My 5 week old son has been getting increasingly gassy. I breastfeed him and can hear his stomach gurgle when the milk hits his stomach. He farts a lot and is always trying to fart which is now, as he is more alert, causing trouble with his sleep. I've been told its what I'm eating but I don't know where to start?! Help!
2006-07-31 09:13:22 · 6 answers · asked by begoodmandy 1 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
Gassiness is *not* colic (although many colicky babies are gassy). Colic is defined as long periods of unexplained crying in a young baby. It is often defined by the "rule of 3": 3 or more hours of crying, at least 3 days a week for at least 3 weeks.
If your baby is gassy, this *usually* means that he is swallowing air while nursing. This can usually be remedied by being careful to hold him *very* close while nursing (his chin and maybe his nose should be touching the breast at all times during a feeding). In addition, be sure to burp him very well; some babies need to burp as often as every 5 minutes during a feeding.
If the problem is not caused by swallowing air, the baby could have a food allergy to something you are eating. (He *cannot* be allergic to your milk, though.) If this is the case, it's almost always dairy products. Try eliminating all cow's milk products from your diet for at least 2 weeks to see if it helps. Read labels carefully because "hidden dairy" (casein, whey, and any ingredient with a "lact" in it are usually dairy products) is in a lot of products you would never suspect.
And the third likely possibility for causing gassiness is thrush. Thrush is an infection of baby's mouth and your nipples. You would probably (but not necessarily) have sore nipples if you had thrush. Baby may (or may not) have raised white bumps on the inside of his mouth and/or a yeasty diaper rash. Thrush is more likely if you or baby have recently taken antibiotics (within a year). If you think you have thrush, you need to get an antifungal medication from your doctor or pharmacist. Treat *both* you and baby (it is so contagious, you have to assume that if one of you has it, you both have it). Do not use any pumped milk from the time while you had the thrush more than 24 hours after pumping because the yeast can live in the milk even after freezing. Partially-treated thrush can cause more problems the second time around; it usually needs to be treated for at least 10 days *after* there are no more symptoms in either you or baby.
2006-07-31 11:01:02 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Much to everyones surprise there is no such thing as "colic", If the baby is crying there is something somewhere wrong and should be addressed immediatly by a pediatrician, by the way if your ped doesn't help, fire and hire a new one. I went thrrough many to get to where I am now witha baby that for the first few weeks would cry 6 hours straight with no breaks... By the way.. it turned out to be severe reflux and milk and soy allergies. Dr. Browns bottles are great to reduce the air getting into babies tummies, and nestle good start without dha ara is the best.. the dha and ara causes more stomach upset than helps the baby, and its not nessesarry to give the baby. You don't have to suffer nor does your baby with this, there is something going on and with the right doctor you can get a peice of mind with your little one.
2016-03-16 09:38:50 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
HAHA!! isn't breastfeeding so funny and awesome at the same time!! I always hear my sons milk hit his stomach.. and he had a TON of gas!! It's totally normal in breastfed babies so don't worry!! I found that he just had a lot of air in his stomach from feeding... although they say breastfed babies get less air.. HE DIDN'T!! It does get better.. he will soon have less gas and have less bowel movements...
If you think it is what you are eating... there are many things that can cause more gas in him.. sometimes milk, onions, cabbage, broccoli...
I never considered it bad if he had more gas because of these things... they are all good for you so I think he would reap the benefits of vitamins better over the gas!!
You can always get mylicon, or gripe water... they are suppose to be gas relievers for babys! I did but ended up just dealing with the gas... since my son had it 24/7!
Sleep will get better and he will soon not have any troubles sleeping... although it took my son 7 months to sleep through the night... just a couple weeks after changing to formula ;O)
2006-07-31 09:24:33 · answer #3 · answered by Braidynsmama 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Breastfed babies are less likely to colic than babies who eat formula. Number one, he is less likely to take in air from the breast, as opposed to sucking out of a bottle. And number two breastmilk is formulated specially for babies, ie no "fillers". Just make sure you are burping him after each feeding. Sometimes it helps to let him nurse for a little while, burp him, then let him finish nursing, and burp him again. As long as you are not taking any meds, over the counter or otherwise, and no alcohol or nicotine products, then your breast milk is fine, dont worry about it. Also make sure he is latching on correctly to the breast, there should be no question as to when this happens, you will know trust me. As you have been doing this for 5 weeks already I'm sure you know. Good luck and pretty soon you and your new son will get it all worked out, it just takes time in the beginning.
2006-07-31 09:22:13 · answer #4 · answered by trebobnagrom 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Please research infant reflux and see if your son has the symptoms. My daughter became "colicky" at that age and as it turned out, she was in pain from acid reflux. Also, I cut out all dairy and gluten from my diet as well as like anything that might possibly be an allergen (yeah, I was eating lots of rice based products for a while) She's back to being her perfect easy baby again, but it was a hard trip. Good luck!
2006-07-31 13:29:01 · answer #5 · answered by -- 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If he starts very long crying episodes that you can't get relief from, that's colic. If he's just passing alot of gas, it's normal. Watch what you eat while breasfeeding. Cut out foods that cause YOU gas especially, and cut out things that have realy strong tastes.....like peppers, garlic, etc.
2006-07-31 09:38:35 · answer #6 · answered by paintgirl 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I couldn't eat broccoli, garlic or chocolate.
to ease his pain:
Mylicon drops sold otc at any pharmacy
rub his belly in circular motion
do the bicycle motion with his legs
2006-07-31 09:26:11 · answer #7 · answered by pebble 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