Why Would My Baby Have Gas?
Did your baby have issues with gas and tummy aches? Mine sure did. I just thought I would share some of the things we tried to help him feel better so it can help someone else. Most of these things I look back and wish I would have figured out sooner so he wouldn’t have had to be uncomfortable for so long.
Trying Figuring Out The Problem
My son had always had gas and tummy aches, I am not sure exactly when it started but not long after he was born. He was an otherwise happy healthy baby for being early.
My son was 3 weeks early, 6 lbs. 13 oz. No explanation as to why. He had trouble nursing and was losing weight, so after two weeks his pediatrician had me start supplementing with formula. I was devastated.
For the first 6 months I would nurse then supplement with formula afterwards. I ate well, drank mothers milk tea, and pumped. He ended up weaning himself at 6 months. He didn’t have to work as hard for the formula.
When my son was about three months old for about a month he was only waking once per night. Then, it ended. Every one to two hours he was up. A lot of the times it was because he had gas/tummy ache, not just because he was hungry. I even talked to his pediatrician about it. His response: all baby’s have gas and it was normal, that was it.
Looking back to when he started waking up more again after 3 months was when he started wanting the bottle more for eating and nursing just for comfort. He was getting more gas the more formula was replaced with nursing.
I never questioned my pediatrician at that point. I had looked a few things up and discussed those possibilities with his pediatrician and those were dismissed also.
Had I looked into it more and listened to my mommy instincts I would have figured it out sooner, but again the dr. said it was fine. Considering my own health journey I knew better than to accept that answer. I should have pushed the issue with the Dr. more.
Trying Different Solutions
Formula
I started trying different formulas and finally found a formula that didn’t give him as much gas as the others, although I can’t say that the ingredients differed much from some of the other ones we had tried. Being from a smaller town with limited shopping choices I had never seen or heard of lactose free formula at that time. I also hadn’t really started shopping online for everyday items so hadn’t come across it there either.
Tummy Massage
At 3 months I took him to see a massage therapist that my mom had been going to for 20 years. She also knows Chinese medicine and does visceral manipulation. I told her about the gas and she suggested a lactation consultant (which I felt was too late, but I still should have looked into it) and showed me how to rub his tummy to help with gas.
You keep your palm flat and rub in a clockwise motion following the intestines to help move the gas through. Not too much pressure though. Also bring his knees up to his chest, or as far as comfortable to help relieve gas.
Gas Drops
Another thing we couldn’t be without was gas drops. Luckily he liked them. Gripe water is also great, my son just wasn’t a huge fan.
Trouble With Whole Milk
At one year we were told to switch him to whole milk. Within 2 days he had tummy aches, and his gas was worse. Then he started having diarrhea. At first I thought he was sick but I backed off on the milk and he got better.
I called the pediatrician to see what I should do and the advice was to keep him on the milk for a couple more weeks and see what happens. I tried gave it to him that day and same thing happened again.There was no way we were trying it for two more weeks.
Lactose Free Milk
I remembered my husband couldn’t drink cows milk when he was little either so I started looking online for things he could have instead. I decided to try lactose free milk. It worked. The next day no diarrhea, no crabbiness, no tummy aches.
He still got gas occasionally if he drank more than normal, but nothing like he had experienced the first year of life or right after drinking regular milk.
Finally Some Relief
Homemade Lactose Free Milk
Now lactose free milk is expensive. I just happened to come across an article (I couldn’t tell you where I found it now) about making your own lactose free milk. It was the lactase enzyme to add to your regular milk.
What a money saver, and also the convenience factor if you were somewhere that didn’t have lactose free milk. So after that I started making our own. The only downfall is you have to let it sit at least 24 hours for it to break the milk down. You can use it right away or add it to your glass, it just may not fully breakdown the lactase. Still so worth it.
On to Almond Milk
Then my son got sick last year with a really bad runny nose. I know milk or dairy in general isn’t good when you have a runny nose or cold, so we tried almond milk. He loved it. I do water the almond milk down just because it’s so thick and he liked it better that way.
There are other non dairy alternatives this is just what we tried first.
At 2 he was and still is a big milk drinker. He finally got over his runny nose, but we kept him on it. His gas was gone. Now the only time he has gas that hurts his tummy is if it’s from something he ate, which is rare.
I’m not saying my son is lactose intolerant by any means. He has never had a problem with yogurt, cottage cheese, regular cheese, or any other dairy products.
About this time my son and I started seeing a functional dr. Best choice on dr.s I have ever made. He thought the almond milk was a great choice and said to keep doing what were doing. He gave him a good probiotic as well.
The 9 things Things That Helped My Sons Gas
These are the 9 tips I wish I would have known when my son was a baby and maybe he wouldn’t have had to have so many tummy aches.
- Gas Drops
- Rubbing belly clockwise, and putting knees to tummy
- Gripe water-I only used this a couple of times as my son didn’t like it but many people have great luck with it
- Different formulas-try lactose free also
- Lactose free milk
- Lactose free drops to add in to any dairy or make your own lactose free milk
- Almond Milk
- Probiotic
- Warm bath
I realize there are many other options out there this is just what we tried and worked for us. I hope this can help someone.
Kay Beth
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