Gassy baby, but not in distress... ideas??

[MidcoastMEMom]

So, this may be a hard question for you all to answer, but I am looking for advice about my 1 month old EBF daughter. Lately she's been passing a lot of gas. She did slow down her pooping too - just went 3 days without poop and then had a huge one! But the gas had preceded this slow down. The gas doesn't make her scream or seem colicky, she just wiggles and grunts and has an occasional cry and then farts and is fine. It's just the amount of gas that has me concerned. It seems like, especially when she wakes up in the morning, she has a lot of successive bouts of gas. I am debating about eliminating dairy completely from my diet (I started laying off milk when the gas first started), but I've also wondered if she might be sucking in extra air when she's nursing. Up until the the last couple of days, I did have quite a lot of milk that sometimes left her sputtering and choking. Lately she's been nursing so much (growth spurt?) that we don't have this issue, but I have noticed that she deals with the extra milk by frequently breaking the suction - I hear that loud smacking/clicking sound fairly frequently when she nurses.

One important fact - she sleeps very very well at night, only once in a while waking up to pass gas, that I notice anyway. She feeds only once or twice in an 8 hour period and then cluster feeds during the day. I am wondering if she had a milk sensitivity or allergy, would she seem to be in more pain and scream more? Does it seem more likely that she just has extra air? I try to burp her after every feeding but she still passes gas even if she's burped well. I'd love to have some advice! She's my second, but my first daughter never had this issue - guess it's true what they say, every baby is different!

[nstewart]

I'm not an expert, but this doesn't sound like an allergy or sensitivity to me.  I think if it was, she would be very uncomfortable.

Could be air, like you're suggesting.  The other thought I have is that maybe you could consider giving her a probiotic drop to help with the gas?  Their little digestive systems are just so immature they're prone to getting gassy when milk doesn't digest easily.  With DS, I started giving him a probiotic drop more or less daily at 3 weeks or so and noticed a difference in the amount of gas he had within 2 days.  There was a drastic improvement.  At 2 mos or so, I went away for a week and didn't bring the drops.  I assumed he'd be fine w/o as we'd had no gas or tummy issues since he started using them.  Boy was I wrong.  He had major gas/tummy issues while we were away that again cleared up within days of getting home and back on the probiotics!  I also have several friends (who introduced me to them in the first place) who swear by them for their babes and my BFFs ped recommended them for her premie as well.  The brand I used is called "Bio Gia" and you can find them at a pharmacy (ask the pharmacist as they're refridgerated behind the counter) or at a natural food store.  I loved the fact they're in a dropper.

Just something to consider trying!

[MidcoastMEMom]

Oh, that's interesting! I will definitely look into it and ask my doc about it! Great suggestion. The only other "symptom" I've noticed is that she's had some slight nasal congestion off and on for the past couple of weeks. I now suddenly wonder if it could be related to an allergy of some sort. I had assumed it was the normal reaction babies have to the irritants in the air (our seasonal allergies have been out of control!), but maybe not? I might ask my doc about it after the weekend. Thanks again for the probiotics idea!

[neonalee]

I second the probiotics, but also want to bring up over active let down, which causes high air intake while nursing. Sorry ds is fussing & no more time

Sent from my Evo Shift using TapaTalk, please forgive typos

[rlee*]

i second giving probiotics to the baby and taking them yourself too.  it also could be that you have over supply or an over active let down ?? have you tried block feeding?  also have you had her checked for tongue tie?  the clicking and popping on and off/losing the suction can be signs of tongue tie as well as the gassiness and less frequent poops.  i am currently trying to get my DS looked at and evaluated for tongue tie.  a lot of people will tell you that an EBF baby may not poop every day after sseveral weeks old--but this is not good in my opinion and i've been told this by LC as well--so i am trying to figure out why my DS went from multiple poops/day-poop every 3-4 days sometimes even a week in between.  

good luck mama!

[MidcoastMEMom]

Thanks so much for the ideas! I definitely was freaked out by the lack of pooping, but I am pretty convinced she's ok. She is regularly going 2-3 days in between huge blowouts and has been less gassy lately because I've tried a couple of things... You're absolutely 100% correct about me having an overactive letdown. I had assumed every single nursing mother had milk that sprayed everywhere and made their baby choke and cough! Not true, come to find out. So, I've tried block feeding to a lot of success. It did make my milk supply go down a bit too far at first and so she had a day where she was on constantly to build it back up, but then it came back and was more regulated. I still have a pretty intense letdown - I can feel it and it still will often spray out - plus, I usually have 2-3 letdowns per feeding.

