Being a baby may seem like the easiest thing in the world — just sleeping most of the time, playing, and waiting to be fed, changed, and cuddled. Still, things can get quite uncomfortable with newborns who have a gas that’s hard to pass out.
Here’s how to recognise if your infant is gassy and also, how to deal with it.
Firstly, you’ll have to understand that since newborns eat around the clock, they will be producing lots of gas. The issue arises when gas can’t be passed out properly, for this will leave them feeling uncomfortable and well, gassy! So, first and foremost, you can make certain if your infant’s fussiness is due to gas by observing if the little one seems to feel much better after letting go of some through burping or farting. If that’s the case, it means that most, if not all of the unexplainable cranky episodes could be due to gas.
It’s quite rare to feel pain due to gas, and parents should also keep in mind that it will seem like quite a spectacle going on whenever baby needs to pass gas for they generally don’t have much decorum about it. Some infants look like they’re straining, as if pooing, and some may even go red in the face when they’re passing gas. When they need it to come out and it refuses, you may observe all the same expressions too.
If you have a gassy baby on your hands, the following tips might help to coax the gas out.
- Place your baby on a flat surface, belly down. Slide your hand under his tummy and lift him a little bit, and gently massage his belly.
- Place your baby on his back and move his legs about like as if he was cycling. These actions may help give the trapped gas the boost needed to escape.
- As an additional relieving method, try giving baby a comforting, warm bath.
If you’re still faced with an unhappy infant, you might want to consult with your pediatrician for further advice on how to make the baby feel better and also to rule out any other reason for the baby’s discomfort.
Preventive measures to take
Don’t forget to burp your baby. It’s not likely that a newborn can go through a whole feeding session without any episodes of gulping, guzzling, and even perhaps crying and all these contribute to a lot of air entering that tiny body. Having said that, do keep in mind that while relief from a burp might be more immediate, the air that exits as gas has a long journey through the intestinal tract first, Being a little extra vigilant about burping your baby during and after feeding may help keep some of the gas at bay though.
Mind those bubbles. If your baby is bottle-fed, chances are that he or she would be ingesting bubbles that appear at the top of the actual formula after you’ve shaken the bottle. Next time, let those bubbles settle out of the way first before offering the bottle to the baby. Another trick that will help is to ensure that the entire nipple is filled with milk as baby sucks on it, or the little one will be sucking in some air a well. Note: Vented bottles may also help reduce the number of bubbles in the bottle.
The right angle when feeding. Assuming that some gas is bound to find their way into your baby’s body, ensure that baby’s head is higher than the stomach during feeding times, to allow milk or water to sink to the bottom while the bubbles (gas) rise to the top. Keeping the bubbles closer to the top gives them a better chance of escaping via the easiest means, which is through burping, as opposed to having to go through the body and pass through the anus.
Check your diet (for breastfeeding moms). Gas-causing food (think lentils, broccoli, gassy drinks, etc), turns up in your breast milk, which might mean extra gas for your baby. If you’re worried about eliminating certain foods and losing out on their nutritional content, check out alternatives — there are always other foods that have those same nutrients in them.
Check the baby’s diet (for babies starting on solid food). Certain kinds of foods, especially foods that take a longer time to digest, are known to cause gas in young tummies. So, if you happen to be dealing with a particularly gassy baby, watch the kind of food you offer when it’s time to start on solids.
