For most young parents, it will be a real discovery that their babies often fart, and sometimes do it almost constantly. The baby gets gas during sleep, awake, with any physical activity, and even when he just eats. But is it normal that a newborn baby often farts, does he himself feel discomfort from this, or does getting rid of excess air in his intestines bring him relief? Now we will understand all these issues, and also find out how to deal with excessive gas formation and how to prevent it at all.
Flatulence in newborns: norm or deviation?
A healthy person who has no problems with increased gas formation, and the intestines work as expected, farts on average about 15 times a day. It should be understood that in adults the gastrointestinal tract is already fully formed, their digestive organs are tuned in and microflora is populated, which is necessary for its proper functioning.
The gases that are released from the body accumulate in the intestines in different ways - this is the air swallowed during eating or talking, and the result of the life of all the same microorganisms, and, of course, a consequence of the decay of food debris. It should be borne in mind that in adults all these processes are debugged, but the kids are just starting to get used to them. At first, the baby often farts and poops, but over time it will pass, you just need to give a little time to the baby to adapt in a new environment for him.
How much baby should fart?
As a rule, in newborns this happens much more often than in adults and even older children. Especially often the baby farts in the first months of her life. This is due to the diet of babies, and with the features of their body. Parents may notice that their child releases the gas most actively after sleep or just before waking up. Moreover, a newborn takes a lot of time for this. The kid can fart for 5-10 minutes and this is quite normal. Thus, he gets rid of gaziki that have accumulated in the intestines.
Newborns still cannot sit on their own, roll over, change their body position, they have insufficient physical activity, which causes peristalsis to slow down significantly. Therefore, in principle, it is very good when a month-old baby often farts, this means that he is able to cope with flatulence and his stomach will be less sick. If the gases accumulated in the intestines do not go outside, they stretch the walls of the intestine, injure it, and cause severe pain.
Reasons for increased gas formation
When considering the topic of flatulence in infants, it is important to understand when it comes to the normal physiological process of gas secretion from the intestines, and when about excessive gas formation that gives the child serious discomfort, and sometimes painful colic.
If the baby often farts, he has no difficulty with this, he does not cry, eats well and sleeps, and his tummy is soft and not increased in size, then everything is fine. But when it “seethes” in the intestines, and the gas bubbles are so large that it is difficult for the baby to let them out, then he needs help. But first you need to find out why babies often farts. There are several reasons for this:
- he swallows air while sucking a breast, bottle or dummy;
- he has insufficient physical activity;
- parents don’t carry the baby “in the pillar” after eating, and it does not release air accumulated in the stomach with the help of belching;
- its intestines are not yet fully populated with beneficial microflora;
- the baby does not fit his food;
- the child overeats, and the remnants of undigested food rot in the intestine, which causes fermentation and flatulence.
Often, one of the factors of increased gas formation in infants is called an error in the mother’s diet (if the baby is on HB). It is believed that lactating women should avoid the use of certain foods, because they provoke flatulence in the child. These include baked goods, legumes and cabbage, as well as sweets, carbonated drinks and some types of fruits.
Why babies often farts: does mom's nutrition affect this?
A direct relationship between what a nursing woman eats and what composition of her milk actually exists. If mother’s diet includes allergenic foods, “junk” foods, alcohol, excessively aromatic additives and foods containing chemicals (flavor enhancers, colorants, flavors, etc.), then the composition of breast milk will not be the best. All the "harmful" to some extent fall into it, respectively, they can cause various reactions in the baby - rashes, diathesis and even diarrhea.
At the same time, pediatricians have revised the role of food in the processes of gas formation in newborns. If mom eats bean or cabbage, then she will be puffed, but not the baby. The same point of view is confirmed by most lactating women who did not adhere to a strict diet during HB. Moreover, they note the fact that if the mother is full, she has the rich and nutritious milk that the child eats, he cries less and generally behaves much calmer. Therefore, if the baby often farts, and the gases have an unpleasant smell, or because of their accumulation, his stomach hurts, the cause of the problem is probably not in my mother’s diet. Factors affecting flatulence in newborns are indicated above.
How to help your baby not to swallow air while eating?
Newborn babies do not know how to properly breastfeed. It takes them some time to learn this. The skill of correctly capturing the areola and quiet sucking will come in about a few weeks after giving birth. In addition, the crumbs have an insufficient volume of the oral cavity, and with intensive sucking they cannot swallow all the milk that flows from the breast. As a result of this, the baby can often throw the nipple, grab the air with his mouth, swallowing it, and it is because of this that he subsequently suffers from colic and often farts. A child is a month old - another is necessary in order to grow up elementary and learn how to eat correctly. But mom herself can help him accelerate this process. The first and most important thing is to prevent the nipple from being grabbed incorrectly when only the tip of the nipple is in the baby’s mouth, without areola. In addition, it is very important that during feeding, the baby and mother feel comfortable, they are not distracted by noise or an uncomfortable position.
