Any Tips for Helping Baby with Night Time Gas?

Updated on January 03, 2012
E.K. asks from Kirkland, WA
9 answers

Any tips for helping my little 5 month old with her night-time gas? It hurts her enough that she wakes up crying, and Mylicon drops don't seem to do anything. Any thoughts?

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J.L.

answers from San Diego on

Do a bicycle motion with her legs. Also, you can gently press/massage in a clockwise motion that follows the digestive track. I did tiny circles around her belly.

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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

You could try Marathon Burping.

None of the normal gas tricks helped my son, because come to find, he was gulping air with every swallow. Just a little bit. But All Day Long... and by night time... he had a gut full of air trying to work it's way through.

How it works is this:

Step 1) Get a good book
Step 2) Get in a comfy chair
Step 3) Put her over your shoulder and hold her with one arm
Step 4) Put the book in the same arm holding her
Step 5) Use your freehand to pat, and pat, and pat, and pat. And read, and read, and read, and read.

Optional) Get yourself a drink, warm compress, blanket to curl up in, whatever makes you comfortable. Oh. And pee ahead of time.

With my son (and now with 2 other babies I know IRL) they get a little "normal" sized burp in the same first few minutes most babies do. Then I'd quit. One night... in the middle of a really good book, following several months of sleep dep... I just kept reading and patting and reading and patting... and when I looked up at the clock almost an hour later my jaw was dropped open, the book dropped on the ground, and my baby was held in front of me, dead asleep while I just stared in wonder.

Why?

BwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaarrrrrrraaaaaaaaaawwwaaaaaaaaaP!

How did that much air FIT in there??? How was it even possible?! We're talking the Trex from Jurassic Park roaring kind of burp, right in my ear, going on forever! Seriously, I think physics needs some new rules.

Anyhow, after that I had the HAPPIEST baby. As long as every time I nursed him, I read and patted and read and patted until the Tyranosaur Burp. Anywhere from 30-60 minutes later. No more gas, fussing, waking, pain... just happy sleeping baby! Victory!!!

Marathon burping. An absolute miracle in our lives.

LOL... and it was reeeeally easy to "test". Because when he was with a non-believer (someone who said it was silly to burp a baby that long)... he was MISERABLE that night. It really limited who I could leave him with, but sleep was sooooo necessary!

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L.O.

answers from Philadelphia on

Try giving her gripe water. Mylicon did not work for my daughter either but gripe water did.

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

Make sure she is not getting anything but formula/breast-milk at all, any food at this age sits in her stomach and basically rots because the stomach is not mature enough to digest is correctly.

If she is breast fed you need to look at what you are eating that is causing it.

If it is formula try putting the water in the bottle with the Mylicon drops in the water, then add the powder, gently move the bottle without shaking it. This keeps air bubbles from forming in there that will add to the issue.

I would just make sure the evening feeding is a quiet affair, if she is crying and having a melt down while she is waiting for it to be fixed she is sucking air in her tummy and that takes time to work its way out.

We also had the doc give us a prescription for a Reglan, a Reflux med. He got a partial syringe of it before each and every bottle. It relaxed his tummy and make it empty quicker. Also we had him sleep in a bouncy seat until he was a few months older than your child. It is one of those seats that they recline in and they can wiggle and it bounces a bit. They can sit on top of the counter or on the floor. We just had him sleep in his so his tummy was higher than his stomach.

The other thing we did was smaller feedings and much more often. He hardly went an hour without having some bottle. It was easier when we made them in advance for a few hours then warmed it to about room temperature. This really helped with the gas and the reflux both.

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R.K.

answers from Appleton on

If you are breastfeeding remember **anything that gives you gas will give the baby gas**. When my kids were tiny I had to stay away from onions, green peppers, cabbage (and foods in the cabbage family). It should go away soon as your baby grows she will be able to burp and pass gas more easily. Make sure she burps after eating. One tip that worked for mine was to hold them by the ankles and shoulders, supporting the head and hold them upside down for a few seconds. It's like getting the air to the top of a bottle. Then up against your shoulder again to burp.

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R.D.

answers from Portland on

My son had the same problem. I ended up putting a little ginger powder ( be careful not to put too much cause it can be spicy) in his baba with some warm milk and sugar to taste (helps make the ginger not so spicy tasting) and it works like a charm. It also works on car sickness. Good luck dear.

K.M.

answers from Chicago on

My sister did this with her kids and said it helped ... my son had reflux, not gas - but laid baby on their back, held their feet and pushed their legs/feet like they were peddling a bike - she sang "wheels on the bus" for a fun song to go with but any of your fav's will work I think. This was part of her night time routine - bottle, burp, lay in crib, wheels on the bus, swaddle (age dependant) (and miracle blanket works well for this), good night song and exit.

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M.R.

answers from Kansas City on

I second the Gripe water recommendation.

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❤.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

I would hold my baby for awhile after eating to "ensure" he burped (like 15 mins) before lying back down again

I propped my baby's cradle up on a step while I layed next to him on the couch t oensure no relfux occurred w/o my being "right there".

Are you breastfeeding or using formula in a bottle. If the latter (formula) I chose smaller nipple holes to ensure he took in less gas while eating (gulping his formula)? I had to change nipple whole size (sm to med to large throughout a year time span).

Mylicon drops did work for my baby.

Sometimes I held him on my chest while I slept on a recliner to ensure he got some "upright time". This helped greatly.

Try it all and hang in there, mama. It will soon get better and change into something else but the end of hardship (in my mind) was right around the corner).

If he's on formula, try changing formula (& discuss w/ped).

Merry Christmas & hang in there! :)

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