im breastfeeding and regardless of what i eat my son always has gas. what can i do w/out gas drops

Samantha - posted on 01/22/2012

Try nursing tea from the health food store, tastes good for you, helps you on many ways and helps baby by reducing the gas for baby too!

Roxanne - posted on 01/17/2012

How old is he? My son had gas no matter what untill about 2-3 months old, that was worse when I ate dairy. Gripe water helped, its natural, not medicine.

Chrissandra - posted on 09/26/2009

I am lactose intolerant too. But after giving birth to my daughter, I decided to stop using Soy based products and switch to lactose free. This is from DrSpock.com, "When nursing mothers drink cow's milk, some of the cow milk proteins do come out in the breast milk, and these proteins can, on occasion, cause an allergic reaction in the baby. Since we know that many children who are allergic to cow's milk are also allergic to soy milk, it stands to reason that soy proteins in the mother's milk might occasionally cause an allergic reaction in the baby. But this must be quite rare, or one would hear about it more often."

Elizabeth - posted on 09/26/2009

I've found block feeding helps with my gassy little one. Also, lots of upright time (I walk with her in a sling/wrap) and gentle belly rubs. Giving her my pinkie to suck when she's on her playmat seems to help move gas along without adding more milk to a gassy belly (she draws her knees up to her chest while she sucks and within about 5-10 min she'll often poop or do a big fart and her belly will feel a lot more relaxed).

Liz - posted on 09/26/2009

if it isnt that he is crying out in pain its ok

Chelsea - posted on 09/25/2009

Laura great thought with the hindmilk. It make me think that this could also be the sign of an overactive letdown. Block feeding would be the cure. Block feeding is when you feed entirely on one side for a period of 3-4 hours and then the next 3-4 use the other side. Give this a try and see if that helps the gas issue.

Laura - posted on 09/25/2009

I had the exact same problem with my baby girl. I even bought the gas drops for her. but I really don't use those anymore. All babies get gas, here are some of the things that I do. They may help.



1.Always burp after feeding. I rub slowly up his back with a combo of pats on the sides of his ribs and upper back to help release air bubbles. You will figure out what combo is best for him, all babies are different.

2. Massage his belly gently in soothing circles clockwise ( a little dab of lotion helps) for a few seconds and then pump his legs gently like a bicycle for a few moments. Then gently push his knees to his stomach and hold for about 8 seconds. I made a game out of it with my girl. I usually do this when I change her diaper and she has a bare bottom, that way you can hear the gas come out, but be careful, you know how babies like to catch you with their diapers off!



3. Another good think to read about is hindmilk and foremilk. In the beginning I would breastfeed on one breast for 10-15 min or so and switch. So, I started just feeding her one breast at a time to ensure that she was getting plenty of hindmilk. That did help quite a bit.



And last of all but not least you can always call your babies doctor to ask about the gas. There is medication to relieve intestinal gas besides the over the counter stuff. You can also call your local lactation consultant, they usually have free services.



I hope some of this might help!!! Good luck with your little one.

Kristi - posted on 09/24/2009

You can also do infant massage and bicycling the legs to help get the gas out. My son had bad gas at night so I cut out a lot of foods and did the massage. It will get better over time.

Michelle - posted on 09/24/2009

thank u all for your help!!! i will give some suggestions a try!

Kymmi - posted on 09/24/2009

Quoting Erica Shea:

Quoting Kristin:

i have this problem with my son. i cut back on the amount of dairy i consume by switching to soymilk. i still eat regular cheese/yogurt but less of it. also stopped broccoli, etc.

Soy milk has a high amount of estregine in it cause moodieness and can cause early hormonal development.

Really? Is this a new study? My doctor recommended that I switch to soymilk because my son is lactose intolerant (he was very gassy and fussy while I drank milk and had him on formula)... my mother too drank soymilk while she breastfed all 7 of us and none of us had a mood problem...

In response to the question on gas, I would try cutting out dairy, and as other ladies have said, burping him regularly and keeping him upright for a few minutes to half an hour after feeding. I was also supplementing with formula but have cut that out completely and noticed a huge change in his fussiness alone. Do you supplement with formula as well? If so maybe try a lactose free or soy formula if you are unable to cut it out completely.

