Killer baby gas! Exclusively bf??!!

[Raene]

My 5 month old is exclusively breastfed and she has the WORST gas. She can really clear a room. I've never heard of a breastfed baby with such gas when they're not eating solids yet. It's just terrible.

Looking at my diet, I don't eat cruciferous veggies very often, and I don't eat TONS of beans. We *are* vegetarian, so there's definitely lots of fiber in there, but jeez!

Anyone have similar problems or know what the causes could be? Food allergies? THanks.

[TanyaS]

One of my three babes was like this. Dh and I used to joke about her man farts.

[winemal]

Hi, Raene.

A couple of questions related to your gas probs: Does your daughter seem upset when she passes gas? When you say she can clear a room, I assume you mean it stinks? Does she have any other symptoms, such as persistent rashes (anywhere?), sleep disturbance, chronic diarrhea or constipation, general constant crankiness, etc...?

Sometimes babies ARE just loud farters, and if they don't seem upset by the process, it couldjust be a quirk. However, stinky farts in an exclusively breastfed baby can indicate some food intolerance. If gassiness is accompanied with any other symptoms, or discomfort is associated with it, there is a good chance of intolerance.

La Leche League books and Dr. Sears' books have good information on what foods are most commonly responsible and how to test them. In general, dairy seems to be the number one problem with all of the women I talk to. Most of them can introduce dairy into their diets again when their baby is older. Soy, corn, citrus, nuts and wheat are all on the lists, too, and are good to try taking out if dairy isn't the culprit.

Most moms find it works best to use a trustworthy book to help when they take a food out, bc they may not know all the ways that it can be snuck into foods without being overt (lactose, casein, whey, etc...), and if they don't know that, they can inadvertently still be eating them. Also, good info can help them find other foods without just substituting with fake foods (like suddenly going completely soy everything) that can cause their own problems.

I know it can sound terrible to take a food out. You do get used to it, though!

[Raene]

Originally Posted by winemal

Does your daughter seem upset when she passes gas? When you say she can clear a room, I assume you mean it stinks? Does she have any other symptoms, such as persistent rashes (anywhere?), sleep disturbance, chronic diarrhea or constipation, general constant crankiness, etc...?

... stinky farts in an exclusively breastfed baby can indicate some food intolerance. If gassiness is accompanied with any other symptoms, or discomfort is associated with it, there is a good chance of intolerance.

La Leche League books and Dr. Sears' books have good information on what foods are most commonly responsible and how to test them. In general, dairy seems to be the number one problem with all of the women I talk to. Most of them can introduce dairy into their diets again when their baby is older. Soy, corn, citrus, nuts and wheat are all on the lists, too, and are good to try taking out if dairy isn't the culprit.

Most moms find it works best to use a trustworthy book to help when they take a food out, bc they may not know all the ways that it can be snuck into foods without being overt (lactose, casein, whey, etc...), and if they don't know that, they can inadvertently still be eating them. Also, good info can help them find other foods without just substituting with fake foods (like suddenly going completely soy everything) that can cause their own problems.

I know it can sound terrible to take a food out. You do get used to it, though!

They're AWFULLY smelly...like worse than an adult man...and sometimes they're painful, other times not. Always VERY loud. I don't buy dairy but may eat it once every few weeks when I eat Indian curry. No persistant rashes (DD1 had eczema from dairy in my milk). I also don't eat citrus, peanuts, almonds, soy, or gluten. Corn I eat several times a day That'd be awful if it was that, but...would be good to know so I can relieve her (and us) from the toxic gas.

[PatioGardener]

You are not alone! My friend's exclusively breastfed 4 month old can clear a room in an instant with her stinky farts! And yet her poops are still typical breastfed poops and not smelly at all (they smell sort of like popcorn). It's very strange!

[Raene]

Originally Posted by PatioGardener

You are not alone! My friend's exclusively breastfed 4 month old can clear a room in an instant with her stinky farts! And yet her poops are still typical breastfed poops and not smelly at all (they smell sort of like popcorn). It's very strange!

yes, thats how hers are!!! Popcorn yup!

[jessemoon]

My dd was like this. Her gas didn't make her miserable, it just made the rest of us gag. We used to joke that we needed to get her a service dog when she was older so she could blame it for the stench.

She also only pooped once a week, but it didn't seem to bother her. Her poop was also foul, though. I never thought a breastfed baby could be so stinky.

Strangely, as soon as she started eating solids (including hummous, of all things) it went away. She started pooping on a more typical schedule and the stinkiness disappeared.

Very mysterious.