A 3 year old child farts frequently. Causes of increased gas formation in babies. When will your baby's colic go away?

Any caring parent is interested in why farts infant, because this is a fairly common occurrence. There is no need to be afraid of it - it is enough to understand the true reasons and eliminate them in time.

The first and most important reason for excess gas formation is a change in habitat. The baby not only lives in new conditions for him, but also takes food that is radically different from what he had in the womb. Children's intestines react to these changes in their own way. And this manifests itself in the fact that an infant farts often.

Is your child farting often - good or bad?

Any pediatrician will definitely answer this question: “Good.” Of course, if this process goes easily, without tears, pain, or additional discharge. Why is this good?

This indicates that the baby’s intestines and stomach are functioning well. The more often the baby farts, the better his body copes with processing food.
Gas formation helps the child with the passage of stool. It helps the child’s body cope with this process faster.

A child farts: what to do?

Although frequent gas production is normal, there are times when children need help from their parents. This is necessary when the process is accompanied by tears, loose stools, pain, etc. A nursing mother should reconsider her diet. If the baby is bottle-fed, it is advisable to change it. But if increased gas formation appears after changing the mixture, return to the one that was before. What to feed your child if not breast milk, you can also .

Carefully monitor your baby's reaction if you give him a try. new product. If your baby farts frequently, turn him onto his stomach after feeding. This is an excellent prevention of flatulence. Massage and special gymnastics, which any mother can perform, will also be excellent helpers. Helps greatly with increased gas formation dill water and children's herbal tea.

Intestinal colic

The cause of painful gas formation is often intestinal colic. This is also a normal phenomenon for a baby up to 3-4 months, but it causes him severe discomfort. To prevent them, use the following recommendations:

Often a newborn baby farts in the evening. He starts screaming and moaning. All this can bother a child during the daytime, but during the day he is busy learning about the world around him, so he doesn’t pay much attention to them. But in the evening, when his nervous system is exhausted, he begins to be capricious. In the evening, provide your baby with a calm home environment to prevent and also quickly cope with the “evening concert”.
Place the baby on your tummy and play with him in this position. You can use a children's gymnastics ball for the game. Lift the baby's legs and pull them towards you, press them again to the tummy. Thanks to these simple manipulations, feces will be easier to pass and the accumulation of gases will not cause severe discomfort to the baby.
You can use .

Medicines and folk remedies

Most popular folk remedies are herbal infusions. It could be chamomile, dill, fennel, mint. Mothers claim that after consuming herbal infusions, the baby begins to feel good and is not capricious. However, Dr. Kormarovsky claims that magical properties It is not the plants that possess it, but the ordinary water on which they are infused. It is the use large quantity fluid helps normalize intestinal function.

Pediatricians recommend purchasing "" and "Sab Simplex" from pharmaceutical products. The action of the drugs is aimed at destroying the bubbles in the intestines and removing them naturally. Children do not develop an addiction to the drugs; they are not absorbed into the blood, so they can be taken long time.

You should not assume that children are small adults; physiological processes in children proceed according to a completely different scenario. If your child farts often, do not rush to scold him. It may be that this is a symptom of one of the digestive diseases. In infants, flatulence is generally one of the main factors stimulating bowel movements.

Why does a child fart often?

In the first months of life, a newborn adapts to new conditions, his body gets used to existence outside the mother’s womb. The digestive organs begin to receive food from the outside and learn to cope with it. Breast milk is an ideal food for a baby, but its composition directly depends on what the mother eats. That is why it is important not only to monitor the child’s health, but also to strictly follow the diet and introduce foods gradually. New substances can irritate the sensitive intestinal mucosa, resulting in the child farting and crying and experiencing discomfort. To eliminate the possibility of dysbiosis, consult a doctor if your baby has become restless and capricious.

There is also no need to rush the introduction. It's better to start with simple carbohydrates, do not give your child foods that provoke allergies and flatulence:

apples;
white cabbage;
kefir;
legumes;
bread.

When should you be wary?

Sometimes mothers notice that the child farts with feces. This is a normal occurrence in infants, especially those who are bottle-fed. With the help of farts, the baby strengthens the motor functions of the intestines and involuntary bowel movements occur. Since the amount eaten is small, a small amount of feces is produced. It is much worse if a child farts mucus. This phenomenon can be considered normal only in the first days of life; at a later age, this symptom should be reported to the pediatrician.

In children over 3 years old, frequent farting may be a sign of the following diseases:

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Gases in the intestines are a natural phenomenon in the body. healthy person. The bulk of them are formed during the digestion of food (chemical reaction) and its breakdown into enzymes. The remaining components - ingested oxygen during eating or drinking, diffusion or exchange of gases - oxygen necessary for the functioning of beneficial intestinal microflora comes from the blood into the lumen of the small intestine, and from the lumen it enters the blood carbon dioxide, which is excreted by the lungs.

In the digestive system, gases improve intestinal motility and “help” digest food. Their number depends on health, lifestyle, and foods consumed. During healthy digestion, a moderate amount of gas is formed and is not felt at all by the person.

