Night Time Gas Pains

My daughter was the same way. I agree with the other moms about dairy. I would also eliminate all cruciferous vegies from your diet, too (go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruciferous_vegetables to see a list). Also, garlic and onions can be a problem for young tummies. I know its a lot of foods and its a pain, but try eliminating all of those foods for 1 week and then reintroduce them one by one with several days in between and pay attention to the reaction of your baby. The one thing that helped my daughter during the accute phase was the vacuum cleaner! It was like an on/off switch for her crying. Good luck and keep up your breasefeeding. Its such a great gift to yourself and your baby :)

Congratulations on the birth of your baby girl and for making the decision to nurse!

This happened with all three of my children. Unfortunately, I had to cut out most dairy products for the first 5 months of nursing, but I also found out that all of my children suffered from acid reflux. With my son, he was so uncomfortable that he would cry for 3 hours every night, and it lasted about 4 months. Once we discovered that he had acid reflux, our pediatrician put him on Prevacid, and it made all the difference in the world.

I would definitely talk with your pediatrician to rule out acid reflux. The fact that she is straining and appears to be in pain would indicate to me that it is definitely a possibility.

One thing that really helps is to hold them in the football hold, with their stomach across your arm. Also, if you aren't doing so already, try burping her on your shoulder and keep her upright for about 10 minutes after nursing.

Good luck to you and your baby, and I hope she feels better soon.

Have you tried infant massage? As an infant my son did experience some constipation and by using some of the infant massage techniques, he seemed to feel much better. To get the techniques of infant massage, do a internet search. A good article I found about infant massage is located at this web site
http://www.childbirthsolutions.com/articles/postpartum/in... I hope this helps. Good luck.

Our middle child was that way, except he cried for more like 8 hours at night. We watched the video "The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Dr. Harvey Karp. It cured him in about 10-15 minutes. We used the techniques with each of our last two. GL and congratulations!

There are many things that can cause gas pain. My son is sensitive to chocolate, dairy, white potatoes, caffine, peanuts, and eggs. I don't wish that on you for anything in the world but it doesn't hurt to start experimenting with eliminating things in your diet just to make sure.
Mylicon hasn't done much for us but I have a few other things that we use religoiusly. Gripe water is wonderful! usually you have ot get it in a natural foods store. on the same vein there is a homeopathic called carbo veg that is great for gas too. I use both at the same time and that usually deals with the issue. Our doctor recomended maalox. 1/2 t. 1/2 hour before you nurse. It seems to work really well too and that is what I use when it seems really bad.
Good luck. I know how bad you feel when your little one is hurting.

Try reducing your dairy in take...it was what worked for my 2 sons.

babies just tend to fuss in the evenings. this too will pass. It has nothing to do with what you eat or what she eats. it is just something babies do.

Hi, I had a similar problem--I thought I was doing enough by drinking soy milk instead of cow, but it turned out that I needed to avoid ALL dairy, and that did the trick! Good luck.

This happened to my neighbor, too. It was a milk allergy. She went off ALL dairy and it went away.

I had this with my youngest. My mother in law said to stop eating broccoli garlic onions spicy etc (basically everything I like). But really there's very little in the way of actual research to support that what you eat causes baby gas or other pain; it's mostly mother-to-daughter and anecdotal reports.

Fortunately my pediatrician is also a lactation consultant. She said its likely gas but not from what I was eating. Babies are lactose inoterant, and lactose is the sugar in milk (all milk, not just cows, even human milk). When the lactose gets to the intestine, it causes a lot of gas. Fat slows digestion in the stomach, so that more sugar can be broken down there before it gets to the intestine. But breastmilk is not the same from start to finish. The foremilk is the milk that comes early in the feeding. It is usually thinner and more sugary. The hindmilk is at the end of the feeding, and it has more fat (the fat is really important for brain development and neural growth too!) We've often learned nowadays to switch sides "halfway" through the feeding. But then baby doesn't get that fatty hindmilk. My doc told me (and showed me the research to back it up!) to nurse on one side until it is completely empty. If you don't know how to tell, you've never been there. There is a pulling kind of feeling that goes around your side. If baby is still hungry then offer the other side. Still stop for burps during the feeding if he needs to, but make sure that he really gets everything so that he gets the fat. Once I started doing that, his gas eased up a lot and he was a much happier baby.
Yes, you'll probably feel and even look lopsided. But your breasts adapt quickly and you won't feel overfull or anything after that. Just get an extra pad to put in the side of your bra that he's just eaten off of if you feel like you need to even out the appearance.

Good luck! I hope this helps!

p.s. my kids love all those spicy, savory, "forbidden" foods I ate while nursing. They beg for broccoli!! (Wonder if there's really a connection)

I E. the suggestion to try eliminating all dairy from your diet. That helped a ton with my DS2's nighttime crying/arching sessions. If that doesn't stop the crying, keep searching. I've eliminated dairy, soy, rice, chicken, egg and wheat to completely clear my little guy's symptoms (once we cleared up the crying/arching stuff we found there were still other issues) so bear in mind that it might not be just dairy. Or it might not be dairy at all.

I will respectfully disagree with the OP who said that babies are lactose intolerant. It's very rare for a baby to be lactose intolerant... their bodies are pretty much designed for milk intake! Some little ones don't do well with the proteins, and that's why there may be other trigger foods. Soy is very common.

