Your Babys First Poop
Most babies have their first bowel movement within two days of life. , these stools tend to be thick, sticky, and tar-like. They consist of skin cells your baby shed and swallowed while in the womb. After the meconium has passed, stool consistency will vary depending on whether your newborn is breastfed or formula-fed.
Be Mindful Of Feeding Times
Try to feed your baby before you start hearing her hungry cries. This can help her eat at a leisurely pace and not gulp down her breast milk or formula too quickly. If youre a breastfeeding mama and your milk lets down quickly, you may want to unlatch baby for a moment and then re-latch. That can help her manage your milk flow more easily.
Do you have tried and true tricks you use to soothe your gassy baby? Let us know in the comments section on the page.
Reasons To Call A Doctor
Most of the time, its normal for an infant to have gas and its treatable. In rare instances, more serious problems of the digestive tract can also cause gas. You should contact the doctor immediately if your infant exhibits any of the following:
- They are vomiting, arent passing stools, or have blood in their stools.
- They are extremely fussy. If you arent able to calm your baby, a doctor can check to rule out any problems.
- They have a high temperature. If the rectal temperature of your baby is 100.4 F or more, make sure a doctor rules out an infection. If your baby is younger than three months and has a fever, take them to a doctor immediately.
It is very common for babies to become gassy, and there are a number of reasons for that. Babies swallow air while crying, sucking a pacifier, and eating. Furthermore, babies digestive systems are still developing, which can sometimes lead to gas and a bloated belly. A gassy baby may belch, burp, pass gas, and have a hard distended tummy. You can follow certain tips to help relieve gas and make your baby feel better. In rare instances, certain symptoms may indicate a more serious problem. If your baby is experiencing gas along with other, more serious symptoms, get them checked by a doctor.
May 10 2019
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How To Massage Your Baby To Help Relieve Gas
Infant massages focused on gas relief may look a bit different than conventional baby massages. Traditional massage tends to be less focused and involves a lot less pressure. Use the following steps to determine when and how to safely give your baby a massage to relieve gas:
Consult your doctor. If you suspect that your baby has significant health issues prompting gas, check with a doctor before beginning a massage regimen. Depending on the issue, other remedies may prove more effective. Otherwise, your doctor can provide suggestions for administering a safe massage.
Massage at the right time. Avoid massages right after feedings, as these can cause vomiting. Massaging tends to be most effective as a gas preventative measure if your baby is already calm. Many parents prefer to incorporate massages in their babiesâ nighttime routine to promote a peaceful atmosphere to help them fall asleep.
Use oil safely. Some parents prefer to massage their babies while using oil, which reduces friction. But, this is not required. Select an edible oil that will be safe if your baby accidentally consumes it. Coconut oil is a great option, but products marketed to infants may also work, depending on the ingredients. Be sure to test it on a small patch of skin to determine whether allergies might be a problem.
Techniques for a safe baby massage. Use some of these techniques when you’re giving your baby a massage:
Bicycling Your Babys Legs
Try the leg pumping method to give your baby relief from gaseousness. Lay her down on a mat laid out on the floor and hold her feet gently. Pump her legs back and forth gently. Do it in a motion mimicking bicycle pedalling. This will help release some gas and give your princess a lot of relief.
- Follow this with an oil massage
Apply coconut oil on your babys chest. Massage down from chest to belly. Ensure the massage is relaxed and slow. Your baby may try to straighten her legs or show little tenseness. This is not abnormal. Talk to your child while you massage her and you will find her more calm and cooperative.
- Heat fermentation
Heat can help ease gastric pain and put your baby at peace. Use a soft cotton towel to give heat fermentation to your baby when you find him particularly uneasy. Dip the towel in warm water, test for warmth, and place it on your babys stomach. You can gently press the towel down and repeat through the day.
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Do Infant Gas Drops Help With Gas Pain
This one is our specialty: For generations, Mylicon has been the #1 brand trusted by both parents and pediatricians to safely relieve gas for all infantseven newborns. Our Infants Mylicon Gas Relief Dye-Free Formula, the same formula as our time-tested Infants Mylicon Gas Drops Original Formula, gently breaks down gas and helps promote your babys natural ability to expel it. By relieving the associated pain and discomfort, our infant gas drops may help quell cries and fussiness. They are gentle and effective enough to be used after every feeding, up to 12 times a day. Be sure to keep some on hand so youre prepared to tackle your babys gas as soon as it starts to arise.
Baby Poop After The Newborn Stage
No matter how your baby is fed, its actually normal for the frequency of pooping to slow around 6-8 weeks, says Ari Brown, M.D., a Parents advisor and co-author of Baby 411: Clear Answers & Smart Advice For Your Baby’s First Year. Your babys intestines are maturing and their digestion is becoming more efficient. As long as the poop feels soft when it comes out, its fine if your baby poops just one or two times a week if theyre maintaining a healthy weight.
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Is Your Babys Formula Giving Them Gas
Before rushing to a pharmacy or calling your doctor in a panic, here are some preventive measures you can take to prevent your baby from getting gassy:
- Check the formula. Are you making it as directed? Is the formula past its expiration date? Are you mixing two different formulas? Sometimes, your baby may develop gas if you mix two types of baby formulas, but their tummy discomfort will usually settle on its own in a few days.
