2 Month Old with Terrible Gas Pains

My son had the same problem, we started by changing his formula to lactose free. You can also get some homeopathic pills that dissolve in babies mouth to relieve gas, I can't remember the name. Lastly, I would gently pump his legs in a bicycle motion and that seemed to help. Good Luck.....my son outgrew it.

Simethicone drops really help. The experience my babies have had with them is that the dose listed on the bottle isn't always enough, my pediatrician said that it often takes 2-4 dropperfuls to make a difference. They are sold near the teething tablets in the baby section.
Good Luck
K.

How are his bowel movements? Are they liquidy or thick and dry? How often does he have them? Have you tried the gas drops offerred for infants?

How long after he's eaten does it happen or is it all the time? Does he have anything like cereal? How is he sleeping?

Let me know and I'll see if I can help.

http://www.missbrenda.com

Try Babies magic tea. It helped my baby with lots of tummy gas and reflux.

I would definitely be using semethicone drops. My child had a lot of gas pain too and this seemed to help. Semethicone is very safe and can be used several times a day to my knowledge.

Movement also seems to help, either rocking manually or some kind of vibrating chair or such.

This is a common problem and is probably related either to the switch in food or just the stomach trying to get used to having food. The pediatrician should be able to offer further advice.

Good luck!

Hi J.!!

Your story sounds very similar to mine! My son was 6 and a half weeks early, 3 weeks in the NICU, and had HORRIBLE gas pain! It made me cringe to see him hurting. Two things made the difference for us! One, I realized that my son was allergic to milk and the milk that I was consuming via ice cream (in larger quantities) was getting passed to him. So I basically cut out all milk type products from my diet and that helped. The other saving grace was Gripe Water. It is an all natural, ginger and fennel remedy from England (the sell it here too, but it originated there). It is very commonly used in Europe, Canada, the United Kingdom and India. Baby Bliss is the brand that I use. It is quite expensive (11-13 dollars) if you by it at a store and very few stores carry it here in Dallas. It is everywhere in Austin as they are so much more liberal and homeopathic!! If you get it off the internet (amazon.com or google stores that sell it) you can get it a lot cheaper (6-8 dollars a bottle).
This worked miracles for us. It also helps with teething when your little one is going through that!

I hope this helps! It really made such a difference in our house hold. Take care and good luck! And if you need anything else, please feel free to email me. As I said it sounds like we went through a very similar experience! Boy am I glad it is over! Oh and on a positive note, my son is now a 12 months and very healthy!!

~A. E.

Infant Mylicon drops are for gas. They are taken orally. Helped my son... if you are talking about gas as in colic, perhaps you should try a different formula... such as Enfamil A.R. but check with your pediatrician first.

Hi J.,

It might be gas but it could also be colic. I'm a first time mom too and my baby girl is 6 months old.

Does he seem to have this problem in the evenings? You can try the gas drops but we gave those up pretty quickly. We had a rough time with Ali the first 3 months or so.

If it is colic there are a lot of things you can try. Some stuff might work one time and then not the next. On the bright side, colicky babies tend to be intelligent and inquisitive.

If your problem is occuring more in the evening then you can try the following:

* play white noise or a vaccum cleaner (we actually play both a white noise machine and a cd of a vaccum)

* swinging or rocking- our baby girl like to be swung in a blanket...just lay the baby on the blanket and pick up the end so it makes a hammock and gently pull up one end and then the other

* mommy contact, as in wearing him in a sling or pouch up next to your body

I'm sure there is more.

Take him to your pediatrician to make sure there isn't anything seriously wrong and then go from there.

Colic doesn't last forever and our baby is such a sweetie now that people ask us if they can please babysit.

Good Luck and Hang In There,
K.

