There’s nothing worse than seeing your baby distressed. Sometimes babies struggle with wind pain or burps, and this can cause them to cry and make noise.
While some babies might be able to self-soothe by rubbing their tummies or chewing on toys, others need a little help in getting rid of gas. This article will teach you how to help your baby with wind pain without irritating him or her further.
Most people know how to ‘burp’ a baby, but what about when your baby is struggling with gas at the other end of their digestive system? You can usually tell if a baby is struggling with too much gas if you can hear growling or grumbling in their tummy.
Your baby might also be more irritable than usual or have trouble settling. So, what can you do to help a baby to pass wind or fart? Here are some helpful tips to help your baby fart:
Move Around – any movements, especially in their torso region will help to move the gas through their system rather than staying trapped in their little body and making them uncomfortable. There’s a reason people ‘bounce’ a baby or stand rocking a baby with gentle movement – as well as soothing babies this movement can help to move air bubbles through the required passages and help that new, little digestive system along to naturally expel the gas and bring some instant relief to both babies and parents alike.
Baby Movement – similar to above but rather than bouncing and rocking the baby in your arms, try lying your baby down on their back and bicycling their legs. This movement of bringing the legs up to the belly can really help to move the gas along.
Tummy Time – Most Maternal & Child Health nurses will encourage you to give your baby ‘tummy time’ for various reasons. Not only does this position help baby’s with their core strength, it can also help a baby struggling with gas as it will put a slight pressure on their tummy to help to move the wind through the system.
Get them upright – get the baby up off his/her back and into an upright position – this can help gas to move in either direction, resulting in burping or farting!
Feed time – while not necessarily technically a cure, feeding a baby, especially breastfeeding, is a cure for pretty much anything. It will usually help to settle an irritable baby and the extra dose of milk might help to move things through their digestive tract. If you’re bottle feeding, make sure there are no air bubbles or else you may be adding more gas to the problem, and make sure you ‘burp’ the baby after (and even during) feeding by placing them upright against your shoulder.
So we’ve mentioned many different positions above from tummy to back to upright – which one is right? They’re all correct in their own way, the key is movement. Try each position to find out where baby is happiest and most comfortable.
The act of changing positions is likely to be helpful in making that gas move along so, start with baby on their back while bicycling their legs, then hold them upright on your shoulder for a while while you bounce them up and down, then back down on the floor for some tummy time – mix it up and change it around until you find a happy position for your baby or you hear the sweet sound of success as that gas moves along and gives your baby some relief!
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