Gassy newborn

[OvenSeeksBun]

My four week old has been very gassy for the past week or so. My midwife told me that it is probably caused by her developing gut bacteria, and suggested giving her Ovol to relieve the gas. A few days later I spoke with our public health nurse, and she thought it was probably caused by oversupply because I described how the baby sometimes gulps when she's nursing and occasionally chokes on the milk and coughs. She suggested changing nursing positions to decrease the speed of the flow.

So I have been block feeding for several days, and feeding her in either the football hold, or laying on top of me while I recline in an attempt to slow the flow. She still manages to make gulping sounds in both of these positions. I burp her after every feed. The gas is really uncomfortable for her! She is such a happy baby most of the time, but the gas just makes her miserable and she cries and screams until she's red in the face, and then she's fine after a few farts.

Any words of wisdom? Sometimes the farts are odourless, and sometimes they smell really strong. She has been having one bowel movement per day lately. Is this just her digestive system getting primed up? What can I do to help her?? :(

[dalia]

Man I remember when my ds was going through this and it was so tough. Nobody told me that they could have such a hard time farting! I think the block feeding is a good idea and maybe also get some baby lotion or oil and start giving her abdominal massage as well. You can do a circular motion along her intestinal tract but I can't remember if it's clockwise or counter.. maybe ask your midwife, she should know, or google it.

How long do you feed each side? I was going as long as four hours each side and that really helped ds. Also, can you lift her legs up to help her release the gas and maybe do some bicycle moves with her little legs? That might help her a lot.

You might also try and eliminate anything from our diet that you think might be bugging her... garlic, onions, sometimes dairy and wheat can be triggers for bad gas.. hth!

[Knitting Mama]

You want to go clockwise, in firm but gentle motions around her bellybutton.

Cecilia was a phenomenally gassy baby, and the only thing that actually made it go away was time-- rather like what your MW is talking about with the gut bacteria. To help alleviate it, I would lay her on her changing table and do a belly massage like I describe above with coconut oil to grease my fingers, then do leg-to-tummy presses, where I pushed her knees into her tummy slowly, pushing in for a few seconds, then releasing, waiting a few seconds, and repeating it. She would toot and toot and toot! I would keep doing it until she didn't toot anymore, and then a couple hours later we'd be repeating the same process. Wearing her upright seemed to help as well. Eliminating foods did not help us. It was just time.

[mamamille]

my first one was like that and I realized 2 things.  One was that I was not burping her enough... if the air doesn't come up, it goes down.  And 2:  She had a sensitive stomache.  So I did a simple diet- no wheat, dairy, stimulates (coffee, chocolate), tomatoes, citrus, broccoli etc, - for 3 months.  It was hard for the first couple of weeks and then it became easier (lots of chicken and rice cakes LOL) and it made a huge difference!  And that was enough for me to continue.  After 3 months their intestines are more mature, and the only things that she turned out to be "allergic" to was coffee and wheat.  Wheat was the BIG culprit in her gas.  I really questioned why peds won't suggest a better diet for the first 3 months.

I did use gripe water to help with her hiccups.  And you can take fennel and ginger tea that will go through your milk. 

[Knitting Mama]

Just be careful with fennel-- too much can actually lessen your milk let-down!

[Momoftwo31]

Our baby was incredibly gassy but only time allowed it to pass.  I would lay her on her back and do tummy massages and made sure after feeds that I burped her and had her upright for at least 10 minutes (this lessened the spit up post feed).  Cutting out caffeine and dairy didn't do anything for her unfortunately.  We also used this homeopathic stuff to help lessen the gas.

[BarefootGirl]

My DS was really gassy and fussy from weeks 2-4ish.  It got a LOT better after that, but he still gets gassy once or twice a day and will cry about it - just not nearly as much as he did.  We did try gas drops and probiotics, but it didn't seem to help.  The only thing that did seem to help was burping more frequently and a lot of time bouncing WHILE rocking helped him burp when pats on the back didn't do it.  Sometimes lifting his legs or bicycling helped him pass it.

[OvenSeeksBun]

Thanks for the suggestions, mamas. We saw our midwife yesterday and she also suggested burping DD about 5 mins into a feeding (after the gulping stops), and keeping her upright or inclined for 10 mins after a feeding. It does seem to be getting better already.

[OvenSeeksBun]

It's getting worse

For the past 3 days she has had intense screaming fits in the evening. I am still block feeding to control supply, trying different positions to control flow, burping more frequently during feedings, keeping her upright/inclined after feedings, and using abdominal massage and leg presses at every diaper change. I've tried simethicone drops a couple of times, to no effect.

Today I decided to avoid dairy, but I have been drinking a LOT of milk and I'm worried about not getting enough calories without dairy. How long would it take for me to know? I honestly don't think it is the culprit, but I feel so helpless.

[Knitting Mama]

Evening screaming might also be colic. Cecilia had that double whammy of colic and extreme gassiness, and it sucked so badly. I used the 5 S's from Happiest Baby on the Block with her a LOT (still do some of them at almost 10 months).

[OvenSeeksBun]

Originally Posted by Cecilia's Mama 

I used the 5 S's from Happiest Baby on the Block with her a LOT (still do some of them at almost 10 months).

I just requested this book and DVD at the library yesterday, I've heard good things about it. Also considering having gripe water on hand if all else fails.

[bethanymama]

For my babe it was cow's milk - I stopped drinking milk and eating the cream based soups my mil kept making, and dd's painful smelly gas went away. (and now her poo is not smelly either) I never cut out cheese or yogurt. She's 4 months now, and it took me almost 3 months to really give up the milk- I was in denial I guess. But it helped immediately. Good luck.

Bethany

[OvenSeeksBun]

I hope, hope, hope this is not it. I love milk. I've been drinking 2 4L jugs each week since my babe was born, craving it. How long do I have to cut it out in order to know? Can I still have milk in my coffee?

[bethanymama]

I wasn't drinking nearly that much milk - I like milk in my cold cereal and I would periodically go several days eating lots of some dish that was cream- based. Oh and I love ice cream, and was having that several times a week. It only took less than a week before I decided it was really helping to stay away from those things. I do have a little low-fat milk (not cream) in my coffee. And I never stopped eating hard cheese, yogurt, and butter. I guess it's just the milk my DD has trouble with.

Bethany

[Knitting Mama]

Originally Posted by OvenSeeksBun 

I hope, hope, hope this is not it. I love milk. I've been drinking 2 4L jugs each week since my babe was born, craving it. How long do I have to cut it out in order to know? Can I still have milk in my coffee?

The general recommendation is all dairy, including things with casien, whey, lactose, etc. for several weeks to determine if that makes a difference. If it does make a difference, then you can try slowly adding things back in, like a little cheese, then wait a few days, a little butter, wait a few days, and so on. It's not easy, but for babies who are negatively affected by dairy, it can be a night and day difference.