Hello and help with a gassy newborn

Hi everyone.
I have thrown myself into the trials, tribulations, and joys of early motherhood. my son is a dream boat, but he propels himself forward with gas...coming out (or not) from his bum.

He's more of a farter than a burber, and his lower abdomin gas seems to be blocking him from being able to poop. He goes, but its after a lot of crying and pain.

he is eating both breast milk and formula as I have not been producing enough milk to keep up with his appetite. He has been fine with this mix up until Thursday evening. He's pooped about 4 times since then...but it's his painful tummy that makes me sad.

i switched his bottle to the Avent from the medela breast milk, so I am hoping this provides some relief. I am also wondering if perhaps he has reflux....we shall see.

he's eating around every 2.5-3 hours about 3 ounces.

btw, he's totally beautiful and I love him so much.

thanks for your help.

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

Congrats!!!

To make him go I would hold his legs and move it as if he is riding a bike. Also, a little warm with just a bit of natural brown sugar mixed together should help him.

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

I've been thinking about you and was going to FM you. How have you been??

I can't give advice on the breastfeeding portion but I do know there are certain foods they say to avoid - I'm not sure what they are though.

As for the formula, have you tried putting Mylicon drops in the bottles? Tyler was really gassy in the beginning and the Mylicon helped. I was using the RTF 2 ounce bottles at this point. Once I ran out of those I switched to the Dr. Browns bottles and I noticed a huge change for the better. He is so much less gassy that I don't even need to put the drops in anymore.

Also, I thought Tyler was really gassy, but in reality he was just still hungry. I was feeding him only 2.5 ounces every three hours. After each feeding he seemed so uncomfortable - almost miserable. I didn't know if it was gas or if he was still hungry (but I didn't want to feed him for fear that it was gas)....I ended up making his bottles to 4 ounces and that took care of that problem....little guy was still hungry.

Hope this helps a little...it's all trial and error with these little guys in the beginning!

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

welcome & congrats...

Jason was very gassy at about 2.5 weeks when he was getting breastmilk & formula....Our Dr told us to do the mylicon with every bottle & 1 tsp chamomelle tea with his bottle....that weorked wonders & then we experienced the bathroom issue & was then told .5 oz of pear juice twice a day...that made the biggest difference

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

We switched to Dr. Browns bottles and Enfamil Gentlease. Both helped, though it turned out DS does have reflux so we started him on Zantac.

Good luck!

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

I just wanted to say hi!!!!!!!!!!!

and congrats!!!!!!!!!

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

All good tips above, (we used Dr Browns bottles too). For about his first 6 weeks Shane's belly would be ROCK hard after a bottle, even after burps that would shake the house. He was in so much discomfort and went ahead and used the "thermometer trick" as often as he needed it. By 6 or 8 weeks we didn't need to do it anymore, he was going quite well on his own.
Do you know that trick? Here's the poop:
Use a rectal thermometer, dip the tip in vaseline, and insert it (like 1/2 to 3/4 inch), then "jiggle" it ("just a little bit" ) - Oh and MAKE SURE you have his diaper under him, this one works FAST so you need that to catch the fruits of your labor.

Congrats and welcome

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

Posted by colette

All good tips above, (we used Dr Browns bottles too). For about his first 6 weeks Shane's belly would be ROCK hard after a bottle, even after burps that would shake the house. He was in so much discomfort and went ahead and used the "thermometer trick" as often as he needed it. By 6 or 8 weeks we didn't need to do it anymore, he was going quite well on his own.
Do you know that trick? Here's the poop:
Use a rectal thermometer, dip the tip in vaseline, and insert it (like 1/2 to 3/4 inch), then "jiggle" it ("just a little bit" ) - Oh and MAKE SURE you have his diaper under him, this one works FAST so you need that to catch the fruits of your labor.

Congrats and welcome

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

You're going to laugh, but what we did for Ava when she had bad gas as a newborn was the hold her in front of us under her arms face-to-face with us, then kind of quickly, raise her up in the air and back down. I don't know why, but it worked like a charm. Then we also realized that walking up and down the stairs with her really helped her release the gas. Go figure, right?

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

Oh, also wanted to add that tracing the outline of a question mark on his belly with your hand helps, too. Use medium pressure and do it for like five minutes. It helps move things along down there. Also, bicycling his legs, laying him on his belly on your lap and rubbing his back, a warm bath, a warm compress on his belly (warm, not hot!), and also swinging in your arms. all those things worked at some point for us.

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

Did you try mylicon or gripe water?

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

Congratulations!!!

DS was very gassy. We used Mylicon drops and switched bottles a bunch of times. We ended up liking the Drop ins and Born Free. Also, he has a milk intolerance which I believe also caused excess gas.

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

my son was diagnosed with AR and a milk protein allergy and these were his symptoms

- episodes of unconsolable crying (nothing I did would get him to stop crying)

- arching his back when I attemped to burp him

- crying while eating

- only eating a few ounces at a time

Did you try gas drops and/or gripe water

if he does have AR or a milk protein allergy, only medicine and / or switching formula will help

good luck and congrats again

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

Congrats on the birth on your son!!! Welcome to Mommyhood!

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

Hi mommy!
Mylicon. And the thermometer trick worked WONDERS!

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

mine had a milk allergy so he was a gassy monster.

one of my friends sent me down a baby yoga book. really was helpful...offered different poses for baby. its since been passed on and helpful to another mom as well.

good luck

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

I have tried all of the above so I won't mention them again. One thing I did not see mentioned is a heating pad. The microwavable ones. Worked wonders for my kids and my Dr had no issue with it.

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

Congratulations!

Switching to Dr. Brown's bottles, using the Dr. Brown's pitcher to mix the formula, and using gripe water in each bottle has helped DD.

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

I'm giving mylicon at every feeding and also started her on pro-biotics the other day.

Seems to be helping!

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

yes - do the bicycle movement...but also take each leg and bring it to the belly (with slight pressure)...do each leg like 11 times each.

PREPARE yourself though - this can cause 'poop mountain'. we did this twice when Em was constipated and wowza - it worked!

welcome!

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

Both my girls have/had serious gas issues. Mylicon seems to help but you have to use it consistently, after every feeding. Also make sure you burp him after each meal - Yael will burp 2-3 times after each feeding! And when it gets bad you can pump his legs. What also helped is to lay him on his left side, pat his back and pump his legs - gas bubbles get trapped on the left side, so laying him on that side will help release them

Re: Hello and help with a gassy newborn

Can I use Mylicon drops with my 8 day old son?