gas pain in baby...help

Carly - posted on 04/14/2010

so, have cut out the little bit of dairy and soy in my diet. no gassy veggies, and still gas pains. next is cutting out fenugreek then doc says if doesn't improve, will have to give her lactose free formula.

Shannon - posted on 04/12/2010

Give Milacon after every feeding...that's what worked for me. Unless your baby is a particularly hard case, that should do the trick. don't wait until she has gas pain, just give her milicon after EVERY feeding.

Stevie - posted on 04/10/2010

Gas pain is terrible. I feel for you and your little one. Mine is always gassiest at night. I'm not sure the science of it is but its always worse at night. Mylicon can be a good product but it takes so long for it to work. My daughter had 20 inches of her bowel removed when she was a day old. She was diagnosed with lactose intolerance at 2 months. It was horrible to feel like I was making my baby sick..I felt so guilty but while we were in the hospital with RSV and she was on an IV because she stopped eating there was virtually no gas plus her ped saw how horribly painful it was when she was eating.

We do over the knee and sometimes at an angle, swinging, bouncing, jiggling, walking around, swaying while standing...you name it. Her digestive system just went through a change and I'm not kidding nothing worked so out of desperation I took the forum advice. The Gripe Water works wonders. WE are only on a 1/2 dose every night and she is virtually gas free. The Gripe Water changes the pH of their stomach and helps so they don't produce the gas bubbles.

Thank you so much for everyone that has a colic or gassy baby that suggested it!!

Good luck, I wish you and your little one a peaceful night!

Loretta - posted on 04/09/2010

Mylicon is Symethicone. However it has a lot of additives that my son was sensitive to. I found that "Little Tummies" Gas Relief Drops worked wonders (also 20mg of Symethicone - but without all of the crap in it and a third of the price). Half of the dropper is the dose that I gave him. I let him latch on and get sucking, then I stuck the dropper in his mouth and he was none the wiser. This was recommended by my Doctor, as he said that breastfed babies are typically gassy when they are ferocious eaters (my son was a MONSTER) and when moms eat gas yielding foods (I like coffee, dairy and legumes). When I switched to decaf it helped. In addition, my doctor told me NOT to stop giving him the drops until he advised.



Everytime he'd pop off I'd burp him... hard... until a big burp came out. When he was done feeding I'd double burp him. He just seemed to outgrow it at 3 months, but I feel your pain. Life was kind of a nightmare when he was in pain.



We bought a "Tummy Tub" for his baths, and he'd fart and spit up everytime we put him in it and he felt much better afterward.



It also sounds like she may be colicky (due to the 5 hour scream-fest). Have you read "Happiest Baby on the Block"? It literally saved my sanity. Swaddle her up tight, flip her on her stomach in your arms, give her a pacifier to suck while you LOUDLY shhhhhhhhhh. Then, when she calms/sleeps you can put her in a swing.

Carly - posted on 04/09/2010

soy? that is probably it. i drink 16oz of soy milk every morning. i can't have dairy so it is the way i get calcium and vitamins. that would explain it. i don't drink much caffeine and i stopped eating brocolli all of the time after i had her (my fav. veggie) so....i guess i will cut that out and take my calcium supplement. thanks to everyone for their advice and sharing!

Jenny - posted on 04/09/2010

I also agree with looking at what you eat. My three month old absolutely SCREAMS in pain if I eat anything with milk or soy or apples. It's been a challenge to avoid them, but it's a night and day difference. I've heard from other mom's that they have to avoid: peppers, broccoli, onions, nuts, tomatoes, beans, peas, bananas. I would experiment and see if anything makes a difference. It takes a couple weeks before you can really be sure and for me I had to be really strict about not having ANYTHING with milk or soy. Good luck!

Jennifer - posted on 04/09/2010

What are you eating?? Remember that whatever you eat your baby eats too when you breastfeed. If you are eating spicy foods or foods that can give you gas you may need to stop eating them or cut down how much you eat especially right before breastfeeding. Also drink alot of of water and if you can drink milk milk maybe more helpul after each meal. This may help with the gas. Also leafy green vegetable like spinach, green, brocolli can cause gas with breastfeeding infants. As well as beans.

