If your baby is always screaming in pain from gas, this might be because they are in so much pain, and crying might be the only way to make you do something to help them get rid of their suffering. Unfortunately, all babies have gas; and it is inevitable.
As much as you will try to avoid gas problems, your baby will have them as early as 3 weeks after being born. However, there are ways to know when your baby has gas, ways to reduce the amount of pain and to suffer your baby might seem to be going through, because gassiness in infants hurts a lot, and you can’t skip this aspect beginning of your baby’s life.
All infants must have gas; there is no prevention method, only reduction methods. It will be pleasant for you and even much more pleasant for your little cute baby if you know how to site gas as soon as it starts and how to keep them relatively at bay to make things easier for both you and your baby.
Baby Screaming In Pain From Gas
In breastfed babies, Some mother’s nipples and milk flow might become too much and too fast that your baby will not be able to control the way they suck, and in this process, they will eventually suck in the air causes gas.
You don’t have to feel sad or the worst mother because having a baby does not come with a book manual, so you might take a while to get used to these things; you will have to become attentive for any reaction from your baby during feedings. Some of these are the little signs you will notice if your breast milk flows too much for your baby during feeding.
If your baby gags or chokes during breastfeeding or makes any sound you don’t find pleasant, then your milk is too fast. You can hold your nipples slightly with two fingers to reduce the amount of milk that flows during feedings.
1. If your baby keeps pulling their mouth away from your breast during feedings, it is most likely your baby has gulped too much air and gas too much gas, and they might not be full yet, and you would have to burp your baby and continue feeding.
2. In some older babies, like babies between ages 5 months to 1 year, will bite your nipple to slow down milk flow when the milk is too much and too fast for them to handle.
3. When your milk flow is too fast for your baby, they might spit out some milk during feedings while some babies will gag or choke on the milk.
Intense crying by your baby will cause your baby to swallow lots of air. And swallow air which later turns to gas, will lead to even more intense crying, and an increase in crying will, in turn, lead to your baby swallowing more air and getting more gassier. This process will make it almost impossible to deal with gas, prevent it, and not talk of soothing your baby.
Letting your baby hungry before a feed or feeding your baby late will make him cry, and this will make them swallow more air, leading to gas. So although this may be hard, you would have to know when next your baby will be hungry, so you feed them before they have the opportunity to cry.
Baby Wakes Up During The Night From Gas
This might be as a result of night disturbance in their stomach. You might also need to check your diet because when nursing, whatever you eat, your baby gets it too. So you might have to cut off some foods you have such as spicy foods, garlic, onion, dairy products, some green vegetables like cabbage.
And when your baby gets this in their digestive tract us not yet able to digest this, so when the hard work is done, and they manage to break down this food, gasses are released. So gas might not only be from swallowing air but from your baby’s body too.
This said, you might need to stop eating some food that causes gas. You can also consult with your pediatrician for this. Gas could also be from sugar. You can give your baby soy-based milk formula because if you take or give your baby milk products high in lactose, it causes gas in your baby.
This happens when millions of bacteria break down sugar in the stomach, and gasses are given off, some of which your baby might not be able to pass out. So baby waking up in the night could also be colic.
How To Reduce Gas In Your Baby
There is absolutely no way to prevent your baby from having gas because they will eventually have gas. However, there are various ways you can influence the decrease in your baby’s gas troubles; these are;
1. Using the right bottle
It is known that bottle-fed babies have a fatter chance of being extra gassier because since you can’t control the nipple, and they can’t either, it is much easier for them to swallow more air than breastfed babies will. Stated below are a few ways to reduce gas in bottle-fed babies;
2. Using the correct nipple size
Some new parents might not know, but the bottle’s nipple size is always the problem in bottle-fed babies and their troubles. Using a large nipple for a 3-month-old baby will increase the air your baby will be swallowing compared to using a tiny or medium-sized nipple. So if your baby is bottle-fed and has gas, your first move should be to change their bottle’s nipple.
3. Positioning
Whenever it is time to feed, and you’re using either a bottle or breast, first move to sit on a chair so you would be able to feed your baby well and properly set him at the perfect angle because he will less likely have much gas than laying them flat in one arm when you want to feed, this is how most mothers hold their baby while feeding them. That position will increase air swallowed.
4. How to properly use a bottle
You need to make sure the nipple is all the way into your baby’s mouth, and before that, the nipple should be filled with milk because as soon as you bring the nipple close to your baby’s mouth, he will immediately start sucking. So you need to make sure he’s sucking the right thing, milk and not air.
5. Hold Your Baby Upright After Feeding
Do keep your baby upright for about 5 to 10 minutes after you’ve fed them, do not immediately lay them down in their crib to sleep; this applies to both bottle and breastfed babies. If you find it hard to hold your baby upright after feeding is done, you can try burp again for a few minutes to let all the gas out as well before you lay your baby to sleep.
6. Burping
Burp your baby often, during feedings and after feedings: Burping is very important in preventing baby gas and expelling the air your baby has swallowed during feeding. Burp your baby every 3 to 4 minutes when feeding and for 5 to 10 minutes after you are done feeding.
Check this post: How To Get Rid Of baby Gas Fast
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