All disorders of the gastrointestinal tract lead to excessive gas formation and are called flatulence (bloating). According to doctors, this is not an independent disease, but a sign of an underlying pathology. Despite the discomfort it causes, an adult can easily tolerate it. The same cannot be said about children and babies.

Flatulence in children is a common pathology and why younger child, the more often it occurs. Moreover, for each age it has its own characteristic features and the causes of occurrence.

According to statistics, every fourth baby suffers from flatulence between the ages of 1.5 weeks and 3-7 months.

It is this period of time that is necessary for the infant’s immature intestines to be completely populated with the necessary microflora. Only when he turns 1 year old, in most cases, the painful symptoms subside.

Reasons

Weak intestinal walls and low activity of the newborn (constant lying position) lead to stagnation of food. Under the influence of fermentation bacteria, many gases are formed in the form of mucous foam. They stretch the intestinal walls and cause severe pain.

This is one of the factors of gas stagnation, but there are other causes of flatulence in children:

Swallowing air during “greedy” sucking of milk is one of the most common causes arising from violation of feeding rules.
Consumption by a nursing mother of foods that cause fermentation (cabbage, radishes, fruits, vegetables, legumes, sweets, fatty foods).
Failure to comply with the regime and overheating (dehydration) of the child.
Lack of enzyme in the intestinal microflora - lactase (read about the causes of its deficiency and treatment), which decomposes milk sugar (lactose).
The formula is not suitable for a bottle-fed baby. Recommended for digestive disorders.
An allergic reaction to cow's milk protein is common in children under one year old, in almost 6%.
Intestinal infection.
Dyspepsia or inflammation of the intestines.

Advice. To prevent the air that was swallowed during eating from entering the newborn’s intestines, immediately after feeding it must be held with its head up - “column”. In this position, he will regurgitate all the gases in the stomach.

Symptoms

An attack of bloating in infants begins immediately after feeding and can last up to four hours. This often occurs in the afternoon, often at night and is accompanied by the following symptoms:

restlessness, continuous crying for no apparent reason;
refusal of food;
pale skin;
the baby presses his knees to his tummy;
the tummy is tense, almost hard to the touch;
rumbling in the stomach;
constipation;
greenish foamy stool;
gases rarely pass.

It should be noted that almost all “premature” children experience increased gas formation in the intestines due to an underdeveloped digestive tract.

How can I help?

Below we will look at simple, but at the same time effective methods fight against flatulence.

Place on stomach

To alleviate the child’s suffering, you first need to lay him on his tummy - he moves his arms and legs, giving himself a massage.

Apply a warm diaper

A proven method is a warm diaper, warmed with an iron and applied to the tummy. Don’t forget to first place the diaper on your cheek to determine the comfortable temperature!

Get a massage

Many mothers successfully use clockwise massage. You need to “warm up” the baby massage oil between your palms and, carefully, starting from the navel, move to the edges of the tummy in a circular motion.

Exercise "bicycle"

One of the most effective ways– image of a bicycle and pressing the legs to the tummy.

Gas outlet pipe

If none of the methods helps, a gas outlet tube is inserted into the anus.

Adjusting your diet

When flatulence in a one-month-old baby is caused by poor nutrition, then nursing mothers should reconsider their diet and exclude gas-forming foods.

We walk and move more

It is necessary to walk with the child every day, immediately the next day after discharge (and not in a week, a month, or “as soon as the umbilical cord heals”). Physical training on a fitball is also very useful.

Advice. Pharmacies sell many medications and medicinal herbs from the formation of gases, but under no circumstances buy them at your own discretion and do not consult a pharmacist. Only a doctor should diagnose and treat symptoms! Moreover, flatulence can be a symptom of a life-threatening disease.

Flatulence in children 2-5 years old

In children who are already 2 years old, the cycle of forming intestinal functions and filling it with beneficial microflora ends. At this age, flatulence occurs much less frequently than in newborns. But as a result of the fact that the diet of a 2-year-old child is already completely changing, painful symptoms can often be observed.

In children 2-3 years old, the reasons for increased gas formation are the same:

eating sweets, buns, white bread, grapes, berries;
plant products containing starch and coarse fiber (fruits, herbs, cereals, vegetables, legumes);
an inactive lifestyle, which is rarely typical for a 3-year-old child;
too much weight;
(microflora disturbance);
congenital deficiency of enzymes necessary for digestive function.

At 4 years old, the baby already goes to kindergarten, and signs of flatulence may appear from the first days of your visit. Due to changes in diet, the intestines go through a period of adaptation. This can cause mental suffering. After all, gases can pass involuntarily in a public place among friends.

In children 4-5 years old, bloating occurs for the following reasons:

eating sweets in large quantities;
nervous tension, stress;
chewing gum;
(passive lifestyle);
obesity.

