Infant gas pains can be very tough to diagnose and can be even tougher for your baby to deal with. Though some medicines claim to cure your baby's gas pains, you might wish to naturally heal her first. Some methods can alleviate cure your baby's gas without the help of any medication.
Causes of Gas Pains
If your baby suffers from gas pains, don't be surprised--more than half of babies younger than 2 months old experience gas pains. Infant gas is usually caused by problems in eating and digesting food, which include drinking too fast and breastfeeding if you've been eating gassy foods. He can also receive gas from taking in too much air, which can happen if he cries heavily or if he sucks on a nipple that's too small for his mouth.
Symptoms of Gas in Infants
One of the biggest symptoms for infant gas is crying; however, because most babies cry for many different reasons, it can be hard for parents to figure out that gas is causing her pain. Other signs to look for include pulling her legs up, clutching her stomach, excessive spit-up or projectile vomiting.)
Burping
Burping your baby is perhaps the best natural cure for gas pains. Burping naturally relieves your baby of gas while he's drinking, which can help him to better digest the feeding. It's common to burp your baby once the feeding is done, but it may also be a good idea to take a break during the feeding and burp him then. This can help him to properly swallow and digest the liquids he's getting.
Football Hold
It's possible to reduce your baby's gas simply by holding her in a different way. This method is called the football hold because of its similarity to the way you'd hold a football. Hold her so that her head is in the crook of your elbow and your hand is holding her bottom. This allows her to rest on her side, which can help her to relieve gas.
Physical Movements to Relieve Gas
If burping your baby and holding him in the football hold aren't working, you can take physical measures to help your baby. You can try giving him a tummy massage, which can help break up the gas bubbles in his stomach. You can also rotate his legs, bending his knees towards his chest in a way that resembles riding a bicycle.
