Symptoms

The peak time for babies to experience gas pains is 3-6 weeks. Symptoms include:

• Sharp, prolonged crying, as if the baby is in pain
• Bubbles in tummy and intestines. This can be felt using infant massage of the tummy.

Causes

Excess gas bubbles are caused by swallowing air and not expelling it through burping. The swallowing of air may lead to crying, which usually leads to swallowing more air. It also may be caused by a breast feeding mom’s diet or a problem in the digestion of baby formula.

Treatment

There are some things you can do to relieve your baby’s gas pains

• Burp your baby with every ½ ounce of milk she consumes, or every two to four minutes when breast feeding.
• Learn infant massage. Often, infant massage of the tummy will break up large gas bubbles.
• Walk around and jostle baby on your shoulder, especially in the evening. The pressure of her tummy on your shoulders may break up the gas bubbles. Do not shake the baby!
• Be sure your baby gets some supervised Tummy Time. Lay baby on her tummy with you watching her at all times to be sure she is safe.
• Lay your baby on her back and move her legs like a bicycle.
• If you breastfeed, rid your diet of foods with caffeine, such as chocolate, sodas, and coffee. Also, try ridding your diet of nuts and dairy.
• Many moms report that infant Simethicone (anti-gas) drops.

If you are in need of encouragement, just remember that this is a fairly common stage and like all stages, this soon shall pass. Until then, hang in there and give your baby all the encouragement you can.

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