Gas in Newborns

Gas is common in newborns. In the first few weeks, many babies (and mothers) are learning how to feed well. Often infants swallow extra air while during nursing or bottle feeding. If not burped out, the air will come out as gas.

Try increasing the number of times you burp him. Try different ways to burp him - over the shoulder, laying down or rocking back and forth while sitting. See my video on burping.

Be careful not to shake up a bottle and then immediately feed it to your son. Parents often unknowingly feed their babies extra air suspended in their child’s milk. After shaking let the bottle sit for at least 10 seconds.

There are a variety of gas drops available for infants. Mylicon is the best known name brand, but they all contain simethicone as their primary ingredient. Simethicone is a generally safe product. It is the only over the counter medicine that I will allow parents to give children less than 2 months old. It works by breaking big bubbles into small bubbles. It works best if given simultaneously with the feeding.

Gassy Baby

My daughter is now 4 ½ weeks old and is both breastfed as well as formula fed.  The past 2 weeks she has had really bad gas with stomach pains associated with it. She has had a hard time sleeping some nights with the pain and is passing ALOT of gas (... more on gassy baby)

Written August 2010 by
Dr. Gordon, Windermere Pediatrician