Newborn with Painful Gas

Hi A.,

The only observation I'd like to add is that I noticed the gas would get worse after the mylacon drops wore off. So I had a choice either to keep giving it to my boy or not. I chose to give him Hyland's homeopathic pills for colic instead. I also forgot about new babies fuss level increasing till after 8 weeks. Hang in there!

My son (11 weeks old) had the same problem. It will get better with time as her little digestive system develops, but until then, get some of the Colic Calm. It worked wonders. The Mylicon drops and the Gripe Water both did absolutely nothing for my son but the Colic Calm is amazing. It's a little strange because it's black and kind of gritty, but they love the taste and it does the job. Hope that helps!!!

Another option that worked really well for us was a warm pack. We have one that is filled with rice so we microwave it for about 1 1/2 minutes, shake the rice up some, and then place in on her tummy or her back depending on her position. The warmth helps break the gas bubbles up so they are easier to expel.
I also tried massaging her tummy with techniques I learned in an infant massage class, the gas drops, bicycle legs, burping in various positions, etc.
Good luck!

Have you taken her to your doctor? I don't know if girls are as susceptible to hernias as boys are but when my son was five months old I thought he was having horrible gas and then I thought he was constipated. He kept crying and crying until one night after almost a week of his 'gas pains' I took him to emergency at the nearest hospital. It turns out he had a double hernia and that was what was causing his pain. They kept him that night and ended up performing surgery the next morning. Of course he everything turned out perfectly all right but I felt badly for not taking him to the doctor earlier.

I don't mean to frighten you but you might at least put a call into the doctor.

Blessings,
C.

I found with my 2nd baby that I had to burp him far longer than my first. Sometimes for 5 minutes or longer, until he finally would let the air out. We tried gripe water, gas drops and massage... I had been taking brewers yeast to increase milk supply and I finally realized that that was what caused the terrible gas. I also had to stay away from foods such as broccoli, cabbage, bell pepper, onion, etc. I think some babies are just more sensitive than others. Good luck.

My son is now 3 months old and he had/has this same problem. One thing that does seem to help a bit is to place his tummy on the top of my shoulder with his head facing behind me (sort of like when you burp them, but higher up) and rolling his tummy against my shoulder. Another tactic is to bend them at the waist by sitting them up on your lap like they're sitting in a chair and supporting their back. There are also homeopathic colic tablets that melt under their tongues. These seem to help more than the gas drops.

Infant massage was the best thing that I found for my babies and it really helped when they got those tummy aches from the enzimes released when teething. Also stop about three minutes in to nursing (after your done letting down) or bottle feeding and try burping then. When they are really hungry they gulp it down and get more air in their tummies, maybe illiminating the amount that goes in will help. :)

I have found that my daughters(5months) gassiness comes from the foods I eat. I could not figure out why she was having such bad tummy issues then I started taking things out of my diet. It was not dairy, beans, and greens, as I thought. It was carbonation!!! Of all things a little carbonation can do a lot of damage! She would be up screaming and flailing for hours!! I just forgot about it of course on Tuesday at a Holiday party and drank some juice with soda and ice cream and Thursday morning she was up from 3-5am screaming and lurching in total discomfort!

Unlike many other posts, I would try eliminating things from your diet before putting your baby on formula or anything like that, because once you do it there is no going back to nursing!! Good Luck!

In our case it was an intolerance to cow's milk protein (casein). This is not the same as lactose (milk sugar) intolerance. Various problems labeled as "colic" usually show up right around this point.

If you're using a formula, get one without dairy OR SOY (many casein-intolerant kids can't do soy either) and try it for 2 weeks. It takes that long for the casein to completely clear their system and for the lesions it causes in their intestines to heal.

If you're breastfeeding, cut out all your dairy, including butter, anything with whey, soy derivatives, caseinates, etc. It takes 2 weeks for it to clear your system and hers.

It's worth it to try this, as if it does turn out to be the problem, you will know pretty soon and it'll save you months and months of a miserable baby.

My toddler was also a fussy guy once but not now since I am using babies magic tea. It's safe and preservative free.

I, as well had this with my son and right after nursing you can tell he would just get really gassy.. My doctor said he had baby reflux and gave me medication but I still wasnt convinced this was what it really was and instead of just treating the problem wanted to find out why?! I did the baby yoga, pumping the legs as well.. nothing helped. Then I started researching and realized that many babies are lactose intolorent, so I cut out dairy from my diet but your body naturally produces lactose and this does help many but unfortunatly not mine.. We had already been giving him a few bottles of formula so then I tried a zillion different kinds of formula prior to figuring out he was lactose intolorent.. The minute I switched him to lactose free formula, the gas went away and he was very happy baby.. They eventually grow out of this.. I have also helped many of my friends with this same situation.. It's more common then you may think.. In the old days, they would just say you have a colicky baby and as the baby would grow out of being lactose intolorent, so would the colick subside.. Soy made my son vomit, so that didnt' work either.. I would suggest if you want to continue to nurse, try cutting out all dairy from your diet for a week and see if that helps.. go online and research it.. Good Luck!!!

I had the same situation with my little girl. One of the best tips I got was to hold the baby in a V against your chest. Essentially you put her feet under your chin, sit her down so she's sitting on your chest and fold her at the waist in towards your face. She'll be folded in a V shape and you two will be eye-to-eye. Once she's in this position and you've got your arms wrapped securely under her and are holding her head, you can bounce her up and down. This worked wonders for my baby and helped gently 'force' the gas bubbles to release.

This is a little difficult to describe, so if it doesn't make sense, just let me know!
good luck!

