Breastfed Infant with Gas/BM Problems--please Help!

He may be allergic to milk/dairy. If you're drinking milk stop and see if that helps. Also if that's the case he may need to have soy formula.

Hi A., I have an 11 month old and we are in the process of weaning from breast feeding. I had the same problem at about the same age. I used Gripewater sold at local health stores, which seemed to help. I put it in a dropper. Hope this helps. S.

I have been told that with BM problems in little ones useing prune juice diluted with some water will loosen things up. As far as the gas sometimes relaxing is a warm bath will relax some of the muscles down there enough to pass things easier. Also adding some water to his diet might help. Good luck and hope all goes well.

My infant had that problem about 2 weeks ago he is 11 weeks now. I talked to the Doctor and he said that as long as he has a bowel in I believe it was five days that he was fine. And if it is not hard or looks like deer droppings. My son was fine after he had the poop episode, he might have been over stimulated by something or his digestive system could have been changing and growing. Who knows but it worked itself out. Try pumping his legs in the bicycle motion, sometimes that helps. If that does not work and he is still fussy try gripe water, this stuff is heaven sent.

Too many gas drops can cause gas problems as well. I would suggest giving your child a small 2-3 ounce apple juice or prune juice.

Hi A.

Babies often develop food allergies. Even though you haven't "changed" your diet, that is a very likely cause. Milk and wheat are 2 of the biggest culprits. Try going off them (its harder than it sounds, as milk, milk by-products, and wheat (gluten) are in just about everything. You can also give him Probiotics (good bacteria for the gut, to help him with digestion.
P.

My daughter had the same problems when she was that age. I tried water, juice, everything I could think of. The doctor did an x-ray on her and found out that she was quite stopped up. I had to give her suppositories occassionally. I also gave her a tiny amount of mineral oil (per her doctor) and that seemed to help most of the time. She eventually grew out of it and at 16 months has no problems. Hope this helps!!

S.

For gas, Symethicone (gas medicine) can be doubled. I had one child who lived off the stuff (was breastfed until 9mo). I asked a dr if it was safe doubeling the dose if I halved the doses a day (instead of .5ml 6 times a day, we gave him 1ml three times a day-- or whatever the directions had said). He said it was no prblem because symethicone does not digest, merely passes through the digestive system.

As for a bm every couple of days, my two breastfed babies (those that I breast fed exclusively until solids) had bm's every few days as well.

Hello I am a first time mom but i had the same problem with my 2mo daughter when i went to see the chiropractor he had told me to stay away from chocolate caffeen and anything that would cause you gas like brocoli and such after i had stoped eating those things she was doing much better

This happened to my 3 1/2 month old son just a few weeks ago, I asked his pediatrician about it, he said to stimulate the rectal. You take a glass thermometer with a bunch of vaseline, hold his ankles with one hand near his tummy so his feet don't kick around, and then insert the thermometer about and inch or so in and make circles with it. Sounds gross, but that got it stimulated enough that we didn't have to use supositories. He said to do this every 24-48 hours if he hasn't gone. Hope that helps, it did for us. Oh and Gripe water works too, just for some comfort.

at about this time in there lives there gas does start to stink. they also don't poop everyday when they are breastfeed. My third child just hit 4months and in his third month we went through the same thing. we just used milicone drops when necissary. also if they are really uncomfortable lay them across your legs to put a little pressure, it helps the gas move. some times his poop is not what i would call paste but very thick and it reminds me of that slime or gack stuff you can buy for kids to play with. (gross)

My daughter was the same way and I strictly breast fed her. She was very gassy and would cry a lot and have strange BMs. I used mylocin quite a bit and it was really a life saver. You might want to ask your pediatrician about it, it's possible your baby is having a difficult time digesting the breast milk. I was told that every now and then a baby may have an aversion to mothers milk, but it's pretty rare.

Take your baby to a family chiropractor. If you've never been to one this probably sounds scary, but I can tell you it *will* help! If you would like an explanation why, just ask! ____@____.com

The first thing that I look to with gas is dairy. Try cutting the dairy from your diet for 3-7 days and see what happens.

I had the same trouble with my son at about the same age. He went for nearly a week without having a BM. Prune juice worked for him. I used a medicine syringe and just squeezed a little into his mouth at a time (no more than an ounce). After he started solids I had the same trouble. I found that if I don't mix his breakfast cereal with prune juice on a regular basis he gets backed up. I was hesitant to try it because I was a purist about giving him breastmilk. But I was ultimately relieved because it worked for him.

