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Swallowing, digestion, and gas elimination skills are still immature in newborns. Simultaneously, they have to adapt to feeding. Even a routine digestive process can be more taxing for the neonate and cause discomfort. Feeding position, latch, bottle, feeding pace, and techniques affect the amount of air swallowed during nursing, which often results in gas-related problems.
Why Newborns Develop Gas Quickly
The newborn's gastrointestinal tract is still developing. The intestinal walls are thin and permeable, allowing lactose to ferment in the gut and produce excess gas. Newborns have immature lactase absorption. They have limited lactase production, which delays digestion. The gut microbiome takes 3-6 months to stabilise, which is important for fermentation and gas regulation, and newborns often trap gas.
Due to a strong sucking reflex, babies gulp milk rapidly, and air also goes along with the milk. Improper latch during breastfeeding and air bubbles in bottle milk increase the risk of air swallowing. Frequent crying also increases air intake, which further exacerbates discomfort.
Gas from the mother's diet, passed through breast milk, also causes excess gas. Mother's intake of dairy, soy, caffeine, and gassy vegetables can ferment in the baby’s gut. Cow’s milk protein triggers gut inflammation and gas. Fast letdowns and overfeeding overwhelmed the stomach, promoting fermentation.
Difference between Normal Gas, Colic, and Reflux
- Normal Gas: Most newborns are prone to normal gas due to an immature digestive system and air intake. Mild bloating, firm stomach, pulling legs up, fussiness, and grunting may indicate normal gas traps. This usually resolves after burping, passing gas, or having a bowel movement.
- Colic: When a baby cries for more than 3 hours a day, 3 days a week for 3 weeks, it may indicate colic. Red face, clenched fist, knees to the chest, arched back, more gas or stool, and gurgling, along with no feeding issues, depending on pain, may mean the baby has developed colic.
- Reflux: Milk and acid regurgitate. When babies spit up after feeding, cough or wheeze during feeding, gag, hiccup, or show fussiness after eating, it may indicate gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Signs of Gastric Problems in Newborns
Trapped gas, immature digestion, or reflux may cause gastric discomfort in a newborn. Signs of gastric problems often arise after feeding or during the evening. Here are a few signs to find if the baby is facing gastric problems:
- Increased crying and fussiness
- Display of irritation, resisting holds, and furrowed eyebrows, downward mouth.
- Tense body language, like stiffening
- Difficult to expel gas, especially during sleep transitions
- Drawing knees tightly towards the abdomen and rocking side to side, or arching back
- Visible bloating and firm tummy
- Loud and frequent farts
- Gargling or bubbling noises from the stomach
- Refuse to feed and unlatch repeatedly
- Abrupt stopping while feeding
- Spitting up curdled fluid with a burp
- Hiccups persist for more than 10 minutes
- Poor sleep or disrupted sleep patterns
Strategies to Relieve Newborn Gas
- Burping Techniques: Burping releases swallowed air from the stomach before it moves into the intestines. Hold the baby upright against your shoulder and gently pat or rub the mid back for a few minutes during and after feeding.
- Positioning Exercise: Gentle movements release trapped gas. Tummy time on a firm surface applies pressure to the belly, encourages gas expulsion, and reduces bloating.
- Abdominal Massage: Slow, gentle circular motions around the navel relax the sphincters and reduce crying. Don't massage during a fever or after a meal.
- Feeding Adjustment: A deep latch with a tight seal around the areola ensures that only milk is swallowed, not air, and helps prevent bloating. Small, frequent feeds prevent overload. Proper positioning, such as a football hold or a relaxed position, reduces gulping.
Physical Soothing Strategies
Here are a few ways to calm and soothe gastric problems and discomfort in newborns:- Swaddling: Swaddling reduces the startle reflex and promotes deeper breathing. In a muslin cloth, place the baby, position the arm straight, and the legs flexed. Wrap from the shoulder down and secure with a front tuck. This mimics a wombike environment, which calms their nervous system. Don't tuck it too tight. A snug is enough to calm the baby and ease gas discomfort.
- White Noise: White noise, or shushing, imitates Intrauterine sounds and can activate the parasympathetic system, slow heart rate, and ease gut spasms. Mimicking womb sounds promotes relaxation and creates a calm environment, which distracts them from the pain.
- Rocking: Rhythmic rock with 60-80 rocks per minute mimics the mother's heartbeat and releases endorphins. This helps dislodge gas through gentle swaying. Bouncing while your baby also helps release gas.
- Warm Compress: Soak the cloth in warm water and apply it to the abdomen to relax muscles and dilate blood vessels to improve circulation.
- Maternal Diet: Lactating mothers should avoid cruciferous vegetables, caffeine and cow milk when babies deal with gastric issues. Have fennel or chamomile tea, as it may pass through the breast milk and offer some comfort.
New parents often misinterpret babies' cries and cues as hunger, gas, overstimulation, or overtiredness. Gas discomfort cues often begin 20-90 minutes after feeding. Babies pull their knees tightly to their chest, arch their backs, or thrash their legs due to lower abdominal cramps from fermentation or trapped air. Hunger cues look like lip smacking, tongue extension, rooting, and sucking fists with low-pitched crying. Babies turn away from excessive light and noise when overstimulated. Yawning, eye rubbing, and also movements may indicate tiredness.
Gastric problems in newborn children often include excessive gas, a firm stomach, bloating and fussiness. New mothers may experience these discomforts due to an immature digestive system. These symptoms and discomforts are temporary and will resolve as their gastrointestinal coordination improves.
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FAQs on Newborn Gastric Issues: How To Identify And Relieve Gastric Problems In Newborns
- Can dairy in breastmilk cause colic?
Mother's diet plays a crucial role in breastfeeding. A mother's dietary intake should be supportive for infants. Cow's milk protein triggers inflammation in the baby’s gut as they pass through the milk, which leads to colic-like symptoms. Diary may contribute to fussiness due to protein sensitivity passed through milk. - Why does newborn gas worsen at night?
The baby's gut and digestive system are still developing, and breaking down milk becomes hard for newborns. During the night, babies are less active, so the trapped gas moves less, increasing discomfort and fussiness at night. While crying, babies swallow more air, which worsens the gas.
