Every baby is going to have gas at one time or another. For some babies, however, passing gas may be a difficult thing. In addition, some babies have more gas than other babies. This is especially difficult when a baby has excessive gas and has a hard time passing that gas. Fortunately, there are things that you, as a parent, can do to help relieve your baby’s gas. Additionally, knowing what can cause your baby’s gas can help you know how to help relieve your baby’s gas, as well.
Your baby’s gas can come from any number of areas. Gas is, for the newborn, a naturally occurring byproduct of the process of digesting lactose, as well as other nutrients that are in both breast milk and in formula. In addition, a baby may become gassy when an air bubble is taken in through the mouth. This often happens during breastfeeding. Burping your baby during feedings, around every four minutes or so, should help to relieve gas from this cause. Even being overly stimulated can cause gas in your baby. In the same way that an adult can get an upset stomach when they are stressed, when a baby’s sensory systems are stressed that baby can wind up with gas.
There are a variety of ways to relieve your baby’s gas. Burping your baby thoroughly and frequently will reduce the volume of air that is in your baby’s stomach. Again, every four minutes or so during feedings should be frequent enough. However, burping alone won’t impact the gas that is created with the digestive process. There are other things that you can do in addition to burping your baby to help relieve your baby’s gas. For example, infant massage may help relieve your baby’s gas. There are a number of quality infant massage techniques and products available. Sometimes, a product like gripe water, which is designed to help babies with colic, may contain herbs or nutrients that will help reduce the amount of gas that your baby is going to experience, as well.