If eliminating dairy doesn't fix it, do look into other things like oversupply, overactive letdown, MSPI... but I'd start with dairy. You might also keep a food diary and write down what/when you eat and see if you can find any patterns.

Best of luck! Hope your little one's feeling great soon!

My daughter also had a lot of tummy aches. She would be fussy each evening and mylicon wasn't working. We found out it was due to a dairy allergy. I have eliminated all dairy from my diet and she is doing much much better.

I suggest you ask your Dr about giving your DD some Gripe Water. It is a herbal drop with chamomile, fennel and a few other for digestion. You can buy it at King Soopers*, Walgreen's, Babies R Us, and Bossom Buddies*. (*they carry the organic). There are several brands one organic and the other from Little Remedies.
One of my kids was miserable at night unless I held her and patted her back down low on the left side. Gripe Water did the trick for her-

As a mother of nine and a midwife who helps many moms, this happens to almost everyone. I do think it is a form of 'lactose intolerance' for the reasons stated- lots of sugary milk and less of the fatty milk. the newborns gut is immature, so it has increased gas production. I don't think it is implied that this is a forever thing. In fact, about 2 months of age brings the cure and gassiness is greatly reduced because the newborns gut is more mature and they are nursing better as well. What helps is the also-mentioned longer feeds so more hind milk is produced and utilized. This early, a newborn is nursing often enough it should be ok to nurse one side at a time and again, at about two months, things even our more.

Good for you for nursing your baby!
My first son had intestinal problems related to a severe dairy allergy; eliminating dairy from my diet did the trick. It took a couple days to clear my system but then I had a new baby--he had been non-stop miserable before then. Dairy proteins are one of the few things that are not broken down by your body as part of milk production. The dietician at the children's hospital who helped me said that often it's just a matter of quantity of an irritant or allergen in mom's diet, and that's often the difference between an irritation and a genuine allergy. So reducing your dairy consumption may help. Keeping a food diary for a few days may help you make connections.
BUT, most of the time, nursing moms can eat whatever they like and it's OK for Baby. You say you don't eat many spicy foods, and that's fine if that's your preference, but remember moms in India and Mexico and Thailand breastfeed their babies, too, and they are OK with their moms' spicy diet.
My pediatrician is not a fan of Mylicon or other gas drops. He told me there aren't any reliable studies to prove they work, but a proven side effect is . . . gas. So maybe they are not worth it.
Many moms find it helps Baby to settle and stay content if she offers only one breast per nursing session. This allows Baby to get the creamy, high-fat hindmilk that helps Baby gain weight and feel satisfied.
If stools are greenish instead of yellowish, you could be dealing with a foremilk imbalance, which could give her tummy discomfort but is easily corrected by keeping Baby at one breast longer ("finish the first breast first") and not switching mid-feeding. Your milk is so perfect and your baby's stomach is only the size of a shooter marble, so she has likely processed her feeding within 90 minutes. Offering another nursing is never a bad idea.
If she suddenly no longer poops, shows signs of dehydration, her abdomen seems notably distended, or she throws up (like a fire hydrant, not like a tablespoon or so of spit up) it is appropriate to consult with your pediatrician.
Breastfed babies rarely need to burp as often as their artificially-fed counterparts. There is simply less opportunity to swallow too much air, and Baby is more often relaxed when eating. If she burps, great, but if not and she seems comfortable, no need to insist on a burp.
Do you have a sling carrier? That saved my sanity when dealing with my high-need babies. "The Baby Book" by Dr. William and Martha Sears was also a truly validating lifesaver. "The Happiest Baby on the Block" DVD was also very, very helpful.
I also highly recommend finding your local La Leche League and chatting with your local LLL Leader or attending a meeting. It will be so reassuring and will reduce your frustration to hear other nursing moms' strategies and get medically accurate information. All LLL help is free and they will probably have a lending library including the book and DVD I suggested so you could borrow those for free. You can find your closest Leader and group at www.llli.org.
Hang in there! Your Baby will likely outgrow some of this neediness, but you both will benefit from your sensitive, responsive mothering style. Keep us posted-- best wishes!

Hi--
I didn't read the other responses so I don't know if I'm repeating suggestions. You said you have IBS. IBS is almost 100% of the time a food allergy, often to dairy. I thought I had it for years until I eliminated dairy from my diet--no more IBS!! With that in mind, it's very probable that your little one also has a food allergy, often to dairy, and the reactions you are seeing are due to the dairy you are ingesting. It takes 7 days to totally get milk protein out of your system. You have to avoid all dairy--cheese, yoghurt, anything with the ingredients whey or casein. If dairy elimination doesn't do it, the other common allergens are wheat and gluten containing grains (oats, rye, barlely), soy, eggs, tree nuts, shell fish, and peanuts. Both my sons have been through this and I have a doctor who can diagnose what is bothering her with a non-invasive diagnostic technique. I think he's a miracle worker!!
Also, your daughter has classic signs of "colic". Dr. Harvey Karp wrote a book called "The Happiest Baby on the Block" that explains to you the roots of colic and how to naturally induce your baby's calming reflex. I think this book could really help. You could also get the video. I found this book really helpful.
Good luck!
J.