In the end, we will tell you one more fact proved by pediatricians and GV consultants - a nursing woman does not need to decant the remaining milk, otherwise it will always arrive in larger quantities than her child needs. The baby, swallowing a sweet and non-greasy upper milk, will still be hungry, excess sugar will cause fermentation in his tummy, and provoke pain and flatulence.
How are overeating and flatulence related in children?
Respected by many parents and fellow doctors, the pediatrician Yevgeny Olegovich Komarovsky argues that overfeeding a child affects his health at times worse than underfeeding. The body of the kids is not able to cope with the excess of food they receive, and therefore if the baby eats more than necessary, then this is fraught with the following consequences:
- the remnants of undigested food enter the intestines and roam there, provoking the appearance of gases;
- toxins released by rotting food cause allergic reactions, dermatitis and rashes;
- The baby’s stomach is stretched and may subsequently suffer from obesity.
Moreover, all mothers can feed the child in abundance: those who adjusted the hepatitis B and those who were forced to transfer the baby to the IV. Do not give crumbs more servings of the mixture than those indicated on the packaging with food. These are average norms and their correction is possible only after consultation with a pediatrician. It’s enough for the breast-feeding woman to be near her mother’s “sissy” for no more than 20 minutes to eat, the rest of the time he only maintains contact with his parent, and does not satisfy the feeling of hunger. Therefore, if a two-month-old baby often farts, perhaps it should be slightly limited in nutrition.
Constipation in the baby
Rare or obstructed bowel movements also cause flatulence in children. If the baby cannot poop on time, the gases will be released in an enhanced mode, which is especially common when the baby is one year old. Often the baby farts not because his colic or intestines are not populated with beneficial microflora. Probably, the body cannot cope with changes in the diet, because it is during this period that babies are most actively injected with complementary foods. In order for the child to be cacao in a timely manner, not to suffer from constipation and flatulence, it is necessary that he eat the “right” food:
- vegetables;
- fruit;
- cereals;
- dairy products.
At the same time, do not get involved in bakery products and various sweets. Children per year are still too small for such food; it causes strong fermentation in the intestines.
Gymnastics for the tummy
To help the baby crawl, you need to provide him with moderate physical activity. To do this, it is enough to do daily a set of gymnastic exercises with the baby, which will not only strengthen the growing body, but also improve the condition of peristalsis.
These exercises are very simple, they need to be given 15 minutes 3-4 times a day - just during the waking period of the baby:
- "a bike";
- alternately touching the knees to the tummy;
- raising two legs together up from a position on the back;
- cross-shaped reduction of the elbows and knees of the baby (the left knee must be pulled to the right elbow, then close the right knee with the left elbow);
- laying out the baby on the tummy.
No less beneficial effect on peristalsis and classes with the help of a gymnastic ball (fitball). The baby should be placed tummy down and gently swing on the ball back and forth, as well as to the sides, in a circle. This will not only help him free his intestines from gas, but also strengthen his back muscles and abs.
Massage the tummy of the baby
A very effective way to help your child with flatulence is a mild tummy massage. To accelerate the movement of gases through the intestines, the baby needs to stroke the area around the navel clockwise immediately after sleep or when he can not fart. But actions must be neat, without pressure, so as not to harm the crumbs. It’s good if mom will do massage right during gymnastics. After a few minutes of stroking, you can pull the child’s knees to the tummy so that the gases escape.
Using a vent pipe: pros and cons
Breasts sometimes fart often, but a little, feeling discomfort from this, because they still can’t release all the gases accumulated in the tummy. To alleviate the suffering of the child, he can put a gas pipe. It reveals the baby’s anus and allows gaziks to go outside, and at the same time provokes bowel movements.
On the one hand, this simple device saves children from constipation, but on the other hand, you need to understand that this is an extreme measure and you should not get carried away with a vent pipe regularly. The child himself must learn to free the intestines from feces and gases. If mother will always help him in this, then this will prevent the development of the natural process of adaptation of the child’s body and the problem will drag on for several months, or even years.
Medicines for gas
If, despite the fulfillment of all the methods described above, the baby still can not cope with the gases and the mother does not understand why the child often farts, it is possible that the intestine is immaturity or dysbiosis. In these cases, flatulence can be overcome with the help of drugs.
There is a whole group of drugs based on simethicone (Espumisan, Infacol, Bobotik, etc.). All of them contribute to the splitting of large gas bubbles into small ones, and also favor their rapid elimination. You can fight flatulence with the help of herbal medicines. Most of them include fennel. It can be oil-based droplets or teas.
You can also fight excessive gas formation using lactobacilli and bifidobacteria. Preparations containing beneficial microflora eliminate the imbalance that occurs in the case of intestinal overpopulation by pathogenic microorganisms. They do not treat flatulence itself to a greater extent, but its root cause, and therefore do not have an instant effect.