# He screams when he has to fart! Could it be a dairy allergy?



## aentwood

Help! Does anyone have any advice on how to fix my 2 month-old baby's gas issues? He has A LOT of intestinal gas that is hard to pass for him. He's been waking up screaming and then seconds later he will fart. This will go on for hours at a time where he will scream and cry, fart, feel better, maybe go to sleep for a bit after nursing and then start the process all over again.

I do have an oversupply and and overactive let-down of milk that we are working on fixing and I hope that might help some. I have NOT tried eliminating anything from my diet yet, but will probably start with dairy and soy soon. We've tried mylicon and that doesn't work.

I'm looking for advice on how to make him comfortable, if possible, and advice on eliminating dairy from the diet. Can I expect that to work? Anyone tried Colick-Ease's Gripe Water?

Thanks!


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## Mearaina

My youngest had major gas issues (still does at times). I gave her soy formula in a bottle once or twice a week when I went back to work (she was 5 months old). Before I went back to work, I was able to comfort her by keeping her at the breast as often as possible. After a few months of the formula, I stopped giving it because she could have solids. It seemed to work, but I am sure there is a way to help without giving any formula feedings. Hopefully someone else will have ideas. However, my daughter still wakes up at night screaming until will pick her up and get her to pass gas. She is 17 months, not sure when the gas thing stops.
Sorry this doesn't help too much, but I wanted to offer support


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## aentwood

Mearaina--Thanks for the support!

Anyone else out there have ideas? I really can't stand how uncomfortable and in pain he is. That's the worst part. The other annoying parts are that I can't get any sleep or do anything during the day because he can't sleep due to the gas waking him up.

I guess I am going to start trying to take out dairy and soy. Ugh. I don't eat much meat, so this is going to be fun! I think I'll change the title of my post to see if I get more responses.


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## crazydiamond

My baby had a lot of gas, even after eliminating dairy from my diet. I just started giving her a little Mylicon with every feeding and then gradually reduced it until she didn't need it any more.


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## bluets

try drinking some mother's milk tea - fenugreek and some of the other herbs are supposed to pass through breastmilk to calm distressed tummies and intestines. i've also given a small diluted amount of the tea to my ds for a number of ailments and he seems to like it for now.


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## christiab

Gas can be scary to watch. DS used to do the same thing with gas and poop. Good news is--he will outgrow it. Gas and poops are weird sensations and some babies get freaked out by them.

For the meantime, I also used the Mylicon drops. I used Gripe Water (don't remember the brand, came in a blue bottle). I used chamomile tea. The Mylicon seemed to work the best for farts. You may have to give more than the recommended dose. (My ped said it is inert and goes through the body unabsorbed, so it was OK to give a bigger dose. My nephew's ped. gastroenterologist said the same thing, FWIW. I gave a full dropperful ) The Gripe water seemed to make him burp more. I didn't see a big difference from the chamomile.

Try infant massage. Dr Sears has instructions for abdominal massage in the link below. Bicycling the legs works, too. That was the best way I found to get him moving and get the gas out.

Once you get the oversupply worked out, you may see a difference in his gassiness.

I would hold off on the dairy elimination for another month or so to see if he outgrows it, if there are no other signs of allergy. Dairy is in everything and eliminating is a total pain.

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/t110209.asp

good luck!!


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## ryleeee

i have been wondering the same thing with haye...he's 7 weeks old now and cries a lot before he has gas or poops. sometimes for up to an hour before he poops.
it kills me.
i have given him grypewater and ovol drops.
he LOVES the ovol.
it seems to help.


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## DBZ

My baby is really gassy too, but I am also dealing with thrush on top of the over active let down. I haven't found a solution yet because we need to cure the thrush before we can deal with the gas.

Don't take Fenugreek because it will increase your supply and if you are already having over supply issues I don't think that will help.

Kara


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## ryleeee

ditto on the thrush/overactive letdown.


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## Ammaarah

My girl was like this a lot up until around 6 weeks. I was going to eliminate dairy, but then her tummy calmed down a lot. She still has an occasional "fart attack," but she is doing much better. The pedi said that a little normal infant fussiness can lead to a lot of gas from air swallowing, so I try to burp her after she cries, which isn't often.


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## mamagirl

Wow, i came here to post this same question! My ds is 7 wks tomorrow. He hates farting, but judging from the guys I know he will definately outgrow this. I bf and he only poops about 1-2x/wk, but I am reassured this is a-ok for a bf baby. I hate watching him struggle (ok, sometimes when he's just pushing and not upset it is cute







). Last night we had an hour of crying for a few farts, then he became angellic. We belly massage, warm bath, bicycle, bum massage him, but I think it is a process he's just going to have to work out on his own. The things we do soothe him so I'm keeping on, with my eyes to the future. I never heard of the other remedies you are talking about here. What is Mylicon? Ovol?


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## christiab

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mamagirl*
What is Mylicon? Ovol?

Don't know about Ovol, but Mylicon is a brand name for simethicone drops. You can get them at any drugstore, lots of them even have identical store brands. www.mylicon.com


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## jillmamma

Both my kids have been like this, and for me, eliminating most dairy (I still have a bit of cheese, and don't have to watch for hidden ingredients) as well as limiting caffeine has really helped. I am slowly reintroducing it to my diet now with dd, but with my ds I was able to eat dairy again once he was about 4 or 5 months. Another thing that has made a difference for us is to try to get them to burp well after each feeding.


