As one Mom suggested, I got some Dr. Brown's Bottles to help with gassiness,fussiness...colicky etc....and we have had to change from Enfamil Premium, to Gentlease, to now using the Prosobee...trying to alleviate most of my son's gassiness etc. Still no luck. Not sure what is going one. The bottles certainly don't seem to be doing what they're suppose to be doing, and the formula doesn't seem to be working for him either since my son (whom is one month old now), seems to still have trouble with gas. He curls up his knees to his chest, cries and is most uncomfortable. We burp him often but it still doesn't seem to help sometimes.
PS: Jennifer A: Thank you so much for your answer...Prosobee is a soy base formula. Tried the milk base as well, that was the Gentlease. Still no luck. :-(
Even when he is having a bowel movement, he cries really loud as if it is hurting him, and he's not constipated. Is this part normal?
Any tips on these two issues will be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!
PLAYTEX DROP INS ARE SOOOOO MUCH BETTER AND IT DOES THE JOB!!!! Dr. Brown's bottles did not work for my little guy.
Hi G.,
I know you've already gotten lots of advice, but I'll put in my two cents. I'm not a fan of Dr. Brown's. I have a couple of friends who swear by them, so I started out with them with my son, and he was REALLY gassy. I switched to Playtex drop-ins, and the problem was solved. I'm convinced it was the bottles since I didn't switch formula at all. You may want to buy a different kind of bottle and see if that helps. Good luck!
Hi G.!
I wrote this to another mom last week, but it sounds like the same issue...My son had trouble having a bowel movement. He wasn't constipated- in fact the opposite! Is was completely liquid. His doctor explained that a baby's sphinter muscles come in a pair and they have to work together to open up the anus and release the poop. To do this, she had me use tiny pinky sized glycerin sticks when it seemed like his stomach was upset. You insert it anally with your finger and wait. Often it happenened imediately and everything came out! Sometimes it took longer. The stick sometimes comes shooting out or it just melts inside over time. Of course he felt better and could relax. I think I bought them in the baby dept. in a small jar at Target or any other drugstore. It worked miracles for us! In time- can't remember exactly how long,(my son is 19 now!) but not too long, his sphincter muscles developed on their own and he didn't need me to help him anymore with the glycerin sticks. It's worth asking his doctor.
I am a mother of two children ages 4 and 7 and my first child was very gassy... I too tried Dr. Browns bottles along with many other brands. Please trust me nothing works, they just have to grow out of it... some systems take a little more time to mature. Some things that will help, if you are breast feeding part of the time, watch what you eat! The only other thing that helps is to lay him on his back pushing his legs up against his chest then one leg at a time like riding a bike, this movement released much gas from my baby girl and I continued this until maybe she was 5 mths old... after this time she did not have much of a problem. When you begin to feed him cereal around age 6mths he will do much better!
Hang in there, they all get through it!
My 4th child, a boy, was VERY fussy as an infant. You might want to talk to your pediatrician about reflux? My son improved a lot when we put him on zantac (I did not want to give him medicine, but his fussiness really improved once he started and we only kept him on it until he was about 5 months old). He never had projectile vomiting (which I thought was the only indicator of reflux) but there is something called "silent reflux" which they say is more painful because the bile comes up and then goes back down and burns their esophagus both ways (who knew). The only way to see if that is what your child has is to put him on meds and see if he improves (they can also do an upper GI, but I didn't want to put my son through that unless absolutely necessary). My son also liked being held upright on my chest so I bought a Moby Wrap and carried him around. I put a couple of blankets under one side of his crib mattress so that he slept at an incline. I used the Gripe Water as well, LOVED it. I switched his formula to similac soy which helped too. I kind of did everything at once (I was desperate) so I really don't know exactly what helped, but maybe one of these ideas could help your little guy? My son's attitude improved once he was about 8 months old, but he is now 15 months and a fiesty little guy...very dramatic :) GOOD LUCK!! This too shall pass....
