Help with gassy baby!

by Rachel

My 4 weeks old seems to have trouble passing gas, it affects his sleeping. My doctor told me to stop having any milk product wich I did a week ago but there is no changes! Would peanut butter be a problem?? This is the only common food I can think of? Tks for your help.

Answer:
First, let’s talk about gas (wind). Human beings need to pass gas in order to be healthy. If your baby were to be hospitalized, one of the important questions your doctor would want to know is if your baby is passing gas. Wiggling, squirming, and fussing when passing gas is perfectly normal and not something that should be stopped.

If your baby seems uncomfortable when he is gassy, try these strategies:

1. “Bicycle” your baby’s legs. You can either lay your baby’s back against your chest, or lay your baby on his back on the floor. Place your hands under your baby’s thighs close to the knees (don’t put your hands right underneath the knees to avoid hurting the knees). Lift the legs either simultaneously or one at a time when your baby fusses with gas. Do this gently and let your baby’s response lead the way. Talk gently to your baby to help him calm down.

2. Massage your baby. Baby massage classes are available in many areas. Massage can help your baby relax, which has the added benefit of helping your baby’s tummy feel better. If no classes are available near you, you can still gently massage your baby’s back, arms, legs, and tummy. Again, let your baby be your guide. Your baby will complain if he doesn’t like it, or will become still and calm if he does like it.

3. Remember that your baby may have difficulty communicating the degree of discomfort he is feeling. What sounds like extreme pain to you may just be a slight discomfort to him. If he fusses and squirms in his sleep, passes gas, and then goes right back to sleep, this is not gas to worry about.

Eliminating foods

Your doctor knows your situation better than I do. However, I don’t typically recommend an elimination diet if there are no other symptoms of food allergy.

Other symptoms of food allergy include:

-respiratory changes (cold or allergy-type symptoms, lots of mucous, etc)

- eczema

- diaper rash

-unusual stool (green and frothy, mucous, or blood)

-constipation

- diarrhea

-a family history of allergy to a specific food


If any of these other symptoms are present, or if an elimination diet has been recommended by your primary care provider, the following foods are the most frequent offenders:

-cow's milk products

-soy

-wheat

-corn

-eggs

-peanuts

-any food that a family member is allergic to


When eliminating a food, you must consider all possible sources of the food. Cow’s milk products are in a variety of foods under a variety of names.
Lactose is not the same thing, so simply switching to lactose free products will not make a difference.

Examples of cow’s milk protein in your food ingredients:

Butter flavor (including artificial flavoring)
Buttermilk
Casein
Cheese
Custard
goat’s milk
coffee creamers such as half & half
hydrosolates (casein, whey)
lactalbumin
lactose
lactulose
any form of milk (condensed, powdered, etc)
pudding
sour cream
yogurt
chocolate
some deli meats
some packaged, processed meats.


You must persist with the elimination for 2-3 weeks minimum. It can take up to 2 weeks for cow’s milk protein to completely clear from the mother’s body, and then it can take another week or more for it to completely clear from the baby’s body.

If the symptoms in your baby persist after 3 weeks of completely eliminating all milk protein substances, it may be time to try eliminating another food on the common offenders list. I recommend meeting with a Registered Dietitian to help you with this process because he can be tricky.