My girls both had a couple of terrible nights with collic/gas, etc. My Sicilian Grandmother told me (and it took me a little while to listen but am so glad I did) to boil some water, add a bay leaf, a little teaspoon of sugar (which you can omit if you feel terrible about it) then let it cool, you can add bottled water to cool it off for him. Then just let him drink. You'll see he'll pee a lot, and then eventually fart. We say babies don't need water with breast milk and I'm sure that's true but we saw this really helped. Maybe a bottle when he suffers, it's just water.
I hope it works!
AFB

my daughter seemed to have tummy aches and gas issues that were caused by breast milk - as soon as she started on formula they went away - my recommendation would be to talk to your doctor, but switching all the way over to formula worked for us - we used enfamil lipil

Hi J.,
My 3 month old had the same problem. It wasn't until she hit that 3-month mark that it started getting better. Of course, we tried Mylicon (which I'm sure you've already tried). The other thing that worked for her was Apple juice (mixed half water/half juice) it actually gave her gas, but it helped her relieve it easier. And then Gripe Water. Its hard to find, I almost ordered it online (the brand is Baby's Bliss) but then I found it at a store in Keller - Kid2Kid. If you have any questions, I would be happy to talk to you by phone you can call me at ###-###-#### or you can email me. Good luck!

Sounds like your little boy has colic. Mine son did too. It started around 6 weeks and continued until he was about 12 weeks. It was pretty much all day, but worse at night. I also bottle fed formula and breast milk and he was also 5 weeks early, but only spent 4 days in the NICU. There is not a whole lot you can do. I gave my son mylicon. I tested several anti gas meds by shaking up some formula so that it was bubbly and then adding a drop of anti gas and Mylicon got rid of the bubbles the fastest. We also tried a prescription anti gas, I don't remember the name, but it really didn't seem to work any better than Mylicon. It will get better-just be prepared for this to last until around 12 weeks. You'll probably loose a lot of sleep, but he will be ok and it will soon be a distant memory.

Good Luck!

J.-
I'm so sorry your little one is suffering. My son had horrible gas and a tight tummy, when he was younger (he's 8 1/2 months now). We went through all the Enfamil formulas -- from the origal to GentleEase then Soy -- and with each formula the gas got a little better, but I was still having to give him Simethacone 12 times a day and having to do the bicycle with his legs to try to work some of the gas out. There are 2 things that virtually got rid of the gas...we switched his formula to Similac Isomil and I was told to burp him by bouncing him on my knee first before patting him on the back. Switching to the formula was like night and day. Within a week, I stopped using the Simethacone completely and I ended up with a soft-tummied, virtually gasless baby. With the burping, I never quite got all the air out before. As soon as I started bouncing him gently but quickly on my knee, I oftentimes didn't even have to pat his back because such a big burp would come out. One other thing may be the bottles. My son inhales so much air with the Avent bottles, but hardly any with the Dr. Brown's bottles.
I hope with all the advice I'm sure you'll get in response to this e-mail, you'll find something that ends up working for you and your little one.

Best Wishes!
L.

J.,
Have you thought about seeing if he is lactose intolerant? It sounds as if that may have something to do with it.
If that is the case, there are a few really good non-dairy formulas available. Breast milk is easier to digest than formula and switching at such a young age (especially a premie)(I have two!) can be hard for his system to take. It can cause bad constipation (stomache cramps) and so forth. Try staying with breast milk a little longer if you can.
Also, there are a variety of anti-gas products for infants. Check with your pharmacist and see what he recommends.
Good Luck,

Is your child on lactose free formula. My daughter had that and I changed to lactose free enfamil and have had no problems ever since. Also there is a such thing as acid reflux in babies so maybe fo see your pediatrician to run those tests. Hope this advice helps you out. I hate to see a baby hurting.

There is a product called Gripe Water. You can buy it at health food stores. There is a health food store off of 121 and Glade (next to Albertson's on the service road). It is an all natural product that does not have any medication in it. We used it when my son had gas and was first teething. It worked wonderfully and did not have any side affects.

The infant gas drops work wonderfully. Try giving it before you feed the baby. Also, turn your dryer on and lay the baby on a pillow - tummy down - and pat his back. The warmth and vibration of the dryer work well too. If that doesn't work, I would talk to my doctor about acid reflux.
Good luck - I remember those days.

P.S. Have the doctor check to see if he is teething. Both my boys started about this time and they cried a lot. I used teething tablets - pink and blue small bottle called Homeopathic teething tablets - miracle workers

I know this sounds gross but karo syrup is what I used. Put a little in your babys bottle. Like a tea spoon. Good luke

I would first ask your pediatrician. Is he projectile spitting up also? He may need to be put on Prevacid (reflux medicine). You might want to change bottles to the ones that vent at the bottom like the MAM, or Platex vent air, or Dr. Brown's. Have you tried Mylecon? Also, what formula are you using? My pedi recommends the Nestle Good Start. He may need to go to that or move to a more hypoallergenic formula like Gentleease, Nutramigen, Alimentum. But, ask your pediatrician first because it's not good to change formulas a lot.
Just some suggestions from a mom of a 3.5 year old boy and 6 week old girl.
Good Luck!

