Breastfeeding

[Tiger]

My poor little DD has so much gas! It's pretty unbelieveable. Last night she woke my DH and I out of a sound sleep when she pasted gas!! Yes she was in her own bedroom!
I decided that was it I have to go on a bland diet. Know I know no hot stuff, garlic, beans, brocoli, brussel spouts. But how about tomato products, dairy, and cereal? Actually there goes everything I eat!
On top of it all I'm trying to eat healthy and lose those last 8 post pregnancy pounds.
Any suggestions?

[valchemist]

I breastfeed Julia (who is almost 5 weeks old now) exclusively and she does get gas. But I don't think it is extreme...I think it is "regular" baby gas.

She does get VERY fussy at night, however. She is quiet/content during the day, but at night she cries for no apparent reason. I often wonder if it is something in my diet. I have heard that milk could be the culprit but I really don't want to give up milk/dairy products because I need calcium!! not to mention the fact that some of my favorite lunch/breakfast dishes include cottage cheese or cereal with milk. I have been trying to avoid those other gassy foods you mentioned, Patty, but I really don't want to go on a "prison diet" like the one that you are describing. And I don't want to go on this kind of a diet when it is not at all clear that my diet is the culprit.

anyone else out there have any thoughts on this or suggestions?

Val

[Nirak]

Believe it or not, yogurt effected my breastmilk and made dd very fussy. It was the one thing I loved and it took a while to figure that out. It is so hard to regulate your diet and eat healthy foods while nursing, but it is possilbe. I found a food journal helpful. Also, eliminating one or two things a day and seeing how that went. As the baby grew, she could tolerate more things that I ate. Breastfeeding is so good for you and your baby and it will help you loose that weight, too. I remember my daughter being very gassy for about 4 months. We would lay her down and rub her back and you could almost feel the bubbles moving through her (and boy did she scream!)

I would call a nurse at your office and ask a lot of questions about diet. I was surprised to learn that yogurt at breakfast could effect the dinner time feeding. I found that every nurse had a slightly different opinion so I would ask everyone the same thing and then make up my mind. Good luck. It will get better soon.

[mb]

DD is now almost 10 months old and i still nurse her (although she eats some solids now too). when she was very young(i'd say even up to about 3 months old), it seemed like she was always sort of gassy burp-wise, and it just seemed like no matter what i ate she'd be fussy. i think it's just the little ones' systems getting used to digesting, etc. i cut out certain things from my diet and tried a food journal, but it didn't really help. so i just went back to eating all those things (broccoli, etc.) and she just got used to it, i guess. hang in there tiger. it will get better. sorry i don't have any more answers for you!
marisa :)

[BlueMoose]

Sometimes I think breastfeeding moms put too much emphasis on their own diet and how it affects babies' gas. Little babies do frequently have a lot of gas. I highly recommend Mylicon drops to help relieve the gas. I used it with both of my kids. It is perfectly safe to give to your baby.:)

[Beth]

It was dairy for us, and it was hard to figure out because it took me leaving it out of my diet longer than we were told to notice an improvement. That was the only thing that set off my first sone, but second one got upset tummy with some spicy foods, broccoli or cabbage -- but the mylicon drops took care of those things. The dairy was different -- almost non-stop screaming.

Babies digestive systems take a little while to mature, and the gas and sensitivities seem to improve a lot around 3-4 months.

[claire797]

I have to say ditto on what MB and Blue Moose said. My DD had terrible gas for the first 3 months and then thankfully, it went away. I tried everything -- diet modifications, special bottles for when we bottle fed her, mylicon -- nothing really helped.

I think the real problem is that babies just swallow air. At least, that's what our pediatrician said. He told me not to worry too much about my diet because no matter what, she was still going to get gas.

[Svadhisthana]

With my DD I had to avoid *GASP* chocolate. Don't you wish they made healthy "gas free" frozen meals for breastfeeding mother's? I had that brainstorm one night when I was up at 3 a.m. with the bebe- they could be called "Storks". :D

[JKS]

I breastfed both my kids to 15ish months, and both had trouble with gas early on. I tried backing off gassy foods with both, but saw no difference. Mylicon drops made a HUGE difference with both my babes. My DD would even open up her mouth when she saw the dropper coming. Also, holding them face-down in your arm, rocking your body, and patting/rubbing their backs is miraculous. Both my kids seemed to grow out of their gassiness by 4ish months. Good luck!

[marti]

When I breastfed my sons I had to watch my dairy intact. Usually I just had to spread it out throughout the day in small amounts.

[Tiger]

Originally posted by BlueMoose
Sometimes I think breastfeeding moms put too much emphasis on their own diet and how it affects babies' gas.

If only this was true! But it's only been a few days of watching what I eat and not eating anything "gassy" and there has been a big improvment.
My sister ate everything and never had a problem. Like everything every baby is different.
It's worth eating a bland diet for my DD comfort and my sanity!
I'm sure as her digestive system matures I can have more freedom. But for now sleep is more important than food!
Thanks everyone for your experiences!

[Jasmine-Rose]

Glad to hear things are improving Tiger.

[mb]

glad to hear a diet modification worked. you are lucky, i guess! :)
marisa :)

[valchemist]

oh no! am I going to lose my late night/early morning BB companion? no more burning the midnight oil in front of the computer in the wee hours?

well, congratulations, Patti. I will still think of you :) .

val

[brykate]

Very glad to hear things are already better. Don't you just want to strangle those nursing moms who "i could eat whatever i wanted" :rolleyes: :p UGh!
I also had to do major modifications but MYLICON and LITTLE TUMMIES became my best friend! I found that I could "indulge" in a little mexican or chocolate and then give him drops after his next couple meals and he did fine. (remember that supposedly it takes 4-6 hours for your food to become theirs)

Hang in there! Sleep is your focus in life right now and that's just fine!:p
Congratulations again!

:) katie

[lhall]

I also used these. I only nursed DD1 for 2 weeks (bad latch on), but I had to give her these with each bottle or she was very very uncomfortable. I had a few problems with diet and DD2 (nursed 6M), but as I knew about the gas drops it wasn't bad.
I really only used them when the baby was obviously in pain/uncomfortable.

Most of the time I got the Equate (wal-mart brand). I tried the Little Tummies only once, boy do those STINK! PU!

Leigh

[BlueMoose]

Originally posted by brykate
Very glad to hear things are already better. Don't you just want to strangle those nursing moms who "i could eat whatever i wanted" :rolleyes: :p UGh!


Ouch!:eek:

I have an 18 month old who still doesn't sleep through the night. Does that make me any less strangle-able?

[Tiger]

Originally posted by valchemist
oh no! am I going to lose my late night/early morning BB companion? no more burning the midnight oil in front of the computer in the wee hours?

well, congratulations, Patti. I will still think of you :) .

val

Val- Don't worry, I'm still here! She still nurses 2 to 3 times a night. We're just not up all night with gas pains!
I found if I sat in her room rocking while I nursed it was like torture because I was sooooo tired. But I wanted to keep things quite so she wouldn't think it was daytime. So no TV, singing, or talking to her. If I use a nursing pollow I can sit in front of the computer. Things are quite but I'm not falling alsleep!