Gassy Baby

I just had a baby at the end of November and at about 3 weeks she started to have the same problem and started crying more and more especially at night. My doctor recommended going off of dairy which I did and I noticed a huge difference. I also ended up having to go off of peanuts and corn as I was still noticing some spit-up and diaper issues. She is now fine however anytime I have tryed the foods again I have found the same problems. It is definitely a challenge to not have dairy but well worth it! Good Luck!

Hi K.,
I had the same issue with my son. He is now 4 and is still a gassy person. One thing I wished I would have tried is to stop dairy for myself while breastfeeding. Just to see if the lactose was bothering my son. Hey, it's worth a try! Good Luck!

I breastfed all of my sons for at least 15 months each. When the second was very young he seemed to be reallly traumatized when ANYTHING was moving in his tummy. He loved to nurse, but was simply very sensitive to the goings on in his digestive system until he got a little older.

I found, by journaling my diet and their digestive reactions and fussiness, that all my boys were clearly very sensitive to certain foods that I ate while I was nursing. I don't mean the flavors that may have changed in the milk. I mean the milk produced after I ate the troublemaking food. Garlic is a favorite of mine and I ate plenty when I was pregnant, but my oldest would have the worst fits after he began to digest the milk my body produced several hours after an Italian meal. I found tomato sauce and cabbage in any form where troublesome for all 3 of my sons when they were younger nursers.

Sometimes I would express and dump a "contaminated" batch, knowing I had eaten the "bad" food and bottle feed with some previously stored breastmilk. My doctor also recommended (for the overly fussy digester) that I give my baby the simethicone gas drops 10 or 15 minutes BEFORE he nursed which was also pretty helpful.

Congratulations and hang in there!

Yes! Gripe water is the best thing since sliced bread! However, you do have to give it to her after every feeding (don't worry about overdosing- it's about as harmful as apple juice). I found a "medicine dropper" that is basically like a small med cup with a nipple on it. I just kept that filled with gripe water and would let him suck about 1/3 out of it after every feeding. Otherwise, they have a hard time at 1 mos old getting all the liquid down after they've already eaten. I found that it has to stay "built up" in their system or something- it's not as effective once they start showing signs of gassiness. Gripe water is best for general colicky-ness. Many people have mentioned eliminating dairy- wouldn't hurt. My last son couldn't tolerate me eating sweet peppers or onions. Boy, did that take some getting used to! Thankfully, he didn't have a problem with garlic. :) I was able to pin point when I ate onions, about 4-5 hours later he would get gassy and fussy. Oh, and if I ate curry, he wouldn't even nurse. Would flat out refuse the breast no matter how hungry he was. Pretty amazing. The good news is that this sensitivity shouldn't last forever- just their first few months they are pretty sensitive. Good luck, and get used to these gray areas/ mysteries... thus is the journey called parenthood!

Monitor what you are eating/drinking. Broccoli and caffeine (soda, chocolate, and coffee) affected my boys. Keep a running track of what you eat and your daughters reaction later that day.

Also, make sure you tell your daughter's pediatrician at her next checkup. If it isn't something that you are eating/drinking her doctor may need to rule out a gastro problem. My first child reacted to broccoli, while my second child had a gastro problem that required medicine.

Good luck and congratulations on your daughter!

Are you drinking any cow's milk? If so, don't do it...not even a tablespoon. Dairy is a big time culprit in gassy (and colic) babies. Another thing you can do, if it continues is look at what you are eating (I had to stay away from onions and broccoli, my favorite... and milk of course).

A chiropractor adjustment is also a great thing. I always take my newborns to them for an overall check.

You can give her gripe water and you may want to look at your diet a bit. Some say it affects babies through breast milk, some say it doesn't. It depends on how far you're willing to go. You can eliminate all dairy (I wouldn't do it -it's AMAZING what all contains dairy when you look at it!), and other gas causing foods. With my 2nd baby, I ultimately had to switch to soy-based formula. My breast milk and dairy based formula gave him horrendous gas, but a day after switching to soy he was fine and has been ever since. A lot of people freak out about not breastfeeding and will do anything to keep doing it, but I say make yourself and your baby happy and don't stress out. If there's something you can do and continue breastfeeding -great, but if not, don't worry about it! Your child will be just fine!

Have you thought about eliminating things from your diet to see if there is a change? Dairy and gluten are the 2 i would think of doing first. It can take up to 6 weeks to see a complete change in eliminating dairy but you should see some results rather quickly. That being said have you thought about babywearing? Lots of tummy to tummy time can help her digest more easily along with all the benefits of wearing your baby provide. there is a great yahoo group called foodlab that discusses elimination diets and could help you pinpoint better.

Check your diet because what you eat can affect your baby. If you eat foods that are known to cause gas like cabage, broccoli, etc it can cause her to get gassy as well. Some people even say dairy can cause issue too but breast milk is dairy so I don't quiet understand that one. You could try upping the dose of the gas drops a little bit too and she if that helps. I don't know anything about gripe water.

Good luck and congrats!
S.

Luckily my son didn't have pain when he was gassy, but eggs were what caused it when he was. I pretty much avoided eggs because if it. Although it was only when I ate them plain (like scrambled)... it didn't bother him if they were in cookies or other foods. Also, babywearing can help, so if you don't have a sling or a wrap it might be something good to get. I've also heard that certain baby yoga poses are supposed to help with digestion, so it may be worth checking out the book Itsy Bitsy Yoga. Keep trying!

try Gripe Water - an old english remedy for gas bubbles - they sell it at cvs or babies r us. also - sit her up for longer right after you feed and have her sleep on an incline with her legs propped up bent toward her tummy.

hope it helps!