Megan - posted on 09/23/2009

I was told that what ever you eat goes through into your milk...So cut out all gassy foods like peas and just stick to really plain foods. My son was really gassy and was in alot of pain and I found making my diet really plain it helped...also keeping them up right and burping them often and making sure you get a really big burp up every time helps.
Hope that helps

Michelle - posted on 09/23/2009

Quoting Erica Shea:

Oh my goodness I have the cure all!! Mothers milk tea! I am telling you I swear by it. You drink a cup of it three times a day and within two days you will see a change in you baby's gas. Along with helping with gas it also helps with all digestive issues such as constipation and diarrhea. The fennel extract found in the tea along with the chamomile sooth upset tummy for both mother and child. Like I said it is the cure all and I swear by it. You can find Mother Milk tea in any health food store

The Mothers milk tea is good stuff to increase milk supply, too... But, I couldn't stand the smell or taste of it. I did find, however, a Breastfeeding Tablet/Pill in the Kroger Health Aisle that had all of the same "goodies" in it as the tea. If you are like me and can't get past the smell/taste, I would recommend the tablets. They are a little on the pricey side, though - sorry.

Both my girls are really gassy. Burping frequently during feedings and keeping upright after the feeding seems to help. There also seems to be a time of day for my youngest, between 7pm and 8pm when she gets really fussy and has a lot of gas. She seems to pass it easiest when we have her in a sitting position on our knee and we bounce her up and down. The few nights it has been really bad we have given her gripe water and then I sit in the tub with her and just hold her while she relaxes in a warm bath. It also helps her fall asleep.

With my eldest, we used to use a warm water bottle and put her on her belly with it under her. That helped her always.

Good luck!

Joda Megan - posted on 09/23/2009

i breastfeed but i supplement too and i've found that when my son gets gassy n fussy, and i can't make it stop, i give him 4 oz of milk based formula. it seems to help. (i tried the soy bc it says its for gas n fussiness but the milk based works better, he's so much happier now n no where near as fussy)

Rebecca - posted on 09/23/2009

You can use Biogaia, it is a probiotic that can be given to infants and is a completely natural flora of the intestinal tract. It is more of a solution to tummy issues vs the "cover up" of symptoms that gripe water/gas drops do. I used it on my very gassy 2 week old, she is now 4 months and has absolutely no issues at all. It does take about a week to see improvment as it takes a bit to build up the amount of good bacteria in the gut.

Erica Shea - posted on 09/23/2009

Quoting Kristin:

i have this problem with my son. i cut back on the amount of dairy i consume by switching to soymilk. i still eat regular cheese/yogurt but less of it. also stopped broccoli, etc.

Soy milk has a high amount of estregine in it cause moodieness and can cause early hormonal development.

Chelsea - posted on 09/23/2009

I would suggest using gripe water. It's completely natural with nothing artificial and 100% safe.

Erica Shea - posted on 09/23/2009

Oh my goodness I have the cure all!! Mothers milk tea! I am telling you I swear by it. You drink a cup of it three times a day and within two days you will see a change in you baby's gas. Along with helping with gas it also helps with all digestive issues such as constipation and diarrhea. The fennel extract found in the tea along with the chamomile sooth upset tummy for both mother and child. Like I said it is the cure all and I swear by it. You can find Mother Milk tea in any health food store

Kristin - posted on 09/23/2009

i have this problem with my son. i cut back on the amount of dairy i consume by switching to soymilk. i still eat regular cheese/yogurt but less of it. also stopped broccoli, etc.

Megan - posted on 09/23/2009

After you feed and burp the baby try keeping him upright for a little bit. Like in a car seat or vibrating bouncy seat. That's what worked for my oldest and now my baby and both of them have reflux as well.

Wendi - posted on 09/23/2009

Have you tried gripe water? They sell it at Kroger. Also little remedies has a little tummies formula without any dyes or artificial colors.

Susannah - posted on 09/23/2009

without gas drops is going to be really hard.... but i do have one suggestion. After feeding to burp him put him on his stomach on the couch and burp him that way or lay him on his stomach on your knees and bounce and burp that way just make sure he is burping all the way before you stop bouncing..... Good Luck and Happ Mothering

Rachel - posted on 09/23/2009

Sometimes it's something they just have to grow out of...my daughter struggled with gas..both burps and farts (excuse the crudeness). She's better at getting rid of it now that she's 10 weeks old but the first 4-6 weeks were hell. I tried everything but it seemed warm baths were the best for relieving the bottom burps and as for regular burps...taking her off the breast frequently while feeding and burping her lots seemed to do the trick.

Hope I helped a little. :)