You might check with your doctor first since your baby was born early, but we gave our daughter a little bit of warm water with a few drops of peppermint oil extract in a bottle. You get it in the same place as vanilla extract. It doesn't take but a few swallows for them. Also a peice of peppermint candy crushed and put in with some warm water in a bottle will work too. It can be kind of strong so you might want to add a dash of sugar. I hated giving her the sugar, but the peppermint mixture made her gas go away so quickly it was worth it to me. You could almost see it in her face when it was working. We had asked our Pediatritian and he had told us that it was find to do if it worked. It's one of those natural old timey remedies. Good luck! I know how you feel!

J., congratulations on your baby boy. It is so hard to see our little ones in pain. My daughter who is now 20 months old was having the same problem of gas. I did not have enough milk as at 3 weeks, she was only on formula. She used to cry after feeding and scrunch up her legs. I changed her formula from enfamil to Nestle good start and she had no problems. I would change your sons formula to another brand. Also make sure you are not drinking gassy things like sodas. Also there is a thing called gripe water and I have seen it at krogers in the baby aisle. It is so good for gassy babies. I could not live without it. It is all natural and works better than other gassy drops.

Hope that helps.
R.

J.,

I had several issues when I was born. I was a small baby and apparently my insides aren't built the way they are supposed to be. So I had terrible problems with gas. My mother swears by a pinch of baking soda in water. She would give this to me after eating as a digestive aid.

I hope this helps! Good luck with your little one. I feel his pain!

*hugs*
Jodi

BOY, DO I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GOING THROUGH. I HAVE A 3 MO. OLD LITTLE BOY WHO WAS BORN 3 WEEKS EARLY. WE HAD HIM ON ENFAMIL LIPIL AND DID FINE WITH IT FOR AWHILE BUT, LIKE YOU, HE CRIED ALL DAY AND GOT TO WHERE FEEDING HIM WAS TERRIBLE. HE ARCHED HIS BACK AND CRIED. THE DOCTOR TOLD US HE HAD ACID REFLUX. WE SWITCHED HIS FORMULA TO ENFAMIL GENTLEASE AND THAT HAS HELPED TREMENDOUSLY. HE STARTED SMILING MORE AND NOW WE CAN FEED HIM IN 30 MINUTES VERSUS AN HOUR. JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.

Sorry to hear about your baby. If you have not already done so you may want to contact the baby's doctor and explain the situation.

If that doctor does not do anything for the child you may want to consider getting a second opinion.

He may be lactose intolerent and it forms gases in his stomach so ask the doctor what can be done for your baby.

Keeping your baby in my prayers.

Mylicon helped my children so much. The Vitamin Shoppe has other brands. Also, sometimes, my children would take more than directed before they had relief which my pediatrician approved. Also, the gas could be coming from the mixture of formula and breast milk. Weaning is hard sometimes. I never had any luck with powder formula; they never got full.

My daughter had the same problem. I tried all of the over the counter gas drops, and found that the Equate brand(Wal-Mart) gas drops work as good as all the others, and a lot cheaper. It was like it worked almost instantly. She would be screaming in pain, and I would give her these drops, and she would quit crying. Just give them like it says on the bottle. I hope it works as good for you as it did for me. also, a warm towel or compress on your babies tummy helps too. Not too hot though.

Hi, J.! It's OK, we've been there too. :-)

First off: MYLICON. No one told us until we'd gone through several weeks of DD being colicky, and it works wonders. Since your baby is preemie you may want to check w/ the pediatriican first but my DD never had any adverse reaction.

Second, what have you changed in your diet recently? Anything? I had to give up dairy because the proteins were going through the breastmilk and my girl was lactose intolerant. Was a huge help once we got it out of her system.

Third, have you tried any other formulas? We tried three or four before settling on one that seemed to cause her the least distress. Buy small cans and experiment!

Hope this helps!
J.