When she cluster feeds (which she quite often does) and really empties my breasts, she doesn't click or break suction. I've noticed a few things about the clicks and suction loss, which might help you too, if that's what is going on with your son. One is definitely when my milk is letting down - when I feel it about to let down, I gently take her off the breast and let it spray into a cloth or towel, then, because she's upset at being taken off, she'll really get a good latch and finish the breast off pretty comfortably. Two is when she's already nursed and is pretty full but wants to keep nursing for comfort. Then I swear she does it because she's annoyed by me continuing to have milk - I'm wondering if she might want a pacifier or be a thumb sucker at some point. The other thing that happens is sort of like she is semi-hungry but now that she can see so well, she gets distracted and will pop off and on the breast because she's looking around.

I've had a LLL leader, a nurse and an LC say it really really is ok for EBF babies to go for a while without pooping. It's an individual baby thing, I know, but one nurse said a baby went 20 days once and was completely healthy and fine. Now THAT would freak me out. My first DD was the opposite - she would poop after every feeding and I used to think she was ill because of that! I think metabolism might play a part too. Is your son not gaining weight or seeming really uncomfortable? I think the issue with tongue tie is that they become really inefficient nursers and tend to not get as much sustenance and so tend to not gain as much as they should. My DD was 8 lbs, 5 oz when she left the hospital and was up to 9 lbs 14 oz at her two week checkup and she continues to outgrow her clothes, so I'm not too worried that she's not getting enough. I'm also pretty certain the pediatrician in the hospital checked her for tongue tie (under the tongue, correct?) - I was so sleepy I can't remember everything he said at 3am!!! :) She has her 2 month at the end of the month, though, and I'll definitely ask about it because it's something I hadn't even thought of!

Oh, quick tip that seemed to help my DD poop - my sister is a massage therapist and she showed me a tummy massage that worked within two hours! You take two fingers and massage gently in a clockwise direction around their belly button for a few minutes. It should be gentle pressure but enough to move the skin. I think my DD liked it too! I'm doing this on day 2 with no poop and it's been working great! It works on grownups too (hehehe). 

I'm going to look into probiotics, for sure. I regularly eat lots of plain organic yogurt, but I'll ask my doctor about supplements. We have an amazing family doc and it's really cool that my DD's and I both go to the same guy! Thanks again so much for the reply! I love hearing people's ideas.

[nstewart]

Originally Posted by rlee* 

i second giving probiotics to the baby and taking them yourself too.  it also could be that you have over supply or an over active let down ?? have you tried block feeding?  also have you had her checked for tongue tie?  the clicking and popping on and off/losing the suction can be signs of tongue tie as well as the gassiness and less frequent poops.  i am currently trying to get my DS looked at and evaluated for tongue tie.  a lot of people will tell you that an EBF baby may not poop every day after sseveral weeks old--but this is not good in my opinion and i've been told this by LC as well--so i am trying to figure out why my DS went from multiple poops/day-poop every 3-4 days sometimes even a week in between.  

good luck mama!

rlee, have you considered trying EC with DS?  My EBF boy went from pooping several times a day to going days in between and we started EC with him shortly after.  Not for that reason, it just happened to be at the same time.  It seemed to really help him in the BM department.  So, if not trying EC per se, maybe try looking up the EC holds for little ones (the one that worked best with DS was for me to sit on the toilet facing the tank and to hold DS under the thighs and have him recline back against my chest) and trying them over the toilet after nursing (when you think he might be due for a poop) and do the grunting noise too (as this will tighten the muscles in you that he needs to use to go potty so that he gets the idea). I have a friend from high school that had pics of her little one on the potty and I sent her a message about how cool that she was doing EC too, and she insisted that she wasn't, just doing the potty thing because her DS wasn't pooping often enough.  So it may not work, but it certainly won't hurt!

[rlee*]

thanks SO much for the tips/suggestions and advice mamas!  i took DS to a chiropractor yesterday--she said his sacrum was out of alignment--so i'm hoping that might kick start the poops, and what do you know she also showed me the 'clockwise massage' technique, so i did that today.  i have been wanting to try EC--read a lot about it before he was born--so you have motivated and inspired me to give it a go now.  i'm still not sure about the tongue tie thing-he was born at home, not sure if my midwives checked or not, altho our family practice dr has checked him and she seemed to think he is fine and i spoke w/2 LC on the phone and they seem to think he is fin b/c he is thriving-7'12 at birth, 10'4 at 5 weeks, 16'4 at 4.5 months--so he is gaining well and seems very happy in general.  

thanks again!