A.,

Has your son been vaccinated or been on any antibiotics? This can deplete the intestinal flora in his stomach. Sometimes, even without that, his intestinal flora could have been depleted. My son went through a similiar issue starting around 2 1/2 and 3 months and we gave him powdered acidophilus for a few weeks and this got his stomach back to a normal balance. My son is also strictly breastfed. Now, if he has any gas issues, we still give him a regimen of acidophilus and we also use Colic Calm (www.coliccalm.com), it is a homeopathic remedy to relieve gas in infants. It works great! Much better and safer than the simethicone drops and it works instantly. Also, you might check what you are eating. Dairy can really upset babies' tummies as well as spicy foods and gas-producing veggies. Keep up the good work with breastfeeding! It is the the best and most perfect food for your baby! Hope this helps!

A.,
My granddaughter when she was about the same age went through this and they did tests and everything on her. Then the doctor put her on MIRALAX...which at that time was a prescription, but just recently came out so you can buy it over the counter.
It is suppose to be non-reliant...which I mean they cannot become dependant on it. But it worked wonderful on her. They said that a part of her intestinal tract was just alittle under developed and as she got older it would catch up. They explained that she had no problem in the beginning because of the stool still being softer....but as they developed she could not pass them comfortably.
This worked great for her and she used it for about a year and then she was fine. You might want to try some...You can put it in juice or water.....it does not take much...the amounts needed on on the side...I daycare and there was one of my little girls that had to use it everyday because she became scared to go because it hurt...and then she became anal retentive....it worked great for her too...Now she is off of it. You give it to themonce a day.
Hope this helps...L.

I would go quickly and have his digestive system checked by the pediatrician. Have you tried Gripe Water? You can pick it up at a European or Arabic Delicatessan.

I had the same situation with my daughter. I found when I drastically decreased my dairy intake it helped her immensely. I also increased my water consumption. She would cry from 7 to midnight every night, and she would struggle with every bowel movement. Note though, it can be very normal for an infant to go several days without a bowel movement. good luck!

Keeping a food diary will help if that is part of the problem. Write down everything you eat and when he is fussy and see if there is a coralation. Gas relief drops didn't help my little girl until I cut out dairy.
Here is a list of foods that may be the culprit:
Dairy products
Caffeine - coffee, tea, soda
Soy products
Peanuts
Shellfish
Chocolate (sorry!)
Citrus fruits
Wheat
Chicken
Beef
Eggs
Nuts
Corn
Prenatal vitamins (The iron may be irritating to baby. Ask your OB for an alternative if this is the culprit.)
Gassy vegetables:
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Onions
Green peppers
Tomatoes
You can eliminate all foods at once or just a few at a time, depending on how severe the colic is. It sometimes takes up to two weeks for a food to get out of your system, so be patient. Good luck!

Hi there! I am strictly breastfeeding my son who is only 4 weeks old and we have had a few issues with the cramping and crying during gassy moments, my husband brought to my attention that eachtime he had those issues I had eaten steak the night before. So I decided to start paying close attention to what I ate and if it makes me gassy well it makes him gassy, so eat what doesn't make you have issues and watch when it occurs and you might pinpoint the food cause!!
Oh babies at this young age can't get dehydrated if your nursing enough so make sure you nurse often.

Hope that helps!! Oh burp often too while nursing as breastfed babies still spit up if not nursed often. Air is air in their tummies....

God Bless

A.,

It sounds to me like he may be a little dehydrated. How often do you nurse him? After my daughter weaned herself around 9 months old, we switched to formula, and she started having a hard time pooping too. Her whole face would turn red, and the poop in the diaper was pretty solid. Once we realized we were only offering liquids at her meal times, we started to offer formula and water more often and the straining went away.

As for the gas, are you eating anything spicy or gassy? A lot of the flavors we eat do come through in the breast milk. My family has a story. During a summer family get together there was some homemade peach ice cream for desert, a nursing mother had some, later nursed her baby, and shortly thereafter the baby's meal came back up smelling strongly of peaches.

Check your diet, there may be a clue there hiding somewhere.

Hope this helps,
Melissa

My son went through the same thing when he was 2-3 months old. He would cry every night and curl into a ball because he was in so much pain. I used the Little Tummy drops for him and it only temporarily relieved the pain. I increased my water intake, watched my diet carefully to see if it was something I ate. A friend recommended a pacifier (which personally I am dead against but I was desperate) it worked. He had been sucking so much air while nursing that he was filling his tummy with gas which was causing the pain and weird bowl movements. I also started putting him into a baby sling facing me so his tummy was next to mine. The movement of me walking around helped push the air out of his stomach and he slept so much better. Within 2-3 weeks he was back to my beautiful baby boy.