He could be allergic to cow's milk, or soy. I had a lot of luck with Enfamil Nutramigen. It is dairy and soy free (for the most part, it has milk proteins in it, but it helps if there is a milk allergy). It is supposed to help with what you are talking about.
Also the mylicon gas drops can help. Or fennel and peppermint... make a decoction and put in the bottle. You can get both of those at the regular store. Little ones just have problems digesting unfortunately. Their stomachs aren't mature.
we had the same problem with all 3 of our kids! We tried all the bottles and several different formulas, we discovered with each one that they were lactose intolerant. Cow protiens are hard for some babies to digest. you may want to try the Similac Sensitive, it is a very good lactose free formula with all the needed vitamins etc. Walmart carries a Parents Choice brand that is the "generic" for the similac sensitive (is their sensitive formula and in an orange can) for quite a bit less (they didn't have it for my 2 older kids) and my baby girl actually seems to do even better on that than the Similac the powder seems to be just a bit finer than the Similac. She very rarely has any gas issues anymore since we switched to that and when she does the simethicon gas drops work great! Just to note my oldest child has since grown out of his lactose issues! Good luck!
Until my son was 10-12 weeks old, he was also very gassy, waking up during the night crying in pain scrunching up his legs. We also used Gentlease, but the best thing we did was use Mylicon! Put it in the bottle of water, before you mix the formula, and it will reduce the amount of gas bubbles dramatically! Depending on how often you are feeding your baby, you can also give the mylicon directly between feedings to help with the gas. Even when my son wasn't as gassy, we continued using the mylicon to reduce the gas bubbles in his formula. Also, I can't remember how many messy diapers is normal at 1 month, (several days between bowel movements) but you'll want to check on that and make sure everything's working properly there. My doctor also told us that a little apple or pear juice often would help things get moving. Just be sure to give a little... too much has the opposite and very messy effect! Good luck!
first, call your pediatrician and see what they recommend. My daughter had the same problem but hers was because she was lactose intollerent so once we switched her to a formula that was lactose sensitive she did better. There are also different kinds of infant gas relievers that you can give to your son to help relieve his gas. Depending on his age, if he is eating cereal, add 1 T. of dark corn syrup to it and mix it up. It will make his bowel movements easier, softer, and hopefully it will mke him not cry as much.
Gripe Water helped both of my kids. I got my bottle at Sprouts. I believe it is supposed to help with tummy issues, gas and constipation. I had tried the gas drops and it didn't do much good, but the Gripe Water helped quite a bit. Good luck. I know it's hard.
I'm sorry to hear he is having so much trouble. I don't know much about it, but as a massage therapist, I massaged my first born's belly in a clockwise motion to help move things. I've also heard that putting pressure on the belly button and holding it there will move the gas as well, just be careful you don't feel a "pulse" under your thumb. That would be his aeorta (just move your thumb around until you don't feel it, no biggie).
If you're open to homeopathy or chiropractic, that would be another avenue to try (assuming you've discussed the gas issue with your pediatrician already).
Good luck,
B.
Could your baby be allergic to milk? You might want to check in with a soy formula for awhile and see if that helps. My brother had to do that with one of his kids and they did much better. Talk to your pediatrician about milk allergy solutions.
Don't know if it's "normal" but our son was the same way. We tried everything...changing his formula, only breastfeeding, only formula, camomile tea in his formula, gripe water, etc. The only thing that ended up "fixing" the gassiness was putting him on a solid food diet...which of course doesn't start until he was 4 months+. I would talk to his doc to see what they recommend. I did everything his doc told us and nothing cured it...only helped some. Good luck...I KNOW it sucks to see him in so much pain...believe me.
When our son was little we used the gas drops you can find. They are called Mylicon Infant Gas Relief. You can find them at Target, walmart, or the grocery store. It comes in a light blue box if memory serves me right. It is gentle on the belly. I usually found them on a end cap. I don't think bottles work alone. I hope this helps.
Good luck.
