Breastfed babies and gas
Breastfed infants get a little taste of everything their mother eats and some foods can cause more gassiness than others. While every baby is different, here are a few of the most common culprits:
- Chocolate
- Avocado
- Garlic and onions
- Herbal teas
- Coffee
- Broccoli or cauliflower
- Dairy foods
If you aren’t sure what food is causing the problem, keep a food diary for a week and write down everything you eat, as well as when your baby is fussy and gassy. This will help you see a pattern.
Next, eliminate the potential problem foods and reintroduce them one at a time to see what you need to avoid. Most babies outgrow these sensitivities, so just because your little one gets an upset tummy at one month when you eat avocado, that doesn’t mean he’ll never enjoy guacamole.
Formula fed babies and gas
Most babies will tend to get more gas when bottle-fed for two reasons. One, formula is not as perfectly engineered to human babies as is breast milk, which can cause tummy problems. And, two, the bottle simply promotes gas, since it is very easy for the baby to suck and swallow air.
There are special bottles that are designed to eliminate gas. If your baby suffers frequently from baby gas colic, you may want to consider buying one of these pain-free feeding bottles
.Some babies may also be lactose intolerant or have milk allergies. If this is the case, switching to a soy or lactose-free formula may help. Talk to your doctor before doing any switching, though, to make sure it is the best move.
Baby gas is part of parenthood, at least in the early months. While you can search for the cause, sometimes there simply won’t be one. Your baby is new to the world and his little digestive system is still sorting out the kinks. Rest assured, however, that baby gas won’t last forever!