I had that too with my son. First off I had to watch what I ate...certain veggies, garlic, onions and things like that were off limits, then slowly start adding them back in once she has had a while without gas.
Then I found once I stopped using the gas drops it was actually better, he seemed to be pushing and in more pain with the drops than without.I never tried the gripe water, so you might want to try that and see if that helps at all. And third I found that pushing his knees up to his belly, helped get his gas out. My husband and I called it the bicycle move. Stretch one leg out and push one up to the belly, then reverse, then sometimes just to mix it up I pushed both up. You really don't have to push hard, just enough for some pressure on his belly. At first you might not think it does anything, but do it for about 5 minutes every couple of hours or more if you feel like it (it can't hurt them)and soon they will be passing gas happily. Also my doc told me to lightly massage his belly in circles and start from just under the ribs and work your way down. Sorry this is so long, but I know how frustrating it was with my son. Hope this helps!!!

gripe water is a god-send! I used to make it for my kids, but i saw it in a store the other day so it has finally made it over the ocean (its big in the UK. Its perfectly safe; a mixture of sugar, water and fennel. Its the fennel that helps teh gas symptoms, the sugar and water just makes it palatable. I used to dip my kids paci's in it.
Its a phase she's going thru, some people refer to it as cholic. She'll grow thru this soon.
One last thing-remember it takes 12-14 hours for what you ate to transfer to the baby thru your breast milk. So, what you had for bfast will probly affect her at dinner, etc.

You may want to check what you are eating since the baby is being breastfed. You could watch milk products (try lactose free milk, yogurt, etc.), certain veggies/fruits (no broccoli, onions, cabbage, citrus, etc.) Hope this helps!

I think Hylands is a homeopatic brand that may have little tablets you can crush up in her milk if you express any of it for her to feed from a bottle, or melt them in her mouth. I had a good friend also who swore by gripewater and she has 5 kids! It also can have something to do with what food you are eating. If you are eating cabbage, broccoli, and other 'gassy foods" this could be affecting your milk.

One of my children was similar to your baby and we discovered that he was reacting to the foods I ate. "gassy foods" such as broccoli,cauliflower etc. were the culprits. I had to cut down the amounts I ate and it did the trick! Try that and see if it helps!

Gripe water is definatley ok for her. Also you might want to be careful on the dairy too.
Just rememeber that you are doing what is best for your baby! Keep up the breastfeeding!!

Gripe Water is the best stuff on the market...in my opinon! It's natural ingredients like ginger and fennel extract which work naturally to help upset tummys. I love the whole little remedies line...the saline spray, the gripe water,etc b/c they use very little if any "medication" its all natural stuff! Something else you may want to be mindfull of is what you've eaten when she's really gassy. For us if I ate garlic it would upset her tummy so I had to cut back in my reciepes while I was nursing. Good Luck!

There is a homeopathic remedy made by Hylands but I am drwing a blank right now on what it is called. Whole Foods carries the whole line of baby porducts by them. I used it but it was a long time ago. I felt it worked well. If I think of the name I will do another post. Sorry I can't think of the name but I am sure you would figure it out by looking over the products.

Sincerely,
K. B

www.shaklee.net/takecontrol

I was only able to breastfeed my twins for a short period of time, BUT I was indeed told that the "gas drops" are no good unless given on a consistant basis number one. Number two watch what you are eating as others have suggested here. Can't offer anything to stay away from because I am unaware since I could only breastfeed for a very short period of time (4 weeks).
Good luck!

Take her to a Chiropractor! This will allow her digestive system to work to its fullest ability and allow her to rid the gas more naturally. With her spine in line, she will be much happy and healthier for it. Chiropractic is very gentle and safe!!! Let me know if you have any questions with children and chiropractic:)

K.--Have the doctor examine her in the middle of her crying. I finally took my FOURTH child..who was the only child I had who did this....and they looked at him and said, "Yep..reflux..."

I had eliminated everything from my diet--as I was battling mastitis that was caused by MRSA. I was on a great deal of antibiotics, and I did not want us to both end up with yeast...so no bread, no dairy, no "gassy" veggies, no peanuts, and no sugar and limited fruit...yes..boring!!! But that was not helping little Michael. I was worried about all of my medications--but the ped. said "No."

what we now call reflux, our parents used to call colic. And his was silent. Imagine the acid backing up in the esophagus and just sitting there?!! They put him on zantac syrup that day. They also had to address damage already done to his insides. I think he took malox for one or two weeks. He was so much better! He was only on the Zantac for a few months and you could see how much better he felt. He was instantly a different child. And I was relieved that they could do something to HELP him!! I am usually a very "hippie" momma with the health food and homeopathic remedies when I can...but this had me crying right along with him.

Gripe water is WONDERFUL for eliminating the hiccups. It is safe and my little one still likes it. He calls it "taste". He has had trouble with hiccups almost from conception. That is different than the reflux though and reflux should be ruled out....just in cast your little darling needs more than gripe water. It is also fairly expensive (when you are almost two and take ALOT of it!)

I have 3 kids..they are 4, 2, and 7wks! I have recently found out about gripe water and it really worked for my little one, PRAISE GOD!
I know you may think that i'm crazy, but lying the baby on her tummy on top of the washing machine (while on the spin cycle) really helps! It has to do with the vibration!
My grandmother told me about this one with my very first child...needless to say i thought she was out of her mind! lol
but throughout the nite with a gassy baby, you'll almost try ANYTHING! Ive had to do this with all 3 of my babies and normally they'll fall asleep and sleep the rest of the nite! It works wonders!