What is Good for Gas in Babies?

One of the most common concerns of parents is their baby's gas. Although not usually harmful, gas can cause pain when it gets stuck in your baby's stomach or intestines due to the pressure created by the gas bubbles. Gas is especially common in the first 3 months when your baby's digestive system is maturing. You may even notice that it is worse at night. Most of the time gas is caused by swallowing too much air, but there may be other reasons why your baby is gassy.

Causes of Gas Problem in Babies

If your baby has gas problems, possible causes are:

• A wrong grip while breastfeeding will cause your baby to swallow too much air.
• Excessive crying fills your baby's tummy with air.
• Overfeeding that causes the baby to swallow food and air quickly.
• Constipation.
• The immature digestive system in infants learns to process breast milk, gas, and stool effectively. Gas problem may occur in this process.
• Sensitivity or allergy to a food in the mother's diet.
• The baby may swallow air while drinking from the bottle or may need to get used to the contents of the formula.

Gas Problem Symptoms in Babies (baslik)

Symptoms that indicate the presence of gas problem in babies:

• Excessive burping: It may indicate that your baby is swallowing too much air from feeding or crying.
• Spitting up: It can be a sign of gas buildup in the stomach. Trapped gas bubbles can push up some of the breast milk.
• Excessive bloating: It may mean that gas is trapped in the intestines.
• Crying, pulling the legs towards the tummy and clenching their fists can be seen in the baby.
• Trouble sleeping is often a symptom on its own as well as a combination of the symptoms listed above.

Suggestions for Gas Problem in Babies

If you notice a strong spray of breast milk in the first few minutes of breastfeeding, causing the baby to cough, hold the breast, or not want to feed, then your milk flow is too strong. This may cause the baby to swallow air and the gas problem may increase. For this, you can express your milk with a milking machine and present it to your baby.

If you suspect that your baby may be sensitive to something in your diet, it's a good idea to pay attention to what you eat. You can avoid foods that will trigger gas.

You can use an anti-gas bottle. Sometimes a very large nipple or a bottle that is too shallow can cause excessive gas in a baby. You can feed your baby with baby bottles that allow air circulation. Also, the milk flow in the bottle should not be too fast. For this reason, it would be better to buy from newborn or single-drop bottles.

Make sure you burp your baby during and after feeding. Otherwise, your baby may have pain and crying spells. Try massaging your baby's tummy and back to relieve gas.