Relief for Infant Gas

When my kids were little and had gas, I would massage their tummies in a clockwise circular pattern: one hand above the other, both circling slowly. After a few times around I would then take their legs, bend at the knee and push inward toward the tummy. Seemed to help. (I have 4 kids, ages 25 to 12). You can buy "how to do infant massage books"..a nice way to interact with baby!

I just saw a natural gripe water at a place where I purchased some vitamins. Here it is: http://www.swansonvitamins.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

I know that when my babies were gassy, I would lay them on the floor and move their legs in a bicycle movement and this seemed to work that gas out. Gently pressing on their belly moves it along through the intestines.

Are you drinking alot of Ornage Juice? citrus can give babies gas..that was the issue when my son was born..I cut it out and he was fine. Look at what you are eating and drinking as that what goes into your milk :-D

I have heard that a few gtts of peppermint may help. I think that's what I used over 30 years ago. Hope this helps.

A.

I too have a little girl who seems to work very hard to pass gas. To the point that she groans and pushes like a 10 years old constipated child.
I have found the putting her on her belly during the day and letting her nap on her belly helps her.
I know that it is not recommended for this position but I feel better that she is not experiencing gas pains either.
Good Luck
G.

For her diaper rash, go to Walgreens. At some locations, the Tripple Past Ointment, is over the counter. It can be costly, about $35.00 for a jar, but it's worth it. Diflucan should work, try burping her staring at the bottom and working your way up to the back of the neck. Sometimes the gas needs a bit of movement to be able to release. It worked very well with my son. Good luck!

I used Little Tummys Gas Reflief Drops with my son. They worked really good... actually I still use it with him on occasion. It is all natural and wont hurt babies in any way. It works for my son instantly. It is found at the grocery stores, Walmart, maybe even Rite Aid.
Good Luck!

Hello,
I know you said you tried Mylecon drops and they dind't help, but I swore by them when my son was an infant...I did find though that they were most effective if he was given them before every feeding, for a while, and the gas seemed to disappear! Good luck!

J.
this is actually an easy one, there are "good" bacteria that live in the intestines whose job it is to help digest food. the antibiotics killed off those bacteria, they need to be replaced. the easiest way to get it back into a breast fed baby is to dust it on your nipples before she latches on. Get some high quality (found in the refrigerated section of a health food store) probiotics (acidopholis and bifidus are the most commonly known) that come in powder form or in tablets that can be smashed. This will fix her in no time!!!
definitely do not wait though because lack of intestinal flora is linked to horrible allergies, leaky gut syndrome, and irritable bowl later in life.
much love to you and good luck
-M. fleming, hot mamas and babies yoga teacher www.thesanctuaryofplymouth.com

J.,
I have a 10 week old who has so much gas too. Mylicon drops did nothing for her - she only improved when I eliminated dairy from my diet COMPLETELY (I'm nursing exclusively as well). After talking to a lactation consultant as well as our pedi, they both recommended going off dairy - although it hasn't eliminated her gas issues, it has helped tremendously. Doing a dairy free diet for me has been a challenge b/c I miss dairy so much, and my diet is now kind-of boring, but it's better than seeing her struggle and be so upset!! Good luck!

Hi J., I have a 10 week old sona and I am having the exact same thing happen with him right now. The Mylecon worked for about a week then nothing. I switched to infant Gas- X, it's working great. Good Luck

My husband and I used gripe water with our son when he was very little, right up through teething and other discomforts. We think it's great, love the fact that it's all natural ingredients. Just watch, it says to discard 6 weeks after opening, again probably because of the all-natural ingredients and no preservatives. Still worth it if it works!! And it's been around for at least a hundred years, which is comforting as well. Good luck.

Dear J., Although I have no idea what is in Gripe Water, I do know that VERY recently, like within the last few weeks CVS recalled the Gripe Water for CONTAMINATION in the water with a terrible bacteria. So that would be enough for me right there!

