BF mama's with gassy babies.... (LONG)
So, I made reference to this in my OL tuesday post, but Evan is seriously the most gassy child ever. He sleeps pretty well when he first goes down at night (usually about 4-6 hrs) but after he wakes up for his first feeding, he is grunting and groaning for what seems like all night. He clearly is working out gas. He is not constipated, he poops several times a day. It is keeping me up all night and I don't know what to do. Also, I have noticed that during the day when I feed him, I can hear his stomach churning away...
I talked to the pedi about it yesterday (Had to take J for her 2 yr well baby visit) and she wasn't concerned. She suggested moving him out of our room - problem w/that is that he grunts SO loudly, it's practically as loud as his cry and if I have the monitor turned down that low, I won't hear him when he needs me. She also said that gas is a super common issue at his age b/c they have not established that healthy intestinal flora that we all have.
I tried the gripe water one night, but it didn't go over well - since he's BF, I have to just try to get him to swallow it and that stuff stinks. I tried the mylicon drops after each feeding last night and that didn't seem to help either.
The pedi also suggested I try cutting out dairy for a week to see if that helps. I guess it confuses me b/c he doesn't seem too terribly gassy during the day - it seems to really be bad at night. I'm not eating the same thing every day...
I feel like I'm rambling... O.k., anyone have any insight to offer??? I'm about to go do some research on kellymom.com and see if I can find anything helpful.
Re: BF mama's with gassy babies.... (LONG)
O.k. - sorry to be totally obnoxious in replying to my own post over and over again, but the kellymom site has some very interesting info - saying it rarely comes from a mother's diet, that gripe water and mylicon drops aren't generally helpful, and mostly that it's just a matter of time for it to pass:
https://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/gassybaby.html
At first, J passed a lot of gas. No matter what I ate, he tooted all.the.time. It never bothered him (he didn't grunt like Evan or anything), and it wasn't constipation either. I do remember it passed, but I'm not sure at what age.
Lisa, you're right about the diet - it doesn't really matter what you eat - except for dairy - because the proteins in the dairy are very close to your BM proteins and they can bind to it. So - try that. he may be gassier at night just because his body is tired and he's working hard to digest everything and during the day he's rested and also more mobile/upright
Avery had that gassy issue too - not too bad but somewhat and the gripe water did help - she loved it. I used the Baby Bliss brand (not sure if that makes a difference) and it really did help get her tummy moving.
Have you looked at different ways of burping him well? Avery really could handle sort of a 'burping beating' - LOL. I'd lay her on my lap and pat her back and she'd burp a lot that way.
Good luck! I hope he starts feeling better soon.
Oh - I just remembered another thing - we did infant massage and you can massage their tummies and help w/ gas issues. Avery loved Infant massage.
Yes, the "I Love You" Massage helped with Mason! He was horrible about burping...I remember feeling helpless because I couldn't *beat* a burp out of him to save our lives. {NO DHR, I didn't really beat him}
Also, my sis-in-law's Pedi just told them this week to let DD sleep in the infant carseat because it keeps her securely lying on her back at a good angle for babies with colic/reflux. Obviously, they take the carseat out of the car
The Baby Blog.
This made me LOL. "Honey, we are letting the baby sleep in the carseat, and it will be very convienent in the morning also!"
I'm sure they have to stress the importance of that to some parents, ha.
Obviously, I didn't BF -- but Payton was super gassy for the first 5-6 weeks -- and Mylicon/gripe water didn't help us much, but what did was massaging her. She LOVED when we would stretch her legs all the way out and she would almost always belch/toot and then massaging her belly (I've heard to do it clockwise, but I don't know if there's a rhyme or reason). We had to burp her every 1/2 oz in the beginning and she was still really gassy. And then she slept in the papasan swing reclined, not laying down. Once she started sleeping in the swing, she was MUCH quieter.
I hope it gets better for you! (((HUGS)))
This is because that is the way your intestinal track/colon flows - so you're pushing the gas bubbles towards the exit.
Also if you push their knees to their tummies - this is a good way of helping release it too.
Thanks for all the input ladies! Last night was a *little* bit better - I tried some of the massage techniques, and tried to adjust his nursing position (I am a crazy milk-making machine and know that my forceful letdown isn't helping things). I am also going to try to cut out dairy for a week or so and see what happens!!
I really don't know what I'd do without my bumpies!!