Alison - posted on 04/09/2010

my baby was extremely gassy for his first few months. I gave him infant mylacon, did not help; rubbed his belly, did not help; changed my diet, did not help--my baby is 6 months and has never had anything other than breastmilk. He eventually stopped with the gassiness suddenly at 3 months--just stay patient and don't give up breastfeeding!
I agree with Amy--Happiest Baby on the Block is a must read.

Tanya - posted on 04/09/2010

Cut out all milk that you drink and search out VEGAN diets ... they are able to help with all the different names that milk comes under. My 2 year old son has a very bad allergy to cow's milk and he is not able to eat any animal milk, soy milk or cheese ... once we cut that out both his and my diet, he has lost the gas pains.

The other thing you can give your baby is OVAL. It is a gas release used for Colic babies. It was our god sent while we were getting all the kinks out of the diet, and if he happened to eat anything with milk or the milk protine in it.

Best of Luck!!

Mindy - posted on 04/09/2010

I agree with everyones recommendation of watch what YOU eat. With my DD, baby #3, she went thru a very gassy phase as well. I tried curring out all the unusal suspects: dairy, onion, broccoli, etc. IT didnt seem to matter from any of those.

And finally I figured it out: TOMATOES

So I cut off tomatoes in all forms: salsa, speghetti sauce, nothing! After about a month or so I slowly started trying small amounts. Then adding more.

As she grew older, her sensitivity decreased.



Good luck figuring out your daughter's trigger food :-)

Amy - posted on 04/09/2010

Don't be concerned.....I so ooooooo feel your pain. My baby had this two for the first 2 months come to find out she was allergic to cows milk and tomatoes and onions. Read this book: The Happiest Baby on the Block: was my God send.... Also I recommend cutting out Milk all together from your diet as well as onions and tomatoes.... also things like Spaghetti have really made my baby allergic because of the high acidity. Basically it was a food reaction. Also don't drink too much caffeine or alcohol these could make her scream more. Try white noise at night like a fan or something wrap her up tight swaddle her very tight so she won't feel the pain as much bounce her and rock her alot basically the above book talks about how babies in other countries are in constant swaddles...near their mothers so when they are out of the womb they feel like they need comfort. Swaddling was the biggest thing that helped my baby..! I so feel your pain Carly! Good luck! Keep me and us updated for sure! Any other questions feel free to talk to me I really do feel your pain... also it may be good to find a nursing consultant.

Leigh - posted on 04/09/2010

I exclusively BF for the first 4 1/2 months. My son had horrible gas for the first 8 weeks or so, usually evening time until I could get him to sleep. I realized that it was worse after I consumed dairy food (I love dairy). I cut out all dairy and he was much better. I also ate broccoli one night a few weeks ago and he returned to his evening screaming the next night. Take note of what you are eating - it may be causing it.



The best thing we did to help him was the belly rub and bringing his knees to his chest while he was lying on his back. I tried the mylacon too. It didn't work great, but it did bring him down off the edge when he was really bad. Also, if you insert the rectal thermometer it helps, kinda like popping a balloon! Found that out by accident one night b/c I couldn't figure out why he was screaming so bad (didn't sound like his normal gassy scream), so I went to take his temp. Stuck the thermometer in, he let all the gas out, then giggled at me.



Hope this helps.

Marcy - posted on 04/09/2010

Go get some Gripe Water at the Vitamin Store. Its natural and yes you can give it to her every feed. Also, my son was a giant gas ball up until he was about 4 months old. We would burp him and then do bicycle legs with him for about 10 minutes after every time he ate. It passes...watch what you are eating as well. Try and eat plain food for a few days and avoid spicy, dairy etc....



The other thing is, make sure she has a good latch on your nipple, she could be letting in air due to an incorrect latch.



it passes.....