From what I remember with mine (all 3) they all went through a really gassy time, and it passed by a few months, I did use Mylicon drops(AKA Gas X-which works for adults I know for sure) :) That may have helped a bit. As for the yeast infection, I also switched to cloth diapers when my baby(now 15 mos) would get rashy and it worked the best! Just for a few each day, though I now only use cloth and love it! No plastic to hold in the sweat. I got "thirsties" microterry liners and use with cloth diaper Bummis whisper Wrap covers(cottontailbaby.com) and also www.kids in the garden.com. Never a diaper rash since. No more stinky diaper room either- easy- believe it or not (pail liner and orange disc.tape to cover inside). And don't worry the GAS will PASS !

my 4 month old also strugled from gas,gripe water did not help.I found this Israly brand of baby food called TAAMI & they have different additeves to water.fennel drink greatly improved my daughter gas,actualy it made it go away completely.I bought it in a russian grocery store but there is a conntact # on the box 1-800-77-22-99 it is imported by www.galilco.com.You can also use this with your 3 year old on the regular basis or when he has upset stomach.I love all their products & my two nephews grew up on it.as for the yeast infection,try not using wipes but washing her under running water with some soap,everytime u do a diper change & wipe with a towel.also try leting her go comendo for some time during the day( i do it before bath time)
good luck!

I would suggest preparing a tea for yourself that contains fennel seed. Other herbs you might consider adding to that would be chamomile, catnip, marshmallow, fenugreek, and/or red raspberry leaf.

Have you tried giving the mylicon drops right before nursing her?? that is the only way that it worked for my son! good luck-

When my 4 year old son was an infant he had a lot of trouble with gas. We had great luck with the Baby Gripe Water and it is all natural. My son's pediatrician's office recommended it. We felt it really helped his gas and rather quickly once given to him. We went through many many bottles of Baby Gripe Water....I always had it on hand.

Gripe water won't hurt, but in my experience it doesn't do much. My daughter didn't like the taste either. Try the Mylicon again. It works differently for different babies. You may also look into a naturopathic physician. I have a friend who is one, and she gave me some drops that worked wonders. Be sure to find one whose practice is geared towards children.

Dear J.-
Since your infant also had a yeast infection, there must be something that you are eating that is affecting her digestion. Yeast indicates an imbalance in the bacteria in the gut. You may want to try eating plain (NO sugar) yogurt and really avoiding sugars of all kinds (dairy and wheat may also be a problem). The yeast rash is a symptom (not the cause) of an imbalance - usually dietary. Good luck

I have a 2.5yo and a 6 month old who both had lots of issues with gas and I too, nursed them exclusively. I tried the Mylecon drops for both as well as gripe water for my 2nd daughter. I didn't think either helped much and my pediatrician did not recommend the gripe water as it is not FDA approved. I found that out after I had tried it. I did cut out lots of gassy veggies like broccolli, peppers, tomato sauce, onions, chocolate and spices, etc as well as most dairy products and I do think it helped some. The book, Nursing Mother's Companion has a section which tells which foods to eliminate or reduce while nursing to help reduce gas. I found that very helpful. After about 5 months I could have a lot more of the veggies and dairy without a problem. I hope this helps you. M.

When my kids had trouble with gas I would lay them on their back and push their knees up toward their chest. It seemed to provide some relief.

First of all, congrats on your new daughter. My daughter is now almost a year and has struggled with very painful gas since she was about 6 weeks old as well. I don't have any experience with gripe water but I did find a product that seemed to help her. It's the Little Remedies form of gas relief called "Little Tummies". It has the same active ingredient as the Mylicon drops but has helped thus far. Good luck.

S.

I used gripe water with my two sons. I worked very well for my second son. I also used a product called colic tablets by Hylands. I found that they worked very well also. I exclusively breastfed as well, and I found that I had to watch my diet. Certain foods like dairy would seem to upset my youngest son. As he got older I found that I could introduce the foods back into my diet. I hope some of this will help you.