Dear A.,

You seem to have a lot of good responses here already. One key thing to think about are the things in your diet that are likely irritating her stomach from your breastmilk. Usually babies that young, especially nursing babies, don't have food allergies yet, but often their digestive systems still have a hard time with certain things (like cow milk, garlic and spicy foods). I suggest taking notice of common things in your diet, and then removing them one at a time to see if it makes any difference for your baby girl.

There's also the idea of the "4th trimester", which is considered a transitional stage for the first 3 months of the babies life. There's some really good advise for this stage in "The Happiest Baby on the Block" DVD (since I doubt you have time to read the book right now). Dr. Harvey Karp is a little dry, but his methods definitely work. You can rent the DVD from Blockbuster or Netflix, and some libraries have it as well. (Of course you can also buy it too.)

I wish you all the best! Happy holidays!

I don't want to discount your mom instincts at all, but I just want to remind you and other new moms that baby crying peaks between 2 and 8 weeks and this may just be a more fussy baby than your last one. She might be overstimulated. She might want to picked up or put down. She might want to be swaddled or held on her tummy. The moving around could be because of gas, but it also could be that she wants to control what comes in front of her face or she's frustrated because she's tired and doesn't know how to get to sleep. Do you know what I mean? Good luck. I know how hard it is to figure baby's out.

Wait it out...keep burping her until she burps. Sometimes it would take my son 45 minutes to burp...it did at the beginning, before he got the hang of it. Both of my kids were resistant to burping, but I found sitting him on my lap (as opposed to putting his head up by my shoulder) and leaning him a little over his feet worked better...but it was still work.

I'd burp until people would say, "He doesn't have anything to burp up, you can stop now," and I'd keep burping, and then, lo and behold, out came some enormous burp (even then he didn't have any manners! lol)...

I tried gas drops, didn't work, but then I reminded myself that it would be more comfortable for him this way than if I let it go through...

My son was like this. Stop nursing every few minutes to burp rather then just at the end. Also see if you can find a product called "little tummies". It is in the baby section at most stores. It is non-medicated so it can be given at every feeding. It was a life saver for us with our son.

best of luck

I watched a friend deal with her son that had bad gas. She would hold his feet and curl him up and push his feet and legs into his tummy and he would toot. It looked like a really tight curl into the fetal position. She would do this several times until he was no longer tooting. It worked wonders. She didn't do it right after he ate, she waited a little while.

Some digestion issues happen post-stomach, in the intestines, and those don't burp out.

The one I ran into was apples and pears (and any juices that include a lot of apple or pear juice)--if I ate them, nursing babies got farty (and so did I).

We used Mylicon with our daughter when she had gas that made her so uncomfortable. It works wonders! There are other natural/homeopathic gas relief products as well you can get OTC. Good luck! I know how hard it is to see them like that.

My daughter had painful gas as well. I took her to a cranio sacral therapist and it really helped her system to mature and get things moving. I know of a chiropractor in Salem who does infant chiropractic --might be the same as cranio sacral therapy. Googling cranio sacral therapy is the best way to find out more about it. If you want the chiro's name email me back and I'll be happy to pass it along.

Symethicon drops are wonderful and safe for baby. You can buy the brand name Mylacon, but the generic is cheaper and just as good.
Also I found changing babies position (on her back, then sitting, then hold her with tummy down, then on your sholder, etc.) every 5-15 minutes until she either quits fussing or expells the gas. Rubbing the tummy, and making her feet do the bicycle and really getting the knees up to the chest help to relieve the gas too.
Good luck! No fun with a fussy baby. Mine was, but my mom says I was much worse!!! And she wished she knew about the drops back then.

I've had to use this more than once. Rub a little mint tea on your nipple before you nurse. Also sometimes dipping your finger in mint tea and letting the little one suck on it can help settle stomachs. Pacifiers dipped in mint tea can also sooth although you want to wait until after a good nursing routine is established.

Have you talked withyour Dr. It's probably beyond gas and is Reflux.Which is very easy to deal with. A tiny bit of medicine just like the gas drops and occasionally sleeping at an inclined angle. You'll be amazed how much happier you baby will be. So I suggest you call the DR. There isn't a blood test or anything, just some Q&A about baby symptoms.
Good luck!

My new born also has painful bouts of gas a times. What my husband and i find helpful is to lay him on his changing table (or flat surface) and he'll pump his legs and he'll kind of "work it up/out." After awhile i'll pick him up and try to burp him again. That usually works.

Hope this helps!

Sounds like colic. My little girl reacted that way after I would eat chocolate or strawberries. You might try evaluating your diet and cutting out acid-rich, caffienated, or gas-inclined foods (like beans, cucumber, and brocoli) for a while. Doctors say to cut out one food at a time to make sure you isolate the right culprit. Sometime I cut out two or more foods and then tried to add them in one at a time instead.

It could also be reflux. I'd check with her docor. My daughter had reflux, and although it wasn't painful for her, the doctor said for lots of kids it is painful and will cause them to squirm around, similar to what you're describing. Good luck!

Hi A.,
Check what you eat. Many protiens go right on through, and if they are intolerant to them they can cause gas/colic. Mine were intolerant to cow's milk, and if I had even a drop, I could count on 24 hrs of colic. My second, was intolerant to soy as well. I did have to supplement, and finally went to goat's milk formula made from scratch. She was able to digest that easily, and her diapers looked like breastmilk. They outgrew the intolerances in a year, and can eat anything now. There are a lot of things that can do it, so see if you can connect it with certain things. A log can help.
L.