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## ncbeachbum25

I just became a member so that I too could post this same question!! My little one is 8 weeks old and it is painful for me to watch him in so much pain. I too have the over supply and rapid forceful let-down. I have seen 2 lactation consultants and they have given me no help in fixing that. For his gas, I belly massage at every diaper change, bicycle the legs, chamamille tea works for him better than the drops- but the one thing that i found works the best is reflexology points on the feet. In the beginning it would take him hours to poop and fart, since massaging the points on his feet we can get it out in minutes-usually! Get the book Hands on Baby Massage. It gives all the reflexology points- it is a great book! Helped me tons!
Lisa


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## Ammaarah

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mamagirl*
Wow, i came here to post this same question! My ds is 7 wks tomorrow. He hates farting, but judging from the guys I know he will definately outgrow this.


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## BeachBum

My baby had similar "symptoms", but not as severe. I elminiated *obvious* diary, but didn't worry if something I ate might contain butter for instance. This helped tremendously. You might try cutting out obvious things to see if this reduces the fussing then go from there.


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## aentwood

Hey mamas. Thansk for all the posts. I am reviving this because he is now 3 months old and is still having the same issues. I am so frustrated when I re-read these posts and see how many people have this problem (and the oversupply/let-down). Argh.

Anyway, we've tried mylicon drops with no success; same with gripe water. I cut out obvious dairy and soy for 3 weeks with no results and am now moving on to wheat. We just had our first visit with the osteopath for cranial-sacral manipulation, so not sure if that is going to help. I am also considering seeing a kinesthesiologist to find out what if anything he is allergic to. And, I might have thrush which can cause gassiness, but I am not sure 1) if I have it and 2) if it could cause this much gas.

I was wondering how things were going for the rest of you? Has anything worked?


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## Elowyn

Have you tried nursing on just one breast per feeding? Sometimes it's overmuch of the foremilk and less hindmilk that causes gassiness. You may very well have tried this, in which case I apologize.

Best wishes with your little one.


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## AmandaKnowles

I have been through exactly the same thing. At one point my little man was up every hour because he was so gassy and in pain. I could not get an answer out of the doctors i went to and one doctor even sent him for an x-ray which showed his intestines and stomach were full of gas. I had tried infacol, gripe water, etc (you name it i tried it). On top of this he had reflux and colic. I eventually had to stop breastfeeding (not by choice) at 4 months and i placed him on S-26 Lactose free formula which helped immensely. This also stopped the reflux for some reason. I have also been giving him inner health probiotics since this time which helps him stay regular and also seems to settle his stomach a little. He is now 10 months old and has started waking up around midnight screaming in pain, he cannot even open his eyes and shakes like he is almost convulsing for about 20 minutes. The Doctor believes it is a dietary intolerance so i am in the middle of trying to figure out what is triggering these episodes. Apparently watching my child scream for 20 minutes about every 3 weeks is the only way to figure it out (FURIOUS)! At this point i am leaning towards dairy. He is now on Aptimal AR formula and has been for a couple of months now so i don't believe it is lactose related (he only had a SECONDARY lactose intolerance when he was younger - my diagnosis anyway).

I hope some of this information helps, it is not a nice feeling having your baby in pain and not being able to help them.

Amanda


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## ebyilm

My eight week old has had the same problems since he was about 10 days old. I cannot really tell you a cure, but I can tell you what I have tried and what did not work to save you some money...
I tried chamomile tea, no effect either from directly feeding to him or myself drinking it. I tried gripe water, no effect at all. I tried gas drops, from target, almost seemed to make his pain and screaming worse. I tried probiotics, no affect on gas pains, but did however help him have more bowel movements. I tried the Happiest Baby on the Block Techniques, the five S's and they only temporarily calm him down, as soon as I stop swinging him or bouncing him he starts crying again. I tried bicycling his legs with tummy massage and sometimes I can get some gas out, it also seems to calm him, but as soon as I stop bicycling his legs he is in pain again. I have tried giving him naps during the day on his stomach, it helps him to sleep for longer periods of time, but doesn't seems to help with his gas. I have tried a warm bath, which he likes but it doesn't get rid of his gas. I tried putting a warm cloth on his tummy, he liked it for a little bit then got angry again. I have tried pumping off foremilk and giving him more hindmilk, no difference. I cut out dairy and wheat...just ate sweet potatoes and rice plain with no butter or anything for a week and no difference at all, if anything he was a little worse. Basically, I have tried everything and now I am just hoping he outgrows it. This week I am avoiding grains like rice, to see if that makes any difference. I will let you all know...


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## AmandaKnowles

I finally got my Doctor (she had been away) to send him for blood tests and fecal tests. She believed he was gluten intolerant. The results came back 2 days ago and he is in the high percentile of being lactose intolerant. Finally I have an answer and a way forward. So in the end he didn't need to have the blood tests but at least I now know everything else is ok with him. Hopefully now he can stop being in pain and start being more comfortable.


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## jiles

It can takes up to two weeks to get dairy out of your body. So u may not see results until 3 weeks after omitting something.


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## winda

pleaseee i have same problem, wen is this gonna be end?


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## winda

please i need answer @ ebylm hows ur baby doing now, my baby doing this from a week after his birth, he is now 6 weeks old, i hate to see him strugling


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## IdentityCrisisMama

Wow -- OK!! We have three very new members posting to this thread. First, I want to WELCOME all three of you! I also want to suggest that you start new threads on this topic. This was originally started over 9 years ago. It's HIGHLY likely that this issue is a distant memory for this parent and child.









Follow this link: http://www.mothering.com/community/f/27/breastfeeding

And look for the red-ish button that reads "Start a New Thread". Go ahead and give our members a good description of what's going on with you or our child and we can see if we can help.

If you're rather not start a thread you can use the search bar on the top-ish right of this page and search for other threads that may relate to what you're interested in. Keep in mind that "bumping" old threads may not generate the type of discussion you're looking for.

I always tell parents about Kellymom for BFing advice because I found her info pretty inclusive.

Good luck with your search!


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