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I have a newborn (10 days). She seems to struggle with a lot of gas several times a day (first question, is this too much!?). How do we help her pass the gas more quickly and easily? She does get it out eventually, but we feel kinda helpless. We have tried moving her legs and pressing them against her abdominal muscles, but that doesn't seem to really do the trick. Any tips? It seems to cause her a bit of pain. Oh, and for more info, she's breastfed and her stools are mustard yellow and not really very solid. She has several stool diapers a day as well as wet ones.

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  • I applied castor oil over baby's belly n around it n rub some on back. This will really help.
    – user22014
    Commented May 3, 2016 at 16:53

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Anecdotal evidence from my baby (Now 9 weeks):

  1. Your Diaper & Stool issues are perfectly normal.
  2. The Wiggling of legs is supposed to help, a little side to side motion should help also.
  3. Look up "Baby Massage" to help her relax.
  4. The Babies internal plumbing is still getting started. Dont expect things to run perfectly straight away!

If in doubt consult a Doctor.

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It may be obvious except to new parents, but make sure to burp the baby after every feeding. Some babies also need to be burped once or twice during feeding. The point is to get the air out of the stomach before it goes into the intestines.

Baby massage is also often helpful: gently rub the belly in a circular motion; clockwise when facing the baby. This helps move the bowels in the proper direction.

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  • Yes to these for sure, although some gas is caused by digestion (my pedi said especially before 3-4 months when the intestines mature), and burping will have no effect on that gas. Also many breastfed babies really don't burp all that much.
    – justkt
    Commented Jul 26, 2012 at 13:43
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    @justkt, thanks for that last bit. Our baby doesn't burp a whole lot (she does, but not as much as I expected). So your comment is reassuring :)
    – kentcdodds
    Commented Jul 26, 2012 at 15:27
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We had similar situation with our little one. Here what we did:

  • gentle massage of belly, clockwise
  • burping, he can burp after 5-10 minutes after feeding
  • in 0,5 hour after he ate or later carry him in your arm on his belly, so that his belly will be in your hand.
  • since you are breastfeeding - check your diet. Make sure not to eat things like beans, fresh bread, all types of cabbage (broccoli and cauliflower included). Processed food is not good too.
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I agree with @Torben, it's much easier to prevent the baby from getting too gassy in the first place by burping as once the baby has gotten gassy there's not much you can do to help them get it out. There are some remedies you can try to help the baby burp better like infocol and dentinox (in the UK, not sure about other places) and these may work, but it's much more about technique and persistence. My first child took up to 45 minutes to get a burp out of using every known and some invented techniques while my second one takes 45 seconds and I don't even have to try!

Also, I've had good luck with infant probiotics in aiding digestion, but really burping is the key. It takes time with some children so be patient and get yourself comfortable. Set yourself up on a comfortable spot with some cushions and settle in as long as it takes. Think of it less as a chore and more as some cuddle time between you and your child. Good luck and enjoy as before you know it they're walking and talking!

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As mentioned above, gas in = gas out. Make sure you've burped your little one right after a meal to help. My sister has happily used some sort of gasX like thing for infants, but I'll have to get back to you about what it is called.

On days that gas on the other end is still problematic, you can try a baby yoga move I learned that worked wonders on our little one (six years ago now). It is also supposed to help with constipation. It may be similar to what you've already tried, but it used to help our Alice get all kinds of gas out of the way and she would immediately feel better and then poop not long after when she was constipated.

Lay her on her back and speak softly and cooingly to her to relax her. Gently bend her knees so they are together. Move her knees - holding her lower legs - in a clockwise circle. Make it so her knees gently press into her lower abdomen while you do this. The clockwise part is the REALLY important part and if rubbing baby's tummy isn't working, the leg circle thing often still does.

The move is from the book, "Itsy Bitsy Yoga"

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I've tried all the above with my little guy. One day I tried something new: I laid him on his back (try to get baby to relax if you can, it works much better) and I took his knee and crossed it over to his elbow. Left knee right elbow, right knee left elbow. Works every time. The farts come right out, it's amazing.

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The massage several other posters have described (and that worked for us) was called the "I love U" massage - there are several demos on YouTube under that name, if a video of the technique would help.

You might also want to look at the Windi. It's a catheter that reaches past the muscle that prevents the release of the gas with a built-in stopper to prevent it from going in too far.

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