I know maybe a bit how you feel. My daughter had about the same problem. The best thing I found that helped her was tummy time. The pressure helped relieve the pain and push it out. I would just lay on the floor next to her (even in the middle of the night) and let her cry it out while I gently massaged her back and bottom. If you think you need to I would use a few Tbs. of pear juice to loosen things up. It seems to be gentler on tummies and tastes alot like breast milk.

Secondly, and this will sound really weird, try for at least 7 days cutting out all leavened (risen with yeast) breads from your diet. That is what finally did it for my babe. People always looked at me like I was some kind of nutcase when I would tell them that but I'm telling you it totally worked! Biscuits and pancakes and dessert breads (i.e. banana or zucchini bread) are all risen with baking powder not yeast. I hope this is helpful. It's really hard when baby is hurting and it feels like you can't do anything to help.

I don't know if this will be repeat information because I don't have time to read the other responses, but his gas and constipation can be from vitamins, medicines, herbs, etc...that you may have started taking. My friend started taking Paxel for the baby blues and she figured out the connection. Good luck.

You may need to change your diet. He may be allergic to something you are eating. I think the imune system starts to kick in at 3 months. If you drink milk you could start with that it takes about 3 weeks, or if you have a family history of anything else, try removing those things from your dieat.

A.,
I have had four babies, and all have gone through this to some degree. Mine were also only breastfed. The closest thing I have come to find as far as my diet relating to the problem, are when I have foods containing sodium nitrite(lunch meats are very high in this), eggs, or legumes(peanuts, beans, lentils, etc.)or peppers and asparagus. It does seem like they aren't effected until later on like about 2-3 months or so. Not sure why. I have been told that Mylicon drops coat the stomache, therfore relieving the pain temporarily, but in the mean time inhibiting the absorbtion and digestion of nutrients,so maybe contributing to the problem rather than fixing it. After the stomache is no longer coated with the Mylicon,the body has to then try to digest the food that began the problem in the first place. And sometimes their gas and cramping come back worse than before, because the digetion process is getting backed up. I was told by a friend about some homeopathic colic tablets, and was hesitant to try them since I wasn't so sure that homeopathic remedies were valid. However, when I became desperate for some relief from my little ones' struggles, I tried them, and I don't know how, but they worked. Within minutes or maybe even seconds, he would settle down, and sometimes even fall asleep because he was so worn out from the cramping and straining. Even my husband begs me to "give him one of those 'magic pills'" sometimes. As babies go in and out of growth spurts, their nutritional intake requirements change. As they are going through a growth spurt, their body requires more of the nutritional volume that they are getting, and this leaves less waste, resulting in fewer poopy diapers(sometimes days in between). Then while they are not in a growth spurt, they don't need all that they are intaking, leaving more waste, and more frequent poopy diapers. I recognize the description of the paste-like poo and don't know what causes that. I have also been told that if the color is closer to green than yellowish, that means there has been an upset in the enzymatic and digestive process.

A.,
I had the same problem with my daughter when she was about that age. My mom suggested warm sugar water...and that did the trick. Get a four ounce bottle and fill it with luke warm water...put about 1/2 teaspoon regular white table suger in it and give that to him for a couple days in between feedings. I did it like 2 times a day. It worked like a charm. Hope it works for you!

D.

Try Gripe Water (I like the Baby's Bliss brand sold at Walgreen's)...it's a cure all for any tummy upsets, gas, teething, constipation, etc. You can pump their legs to help get the gas moving (like they are running and then gently push them into their tummy), or lay them on their tummy and the pressure helps push it through.

Hi!

Try adding more fiber to your diet. Get plenty of fruit and vegetables, Oatmeal, whole wheat, brown rice.

Drink plenty of WATER.

Stay away from gas producing foods and see if that helps.

Mother of 6, 3 bio that I nursed, and 3 step children.

Hi A.,

For breastfeeding babies, it's okay for the gas. Whatever you are eating, your baby is eating too. You might try changing your diet also to see if it changes. Like eating more fruits and vegetables, more water and juice. Your baby is trying to digest your food that you are eating. Breastfeeding babies' bowel movements are not as regular as formula fed babies.

I have a God-Daughter that I watch and she was a breast fed baby. She would go for a whole week or two without a bowel movement and her gas stinks so bad. It was so bad that we had a nick name for her. We just let her be and go with the flow every day. We would give her some water and every now and then we gave her some suppository to help her out.

Again, try eating food that's not so gassy. Hope this help.

AJ