Monday, June 28, 2010

Gas

I was so surprised to learn how many first time parents do not know about gas and their infants.
Certain foods you eat when you breastfeed can make your baby have gas, as well as some formulas. But like adults, different things make different babies have gas. None of the typically gassy foods made either one of my children have a problem. It was always some typically non gassy food.
When you breast feed and your child has a gassy day, try and think about what you ate in the last 24 hours. Write it down and hang on to it. When your child has another gassy day, pull out that list of food and see if anything matches up. If not try the process again!
If you are formula feeding, you may need to change formulas if your child has several gassy days. But you should talk to your pediatrician about this.

When your child has gas, what do you do? How do you know they have gas? Usually children that are very young will cry when they have gas. They will make their body stiff. They may arch their back. They may put their feet up in the air. If you are not sure and your child is crying: lay them on your lap and crunch their legs up and down as if they were doing a reverse crunch, or move their legs like bicycle kicks, last (this works for burps and toots) lay the baby across your legs on their belly-then tap on their back like you are playing a drum! This presses their belly a bit for a toot and their back for a burp. Sometimes you have to try all three methods. Giving a baby Mylicon also helps with gas but will not work it out instantly like these methods. You may want to try everything if your baby is having a tough moment.

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