Gassy Baby?

My wife and I have a newborn (2-17). He is doing great with nursing so
far but seems to have a bit of a gas problem. He rarely sleeps
peacefully, because he is always squirming and grunting. He frequently
passes gas, but it is difficult to burp him. We probably change him
10-12 times a day. Is that normal? Our doctor told my wife to stay
away from milk and green vegetables, but nothing has changed. His due
date was supposed to be today, but they had to do an early c section
because my wifes fluid was low and he was breech. Could he just be a
little underdeveloped? Is there a problem with my wifes diet? We've
tried Mylecon drops and aren't sure if they are helping or not.

"Wrangler 4x4" wrote in message
...
My wife and I have a newborn (2-17). He is doing great with nursing so
far but seems to have a bit of a gas problem. He rarely sleeps
peacefully, because he is always squirming and grunting. He frequently
passes gas, but it is difficult to burp him. We probably change him
10-12 times a day. Is that normal? Our doctor told my wife to stay
away from milk and green vegetables, but nothing has changed. His due
date was supposed to be today, but they had to do an early c section
because my wifes fluid was low and he was breech. Could he just be a
little underdeveloped? Is there a problem with my wifes diet? We've
tried Mylecon drops and aren't sure if they are helping or not.


Sounds fine to me. They all squirm and grunt a lot in the beginning.
That's just how they are. You have to change diapers frequently, too. DD
was born 2/11 (she was due 3/15) and she gets her diaper changed before each
feed. She's squirmy and grunty, but she doesn't pass gas.

DS (also born at 35 weeks gestation) got Mylicon drops as an infant. You
can hear the gases come up immediately if there is gas trapped in the
stomach.

Wrangler 4x4 wrote:
He rarely sleeps
peacefully, because he is always squirming and grunting.

That's pretty typical for a newborn. They're quite noisy and squirmy.

We probably
change him 10-12 times a day. Is that normal?

Change what? His clothes? His diaper? That sounds exactly right for diaper
changing.

Our doctor told my
wife to stay away from milk and green vegetables, but nothing has
changed.

Then is sounds like neither of those food groups is causing a problem (if
there *is* a problem - it sounds like pretty typical newborn behavior to
me).
Or he could be sensitive to dairy that's still present. If your wife cuts
out dairy, it's important to cut out ALL dairy - not just milk but other
dairy products such as cheese, ice cream, etc., and it may be necessary to
read labels to make sure casein and whey aren't present in other foods.
Dairy takes a long time to leave the system, so it may take a week or two to
notice improvement.

That said, from your description, it sounds like he's just a typical baby.
You don't say if he's actually unhappy - if he's crying and fussing all the
time, I'd probably be more concerned about diet, but being noisy and wiggly
is just newborn behavior.


--
tristyn
www.tristyn.net

Hi -

So your baby is ... about 3 weeks old? Frequent diaper changes are
normal. Lots of squirming and grunting are normal. Lots of screaming
is NOT normal, but you don't seem to have to deal with that ...

Cutting green veggies out of your diet is NOT good advice. The fiber
can give the person who eats the green veggies gas, but the fiber does
NOT transfer into breast milk. Your doctor needs to re-think that
particular bit of advice.

Cutting cow's milk (and goat's milk and other non-human milks) out of
your diet might be good advice, although it doesn't sound as though your
baby is unusual.

If you decide to cut milk out of mom's diet, do it this way:

1. Start a comprehensive food diary for mom. Include all items
ingested, including vitamins and medications. In the same diary,
note how your baby is feeling.
2. After 48 hours, eliminate all dairy protein. This will include
milk, cheese, yogurt, and caseins in processed foods. Continue the
food diary, including baby's health notes.
3. After another 48 hours, look over the diary carefully. Was there a
change upon elimination of dairy? (It would take a minimum of 2
hours to show up, and a maximum of a few weeks if your baby was very
sensitive, very allergic, and had damage to the gut that needed
healing.)

It's estimated that up to 30% of babies have trouble with cow's milk
protein in their diets. It's not clear how many of these babies are
exclusively breastfed and react to milk in their mother's diet.

My web site has some sample menus to get you through a couple of days of
complete milk-free-ness.

Congratulations on your new arrival!
--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would
like me to reply.

Thanks for all the info everybody. I should have mentioned that he does
seem very unhappy. He cries alot. He screams sometimes when when he
passes gas too. I don't know if this would be related, but when we
change his diaper, he screams and cries so hard that he seems like he is
going to pass out. I don't know if I'm just a paranoid new dad, but I
want so bad for him to be comfortable and happy.

Wrangler 4x4 was all, like:
Thanks for all the info everybody. I should have mentioned that he
does seem very unhappy. He cries alot. He screams sometimes when
when he passes gas too. I don't know if this would be related, but
when we change his diaper, he screams and cries so hard that he seems
like he is going to pass out. I don't know if I'm just a paranoid
new dad, but I want so bad for him to be comfortable and happy.

That sounds like Sprogly at that age. He hated being changed--acted like he
was being killed--and had a lot of gas, and crying jags. One thing that
helped was putting him belly down over our thighs, and giving him a finger
to suck. Carrying him in a sling was also helpful. For the changing thing,
we got a soft changing pad, lined with extra cloth diapers, and put extra
padding under the head end to elevate it a bit. He got over that after the
first month or so, and started to enjoy being changed--as they get more
aware and social, it becomes fun, and not so scary.

Wrangler 4x4 wrote:
Thanks for all the info everybody. I should have mentioned that he
does seem very unhappy. He cries alot. He screams sometimes when
when he passes gas too.

Your wife might want to go ahead and start with the food elimination
guidelines that Beth gave. It won't hurt (heck, when I cut out dairy, I
ended up losing weight!) and it may well help.

I don't know if this would be related, but
when we change his diaper, he screams and cries so hard that he seems
like he is going to pass out.

Newborns don't like being changed. They feel exposed and they lose body heat
very quickly (a diaper change isn't going to threaten hypothermia, of
course, but it's unsettling to them). Feeling insecure makes small babies
very upset, especially preemies.

--
tristyn
www.tristyn.net

"Wrangler 4x4" wrote in message
...
Thanks for all the info everybody. I should have mentioned that he does
seem very unhappy. He cries alot. He screams sometimes when when he
passes gas too. I don't know if this would be related, but when we
change his diaper, he screams and cries so hard that he seems like he is
going to pass out. I don't know if I'm just a paranoid new dad, but I
want so bad for him to be comfortable and happy.


I've never known a newborn who didn't scream bloody murder when being
changed. They just don't like being naked, not even just a little.

Seriously, try Gripe water ... IT IS MAGIC!
I was not aware of it, but apparently in the US they sell gripe water
that contains alcohol content (stay away from that one). Try it & let me
know.

Mona
Due 07-31-04

Wrangler 4x4 wrote:
My wife and I have a newborn (2-17). He is doing great with nursing so
far but seems to have a bit of a gas problem. He rarely sleeps
peacefully, because he is always squirming and grunting. He frequently
passes gas, but it is difficult to burp him. We probably change him
10-12 times a day. Is that normal? Our doctor told my wife to stay
away from milk and green vegetables, but nothing has changed. His due
date was supposed to be today, but they had to do an early c section
because my wifes fluid was low and he was breech. Could he just be a
little underdeveloped? Is there a problem with my wifes diet? We've
tried Mylecon drops and aren't sure if they are helping or not.

Thanks again everybody. Today was a little better for us. My wife
started to eat green vegetables again. She is going to try to eliminate
dairy. Can anybody tell us more about that gripe water? Where to buy,
how much to give, or anything else?