and-down motion, unbending the knees gradually, until his heels rest on the blanket and his legs are straight. Repeat many times. You may also help the baby "ride a bicycle" by holding his feet and pumping his legs. This is not part of the "official" massage, but my babies loved doing it.

Three: Using as much of your fingers/palm as possible, circle the belly button in a clockwise motion. This gets any remaining gas moving in the proper direction for the baby to easily pass it. Another way to do this is to rub clockwise "parentheses" around the belly button, i.e., if the belly button is the center of a clock, one hand moves from ten to one o'clock and the other from four to seven.

And my favorite: http://www.babycenter.com/0_a-guide-to-infant-massage_383...

Have you tried the Mylicon gas relief drops, they work great... And I hope things get better... T.

Both my kids ( who are now 11 and 6) were extremely gassy.
I made sure. I had gas medicine(I bought the LITTLE TUMMIES brand it was way cheaper back then).I even gave it to them before they ate as a prevetive measure and it made them fluffy(that is our family term for getting gas out :)easier.
Also, laying your baby on the back and gently holdin her ankles in your hand and gently bending her knees.legs to her belly also worked for me. Beware ,you will be near her tushyand if it works the fluffys will come out to your directions.
Good Luck.

What is your diet like. When you breast feed, yur milk carries the spices you have eaten. Try to figure if you are causing this problem. I hope that you get tis resolved, as it is a problem for you both. good luck

you might try burping her more frequently after every once of milk if you give her the bottle or breast feeding. Does colic run in your family or your husband's family? If that does not work make an appointment for your baby to be checked by your peditrician to make sure she is not colic. My daughter was and I had to put her on soy milk plus medicene for the colic.Good luck.

You are relatively lucky...mine screamed and cried from gas/colic so the grunting at least indicates that she is not in pain. If she is getting it out on her own, I wouldn't worry about it. You can try burping her a bit more frequently to prevent it.

If you really need to alleviae the gas, try "Little Tummys" brand or "Mylecon" drops. They are just liquid simethicone and are not absorbed by the body. They just counteract the gas. My two daughters responded oppositely to each of the brands, so try one, then the other if she isn't getting relief. Good luck, God Bless!

My son had the same issue. We used mylicon when he didn't burp to help it pass easier...and it did. Your little one will grow out of it, it just may take a month or two.

Have you tried Mylicon? It worked wonders with my son.

My first daughter also seemed to have a big gas issue. I would work her legs as if she was riding a bike and that seemed to help work out the gas. Also, try keeping her elevated for a while after she eats. Being in an upright position makes it easier for her to burp and get rid of the gas in her tummy.

One of mine had that trouble. Our Pedi suggested changing formulas, but I can't remember for the life of me what we switched to!

We also put her on her tummy as much as possible. Seemed to help her work it out easier! :-)

Hi, K.. We had the same problem with our first born. An experienced Dad put Tracy on her back and raised one knee to the chest several times. Guess what - gas passed. Instant relief! Have a wonderful day.
Patty

K., I am a 49 year old mother of two grown girls and I have five grandchildren. When my girls were babies if they had a problem with gas I would go out in my yard and pick fresh mint to boil for mint tea. It worked very well. Luckily I lived someplace where fresh mint was around, but mint tea from the grocery store will work just as well. Do you give your child a bottle at all? Just curious because you would have to to give her the mont tea.

I would give her a little bit of gripe water before nursing her or right after. This stuff was a life saver for us in the first months. I got it from Special Addition on Lamar, but I'm sure you can get it other places. Call them and ask them the brand they recommend because I think it is better than other brands. Good luck!

LBaez

Hi K.,
Both my boys were very gassy little ones. I used the mylicon drops daily to help relieve the gas. My babies were very slow eaters and needed to stop to burp often. The drops really helped. I would also lay them on their backs and bicycle their legs and help them move the gas. Hope this helps. They do grow out of it thankfully!

K.,
Congratulations on your new baby! And congrats on nursing!
Unless it's painful to your baby, I wouldn't worry about it. My dd was quite gassy at first as a result of swallowing air as well. My milk-ejection reflex is so strong that she had trouble keeping up. My mil said that it's like trying to drink from a fire hydrant :-) My dd also grunted at night and throughout the day. She never seemed to be uncomfortable at all, so I didn't worry about it.
Around 16wks babies get a lot more efficient at nursing and don't swallow near as much air.
If she does seem uncomfortable, I've heard lots of moms recommend Mylicon drops as well as Baby Bliss Gripe Water.

HTH
K., mama to
Catherine, 4y
Samuel, 15m

Remember that babies can only breathe through their noses, so if her nose is slightly compressed while you are breastfeeding it may sound like she is gulping down air or trying real hard to breathe when she is not. However, that said, some babies are just more gassy than others. A lot of my friends who encountered this problem just gave their babies over-the-counter gas drops before each feeding. That seemed to fix the problem.