My baby has gas, what can I do?

It is often said that the ideal thing for babies and their parents is that born at 12 months gestation, so that they arrive somewhat more mature and, consequently, with more capacity of adaptation to our environment and less problems of colic, without the disquecia of the infant (when they get very red and arc to poop) and, in general, with less tummy aches.

And it is that on many occasions they cry even when we have them in their arms (because if they cry and calm down when they take it, it is clear that they are not colic or gases), and it is usually blamed that they could have pain due to digestions and gases , which burp and pedets.

If it's your case, yes Your baby has gas and is upset, what can we do?

What are the gases?

But can not be. They cannot be born with 12 months of gestation because they could not be born: would not fit through the birth canal. So they are born, even at term, premature if we compare them with other species of mammals, whose young arrive much more prepared.

So they have discomfort as gases, which, as you can imagine, is nothing other than air that is in the baby's digestive system and causes discomfort, perhaps pain, and that makes him cry until he manages to eliminate it in some way.

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Gases in the stomach

They are the ones that less often bother and those that are expelled more easily, through belching. The air reaches the stomach to be swallowed by the baby, something that often happens when they cry, with the sucking of the pacifier or even when they are eating, if the bottle is "strained" with air or if it is breastfed and the position is not quite correct.

For prevent it, must:

• Try to keep the baby, during the day, as calm as possible: in arms, carrying it, etc.
• Calm him when he cries.
• Check the posture when sucking the chest if it is heard that air is entering (usually clicks are heard every time you make the suction movement).
• Offer the bottle with the built-in baby, looking for milk in the nipple and not to swallow air, and stopping during the shot to see if he wants to burp before continuing to eat.
• In addition, we must ensure, if you drink artificial milk, that the preparation is done correctly so that the density of the milk does not make it difficult to swallow it, nor cause other undesirable effects on the baby.

For help them we can:

• Keep them upright in our arms for a few minutes after the shot, while we rock them a little (you can tap on the back, but always with love and softness).
• Do the same in the middle of the shots, if we see that they tend to swallow a lot of air, in addition to solving the reasons why they get to swallow that air.

Intestinal gas

These are the ones that bother you the most, because they cause abdominal distension and pain (Like when we have gases that we do not relieve until we let them out in the form of windiness), and have nothing to do with whether they swallow more or less air.

In this case, the gases in the intestine come from the fermentation of carbohydrates that have been consumed and the intestinal flora that the baby has.

For prevent them must:

• Review posture and breastfeeding technique: Babies who do not extract milk well tend to eat little at each teat, and are often even breastfed before reaching the fatiest part of breast milk. This makes them consume a lot of milk "from the beginning", richer in lactose, which can cause more flatulence.
• Try with a more "digestive" milk: If you drink artificial milk, manufacturers offer anti-colic formulas, or other versions with names like digestive or comfort, which are modified formulas to be digested more easily by the baby.

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For help them we can:

• Do massages in your abdomen clockwise, always smoothly.
• Flex your little legs towards the abdomen, generating some pressure when you reach the top.
• Cradle it in the anti-colic position (on our arm, so that the hand is on its belly exerting a slight pressure or support).
• Use heat belts: There is a kind of anti-colic girdles on the market for babies that get warm before putting them on, which could help calm the discomfort a bit.
• Carry it: It is the sum of all the previous tips in one, because porting is a way to put your belly against our body and give it heat, to give them a massage with friction when walking and, as we carry them in a frog position, to facilitate They can drop pedets and even poop. In the case of babies, it is usually recommended scarf before backpack, for being more adaptable.

Much encouragement if you are in this moment, and patience: in a few weeks all this will happen and your baby will be much better.

In any case, if your baby is very irritable, it is better to see a pediatrician. Often behind that crying there is something else: an allergy, reflux, a possible urine infection, etc.

Photos | iStock
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