1. Feeding when he's calm
Pretty straightforward. The less he's fretting when he's eating, the less gas he will swallow. I'm going to try to give him a pacifier right beforehand for a minute or so if he's already crying to calm him down.
verdict: so-so. If caught in the perfect window of time, this is helpful. The major problem here I found is that if he's not fussy, he's not very hungry either, which messes up his eating schedule (he only eats a few licks, which then lasts god knows how long). Unfortunately, he doesn't show many hunger cues (does not root, always has hands by his mouth) so it's hard for me to tell when he's hungry unless he's fussing.
2. Better positioning
Using gravity to make sure that milk goes down in the gullet while gas remains up. I loathe the football hold position, so I think our best bet here is trying to elevate his head while we do our usual cross cradle position.
verdict: so-so. After MANY attempts, I still can't get him to do football hold. We also tried having him sit straddling my leg and eating in a sitting position, which worked well, but is very hard to manuever unless you're always in the right type of recliner, and also difficult to do when you're out and about, and much for difficult for infants who haven't mastered holding up their head yet. The one position that did work well for us was just feeding him cross-cradle (his usual) but leaning back as far as I can (almost so he's doing tummy time as he feeds).
3. Better burping
more frequently and immediately after feeding (which we already do), not giving up so easily, and hopefully #2 will help these burps come out more easily.
Verdict: SUCCESS. We found that actually it wasn't about trying to burp longer or hard, but all about movement. Any movement upward helps. Usually, all it takes is holding him up in an upright position, a little light jiggling, and then the big monster burp comes. The more upright, the better.
4. Keeping upright x 30 minutes after eating
I honestly don't think I can commit to this at night. But during the day, I will commit to this! This means playing with him, or doing something to keep him upright. If he falls asleep immediately afterward, resist the temptation to put him in the bassinet - let him sleep on me upright so gas can separate!
Verdict: so-so. Works only if he's laying with his belly on me (see #5)
5. Baby wearing
Keeps baby upright, thus allowing gas to pass. I will commit to wearing him at least once a day. He currently really likes the Moby vs. the Beco, so we'll go with the Moby for now.
Verdict: SUCCESS. I don't think this has anything to do with keeping him upright though, because there was a LOT of spit up still (again, keeping this kid upright doesn't fix the physics problem apparently). I think his just allowed him to kick gas out since his legs were free. Plus it kept him close to me which allowed for better soothing.
6. warm bath at bedtime
The warmness, especially over his belly, is supposed to help expel gas. This is something new that we haven't done. We've been bathing him about every 3 days or so. But it's probably worth trying anyways. Plus, we wanted to get this in our routine.
Verdict: SUCCESS. This continues to be one of the best strategies we have against gas. The key, besides the warm bath to relax him, is giving him the time to kick his gas out in the tub. We notice even now that on nights we skip bathing him, he has a very very gassy night.
7. Simethicone drops
Helps consolidate small gas bubbles so they can be easily passed. Already doing this with AJ. Will continue. Seems to make enough of a difference when I forget to dose him. NEED to remember!
Verdict: FAIL. No discernable differences before and after use. Well, no, I take it back. At times, it seemed like it made his gas worse.
8. bicycle baby legs
This is now at "relief" vs. prevention. Helps expel gas and/or makes him more comfortable.
Verdict: SUCCESS. I did this after every diaper change x 3-4 sets or until I get some gas out of him. I also did this occasionally before feedings. It made a HUGE difference! Though by about 7 weeks, AJ sort of "woke up" on his own, and did this on his own with all of his kicking during his active awake time. I guess he was just a baby who really needed a lot of exercise.
9. belly-down patting
Another burp method actually (laying him across your lap and pat his back gently). Can aim his bottom upwards to promote gas leaving via that exit.
Verdict: so-so. Worked at times. Sometimes, it just agitated him even more.
10. flexing legs towards face
Similar to the bicycle legs. Flex his legs and push them upwards, towards his face.
Verdict: SUCCESS - same as bicycle legs. we always did this together. The bicycle legs gets him going, but this is necessary to expel the actual gas.
11. tummy massage
clockwise massage to help expel gas.
Verdict: so-so. Worked at times. Though not sure if the gas would have come out anyway.
12. Diligently avoiding gas-causing foods (me)
cruciferous veggies and dairy are the main things, but really anything else that causes maternal gas I'm avoiding also. Hopefully this will = less gassy breast milk.
Verdict: FAIL. I felt so guilty of "making" my baby gassy that I avoided everything under the sun that made people gassy, and you know what that is? EVERYTHING. That's right. Everything particularly that is healthy for baby too, including things like kale, cabbage, peppers, milk, EVERYTHING. And guess what? It did not help one bit. Do yourself a favor and don't try this. You'll just starve yourself and continue to feel bad about baby's gas. Don't try to limit your food unless you suspect baby has a real allergy to it. Gas, is not an allergy.
13. Asking for help
when I'm too tired and have gone through this laundry list and he's still crying/fussy, it's time to wake the husband and have him help too.
Verdict: SUCCESS. Well for me, anyway. I got more sleep this way. Baby? Still gassy. But at least mom isn't as grumpy.
14. Time
Realizing that immature bellies are also a primary reason for gas. Knowing that this too will pass, and trying my best to keep my eyes on the prize. Don't be too hard on myself. Know that when I'm stressed, AJ will sense it and get stressed himself too, which is opposite of what I want.
Unfortunately, I must say this was the only thing that worked 100%. There were about 3-4 weeks of HELL. It seemed like it'd NEVER go away, but somewhere around week 6-7, AJ sort of just "woke up" and started spending a lot more of the day being active and awake. I think due to this, he was exercising more and therefore finding a way to expel the gas on his own. He occasionally still gets really gassy, but I've noticed that this is on days when he's been in his car seat for a really long time. The key is to vary up his positions throughout the day and always give him stretch breaks.
Other things I've tried after I wrote the last post:
- Bouncy chair: SUCCESS- vibrates and gets him to poop in the morning, which is usually why he's fussy in the morning
- Tummy time: SUCCESS - gets him to burp those extra burps. I think he likes the pressure against his belly. Plus, it's good for him!
- Moving him into his own crib/nursery - SUCCESS. We did this because his gassy grunts was keeping me awake. Again, the more sleep I get, the less grumpy I am, the better care he gets. Of note, he stopped his grunting altogether around week 9.
- Reducing my milk supply to reduce overactive letdown - so-so. My milk supply eventually evened out itself around 9 weeks, and the letdown improved. But his gas problem actually improved even before this. I would not recommend purposely reducing your milk supply though, as you can lose it easily (unless you're me and have enough to feed triplets).
- Holding him tummy down - FAIL. He did NOT like this. I am not sure why. Worth trying though
- Gripe water - FAIL. At first, I thought it worked but I think it may have been a placebo effect. I always gave him a binky afterwards, and I think that's what actually calmed him down. Again, worth trying. Of note, I don't think he liked the taste of it.
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