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How To Know If Babies Have Gas

The biggest responsibility that one can have in their life is that of nurturing a new life. In most cases (especially in the Indian context), pregnancies are planned. A lot of careful planning and preparedness goes into brining a new life on earth. This type of planning usually involves both the parents.

Parents often think of matters of long-term growth such as the child's health and education as soon as the child is conceived. However, before the time comes for parents to decide on their ward's education, they need to deal with the initial hurdles of sleepless nights and crying babies.

How to know if babies have gas

Now talking about crying babies, one of the most common causes of the same may be attributed to pain in the abdomen. Little babies often face issues with gas and in the absence of a better means of communication, all they do is cry.

As parents, it is your responsibility to understand the different types of cries and try your level best to soothe him or her. This article tells you all that you need to know about gas in babies and talks about ways and means by which you can reduce your child's pains.

  • Burp The Baby
  • Improper Feeding Position
  • Improper Feeding Equipment
  • The Food Intake
  • Lifestyle Changes
  • Bounce Your Baby
  • Medications

1. Burp The Baby

As an adult all of us know that whenever we face any discomfort in the stomach, the easiest way out would be to belch it out. Hence, we look for appropriate means to do that and relieve ourselves.

However, your baby is unaware of this basic human anatomy and that is why it is your responsibility to burp your child after every nursing session. Doing this will ensure that there is no occurrence of gas in the first place.

If your child does not belch immediately after feeding, make sure that you lay him or her down on the back for a while and then try the same all over again. Even if your child does not face recurring issues with gas, it is a good idea to still burp your baby often. This will ensure a healthier digestive system for your little one.

2. Improper Feeding Position

According to pediatricians, this is one of the most common causes of gas in babies. If the child's stomach is elevated as compared to his mouth while feeding, the air goes to the bottom. This is basic feeding that is applicable in case of bottle feeding. As a result, the baby takes in a lot of air along with the milk which makes him or her uncomfortable.

To avoid such a thing from happening, make sure that the head is at a higher level than the stomach. For this, you may want to consider using a nursing pillow. While keeping your child upright while feeding is important, it is also necessary to ensure that you tip the bottle so that there are no air bubbles in its nipple.

3. Improper Feeding Equipment

Gas troubles are usually noticed in babies who bottlefeed. More often than not, the reason for the same is not the milk that they consume but the equipment through which they are made to feed. Thus, if you notice that your baby is having gas issues, it may be well because the milk flows faster than what your little one can handle.

Thus, the first thing that you must do in such a case is switch to a slower flow nipple. There are a number of feeding bottles available in the market and you should be careful about making your pick from the lot.

4. The Food Intake

Having established that the feeding position and equipment are not at fault, the next major thing that you must check is the food that your child consumes. If your child is having formula milk, you may consider switching brands in order to ease the pressure. If it is breast milk that is in question, the excess gas may be due to some of the food that you consume.

Consumption of things like dairy products and caffeine by the lactating mother often causes gas issues in babies. Thus, it will be a good idea to talk to your doctor about the dietary adjustments that you can make in order to provide relief to your little one.

5. Lifestyle Changes

Things like giving your little one a warm bath often helps to ease the gas pain in babies. A gentle massage (particularly one involving pumping his or her legs in a motion that is similar to that of riding a cycle) can work wonders on your kid, especially if your child is less than a year old.

You may even want to make it a habit to make your child lie on his or her tummy for 10-15 minutes after every meal. Simple lifestyle changes like this will go a long way in dealing with gas issues in kids.

6. Bounce Your Baby

This is one of the easiest ways to deal with gas in babies. All you have to do here is to hold your baby securely in the lap. Make sure that you yourself are comfortable while doing this. Sitting on an exercise ball or mattress might help. You can then slowly bounce the baby up and down. Repeat this two to three times a day for one complete week and notice the change.

7. Medications

There are a number of over-the-counter medications for gassy babies. Opting for those may not be a bad idea as they are known to provide easy relief. However, make sure that you consult your doctor before going for this. This is because, sometimes, it is seen that babies are allergic to certain medications.

Also, giving babies medication in improper dosage might do them more harm than good. Another point to be noted while asking for such medications is that you must notify the doctor of every other medicine that your child takes. This is a precautionary measure taken to ensure that this new medication will not affect any of the other medications.

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