If you are still breastfeeding, make this tea for yourself:

dill
fennel
catnip
anise seed

Drink it, and it will work its way into your breast milk and baby's gas will disappear.

W.
www.gardenplum.com

(I make the tea here if you do not have the ingredients readily available):
http://www.gardenplum.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=P...=

I have a 6.5 month old who is also breastfed (no solids yet)and had bad gas when he was your daughter's age. I used the mylicon too which sometimes helped. They do make a white mylicon without the dye; it's labeled as such on the package. The "original formula" is the pink one. My DH just bought the pink by accident and DS spit it up immediately (he is still gassy from time to time). I think the the dye-free is better for the babies. I would also try cutting out dairy and see if it helps. I did that for a while but didn't notice a huge difference. DS seems to be outgrowing the fussiness and gassiness, finally! Oh, and I also "bicycle" his legs which does really make him toot and get the gas out too! Good luck!

I am a big fan of the mylecon gas drops! We bottle fed and added drops right to the formula. You could literally see the air bubbles disappear from the bottle. It was a miracle worker! I found that the walmart brand has the same ingredients, but is much cheaper (under $3)and does not have artificial coloring added. (mylecon is pink, walmart brand is white) My daughter is now 4 and we still keep them on hand. If she ever has a stomach ache she asks for gas drops and it usually makes her pass gas within minutes and makes her feel so much better. Its also totally safe.

I'm new to this site and was kind of poking around when i saw your topic. I'm only typing because my daughter (now 22mo) went through a similar thing. At a few weeks old, she started acting just a bit fussy.. gassy... but over the months she got much worse. She didn't sleep well, and would have these hour+ long crying (screaming) sessions where it seemed like she just couldn't get comfortable and would pass gas until she eventually passed out from exhaustion. I used gripe water and thought it heled a little, but it never really went away.The crying sessions just became part of our routine. Finally, after the 10th time i mentioned it to my doctor, we decied to look into other factors (everyone assumed it was colic and she would outgrow it by 5mo..well, she didn't) She wound up having an allergy to soy and milk proteins (even breast milk would cause problems) and had to go on hypoallergenic formula. Shre also had a distended colon.. she went every day, but was so blocked up her little intestines were causing her pain. It took the doctors until she was almost 10 mo to figure this all out (there were alot of sleepless, tearful nights) and now she's fine. She is able to have milk and soy (she outgrew the allergy at about a year) but does have to take a daily laxative to keep her system clear. We are supposed to be able to start weaning her off of it soon. I don't know how things are going, but i wanted to share my little story in case you were still having problems. Maybe it can be something they can look into (We found the colon issue through an x-ray)... good luck!..

I can't speak for either of those prescriptions, however, when I was breastfeeding my baby and she was gassy, I stopped ingesting dairy products (milk, cheese, everything) and it resolved the problem. Within 2 days, it was gone. It is hard to give up dairy, but harder to deal with a gassy baby in my opinion. I drank soy milk and just dealt without having cheese. (p.s. I also heard caffeine and chocolate can have the same effect on infants who breastfeed). Another alternative, depending on your milk production, is to "pump & dump" your milk after you have a meal with dairy. hope that helps.

Hi- Perhaps you can give the Mylecon drops a try. They may work for her even though they did not work for your son. I have a 7 month old who I am still breastfeeding and when she was a few months old she suffered from serious gas pains. I finally tried the Mylecon drops and it was like a miracle occurred. I used them daily for 6-8 weeks and then she seemed to outgrow the problem. I know they don't work for everyone but they definately did for my daughter. It is worth a try. Good luck!

I would use the gripe water! My doctor told me to use it for my son! It can be found at walgreens or cvs! Good luck to the little one!

The Mylicon drops worked very well for us. I would atleast give them a try!