General Info Mill

All infants experience gas and gas pain.  Air bubbles get caught in the infants stomach and creates discomfort.  Gas can be caused by an under developed digestive system or from certain foods.  At this age most infants do not know how to deal with the gas pain and will likely cry and be very cranky.  If you haven’t experienced this before you may feel helpless.  Well there are some things you can do to help relieve the gas pain.

The first thing you can try is to burp your child as often as possible.  This should help avoid gas from forming in your baby.  Even if your child is breastfeeding or taking formula you should try and burp them as often as possible. 

Another suggestion to help relieve gas pain in your infant would be lay your baby flat on his back and pump your baby’s legs up and down.  The motion is similar to that of riding a bicycle.  What this does is create movement in his stomach to help the gas pass through and relieve their pain and discomfort.

For this next suggestion be sure that your baby can support their head.  Another way to relieve gas pains in your baby would be to let them lay on their stomach.  What this does is put pressure on your baby’s stomach, which then creates movement so the gas can pass through your baby’s stomach.  It also allows your baby to play on her stomach, which is great for her development.  Another way to apply pressure to your infants stomach would be to use a position called “Tiger in the tree.”  This position has the child laying on his stomach across your forearm with their head near your elbow, their arms and legs on either side of your arm.  With younger and smaller infants the heel of your hand will be positioned near the child’s stomach, which applies pressure to help the gas to pass through the intestines. 

The type of food you eat could also help relieve gas pain in your infant.  It has been found that foods you eat that are high in gas or that give you gas can be passed along to your child.  Also your baby’s diet could produce gas.  If he is eating solid foods, slowly introduce foods one at a time so you can identify which food is producing the gas.  You can stop giving him that food and re-introduce it later when your baby is older and his digestive system can handle the food.

A final way you could help relieve gas pain in infants would be to give your child drops that relieve gas or an over the counter colic reliever.  Some types of gripe water can help relieve gas.  The drops contain simethicone, which has been found to help treat gas pain.  However, be cautious with using drops.  Speak to a healthcare professional such as a pharmacist, nurse or doctor before you decide to use drops.

At some point ever baby will experience gas and gas pain.  As a new parent you may feel helpless, but there are tips to relieving gas pain.  If the remedies you have tried do not work, do not worry.  As your baby gets older their digestive system will develop further and will out grow the inability to pass gas.