- Did your baby start getting gassy since you switched to a new brand of formula? Your baby may be allergic to the new brand or maybe their gut is getting used to the new formula. Try discontinuing the new formula and see if it helps.
- Feed your baby before they start crying. Often babies cry when they are hungry, and swallow air when crying. If you feed them before they get hungry enough to start crying, they may swallow less air and not get gassy.
- Avoid giving them a pacifier.
Signs Of A Gassy Baby
If you suspect that your fussy baby is genuinely uncomfortable, and they keep squirming and pulling up their legs, they might have some gas that refuses to pass. The best way to confirm your suspicions is to try some gas-relieving techniques. “If your baby seems much better after passing gas, then that’s a telltale sign that the problem was gas,” says Jennifer Shu, M.D., an Atlanta-based pediatrician and coauthor of Food Fights: Winning The Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood Armed with Insight, Humor, and A Bottle of Ketchup. This applies to gassy breastfed babies and gassy bottle-fed babies.
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Find The Right Formula
Choose an easy-to-digest formula to ensure it won’t upset your baby’s tummy. “For babies with gassy tummies, hard or pasty stools, or digestive upset with formula, it may be helpful to try a formula that has the milk proteins partially broken down already, which for some babies can make them easier to digest,” suggests Amy Lynn Stockhausen, M.D., an associate professor of general pediatrics and adolescent medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. “These are often labeled as ‘gentle,’ and often also contain less lactose than regular formulas. For some babies, it may also be useful to look for a formula that contains probiotics, as some recent research suggests that probiotics can be helpful to aid in digestion for fussy infants and are generally considered safe in this context.” Before you make these changes, however, it’s important to discuss the matter with your baby’s pediatrician.
Bicycle Baby’s Legs To Remove Gas
Another external technique to try is baby leg exercises. “Maneuvers you can do to help them pass gas include bending the legs and bringing knees to tummy, and bicycling the baby’s legs,” says Kim Alt, M.D., a pediatrician at Rockford Pediatrics in Rockford, Michigan.
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My Newborn Isn’t Pooping What Should I Do
For breastfed babies, constipation is rare, but fewer than one poop a day in the early weeks could mean your breastfed baby isn’t getting enough to eat. Later on, around age 6 weeks to 3 months, the rate could slow down to one a day or even one every two to three days. Call your pediatrician if your baby hasn’t pooped for more than three days in a row.
Formula-fed babies typically go a little longer between bowel movements. Check in with the doctor if she doesn’t poop for more than five days as that could be a sign of constipation.
What Are The Seeds In Baby Poop
Their stools may also be seedier. These little seeds are undigested milk fat, which is entirely normal. Formula-fed babies stools are usually a little firmer, often the consistency of peanut butter. Extremely loose, watery stools may indicate that the baby is not absorbing nutrients as well as they should.
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How Much Water To Drink
Aim to drink more water than usual a day, so at least 8 cups along with fluids from fruits, vegetables and other sources especially in the weeks after birth, since it will help your body recover. To ensure youre getting enough, a good rule of thumb is to drink a cup of water at every nursing session. In all, you’ll need about 128 ounces of fluids a day from all sources .
Keep in mind that your milk supply wont be affected unless youre seriously dehydrated, but your urine will become darker and scanter. Not drinking enough can also set you up for health issues including urinary tract infections , constipation and fatigue. So just be sure to drink whenever you’re thirsty, which will likely be often when you’re breastfeeding!
Supplements To Help Baby Gas Pain
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Why Is My Baby So Gassy At Night
Gas can strike at any time even in the middle of a feeding! If your baby starts to fuss at the breast, he may feel full because of a gas bubble. A mid-feed burp can help take care of that. However, if you notice that your baby is always fussy at the same time each and every night, you might not be dealing with run-of-the-mill gas. Fussiness at the same time could be a sign of colic. However, keep in mind that a gassy baby can be worse at night because of the build up of air throughout the day.
Colic is defined as a period of intense crying for more three hours per day at least 3 days per week. Gas can accompany colic especially if the baby sucks in air while crying.
Does your baby have colic? Try these 14 methods for soothing a colicky baby.
Breastfeeding And Gas Pain
As with a formula-fed infant, breastfeeding moms should usually only consider gas a true issue if it is excessive or accompanied by other symptoms. Before restricting your diet too much when your breastfed baby has gas, consider eliminating all milk and dairy products from your diet for a week or so.
If this helps your baby’s symptoms, then they may have a milk protein intolerance , and the milk proteins from your diet that are passing into your breast milk could be causing a problem. However, that isn’t necessarily a reason to stop breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding mothers can also try avoiding a few other foods known to cause gas. Or they can try avoiding foods that seem to cause their babies to have a lot of gas.
If you have a foremilk-hindmilk imbalance , in which you time your feedings and don’t let your baby nurse until they are finished on one side, then they may have gas because they are getting too much sugary foremilk.
Your baby may have less gas if they breastfeed until they are finished on each side and receive more hindmilk, which has more fat and less sugar.
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