Advice. Parents be careful! Pronounced flatulence in a child manifests itself in such serious dyspeptic diseases as: inflammation of the pancreas, stagnation in the intestines, helminthic infestation, mucous colitis. In these cases, only a doctor can determine the causes, and treatment is prescribed immediately.

Flatulence in children 6-10 years old

In children 6 years old, the main causes of bloating have the same symptoms as in preschoolers:

swallowing air;
microflora disturbance;
unbalanced diet;
constipation (including).

Especially great value for a 7 year old child there is a psychological factor. It is during this period that the children's age crisis occurs. Children at this moment are especially susceptible to neuroses that affect the functioning of the digestive tract.

Bloating is also a common symptom among students at school. In children 8 years old, as well as in schoolchildren 10 years old, the following signs of flatulence are observed:

overeating;
use harmful products(chips, cereal);
drinking carbonated drinks;
unbalanced diet (it is at this age that children begin to “choose” food);
dysbacteriosis;
violation of peristalsis;
overuse of medications;
neuroses;
intestinal infections.

Diagnosis and assistance

Children over two years old can already describe to their parents what worries them. You should know that with any pain, they point to the navel area, since they do not yet know how to determine the localization of pain. The main symptoms remain continuous crying, acute, tense abdomen, belching, weakness, and nausea. Sometimes the pain radiates to the child’s legs.

Treatment of flatulence in children will be effective if you observe which foods cause bloating. And to help their child, parents must change their diet. A diet for flatulence is prescribed by a doctor. Dishes should be boiled or steamed. Eat food at moderate temperatures - not too hot, not too cold. Drink a lot still water and herbal teas.

Gastroenterologists recommend eating 5-7 times a day, but little by little, chewing food well. Nutritionists recommend chewing food 30 times and only then swallowing it. Thus, it enters the stomach a quarter processed, which provides great assistance to the digestive tract.

Below is a list of “allowed” foods so that adults know what to feed a child with flatulence:

fermented milk products;
low-fat cheeses;
porridge (non-dairy);
poultry, rabbit meat;
lean fish;
beets;
pumpkin;
omelettes.

To cure flatulence in a child, you need to remove foods that cause gas from the menu. You can’t feel sorry for him and let him eat candy or an apple “at least once.” This can only make the disease worse.

He should lead a natural, active lifestyle, walk daily, play active games with friends or parents. A favorable psychological environment at home, in kindergarten or school is very important.

If a child farts often (that is, flatulence occurs), then, as a rule, in the absence of changes general condition, this is a manifestation of a disease such as simple dyspepsia, or indigestion. In addition, if an infant receives only breast milk, then flatulence is usually due to the nutrition of the nursing mother.

If intense discharge of gases is accompanied by an increase in body temperature, the appearance of a rash, frequent vomiting or diarrhea, and the child becomes lethargic and capricious, then in this case it is necessary to urgently consult a doctor, since the baby may have infectious disease or toxic poisoning. In case of flatulence in a child with a simultaneous deterioration in the general condition, a doctor’s consultation is necessary.

It must be said that the main reasons why a child farts often are:

improper nutrition of a nursing mother;
the occurrence of simple dyspepsia.

The mother's diet is of great importance when flatulence occurs in breastfed children. So, if a nursing woman’s diet contains fresh fruits, vegetables, brown bread, and milk, then these products usually cause flatulence in children.

In turn, the main causes of simple dyspepsia, or indigestion, are the following:

erratic feeding, when there are no or no time intervals between feedings;
incorrect ratio nutrients(carbohydrates, proteins, fats) with the introduction of additional products (complementary foods);
insufficient amount of fluid to drink, especially in the hot season;
low content of vitamins in the diet;
Regular overheating of the child.

In addition to flatulence, with simple dyspepsia, a child may experience the following symptoms:

at the beginning of the disease - regurgitation, then attacks of vomiting are recorded daily (1-2 times a day);
frequent bowel movements up to 6-8 times a day (feces are yellowish-green in color mixed with mucus and white lumps);
occasionally low-grade fever occurs;
the stomach is swollen, sometimes intestinal colic occurs;
exhaust gases have an unpleasant odor;
there is a slight decrease in body weight;
the tongue is dry with a white coating.

Despite the prevailing opinion that a baby cannot be overfed with breast milk, some pediatricians hold a completely different point of view.

Thus, you can overfeed your baby with breast milk. And in this case, indigestion occurs, since part of the breast milk simply does not have time to be digested.

Simple indigestion, or simple dyspepsia, usually lasts no more than a week and ends with correct treatment without complications.

Treatment of flatulence

If an infant farts frequently and is only breastfed (without complementary foods), and if there are no symptoms of simple dyspepsia, it is necessary to adjust the diet of the nursing mother. The following should be excluded from its menu:

fresh vegetables and fruits;
milk;
black bread;
legumes;
other products that cause active gas formation.

The nutrition of a nursing mother should be balanced and include a sufficient amount of nutrients and vitamins for the child and the woman.

Therefore, fresh vegetables and fruits should be replaced with baked or boiled ones. Instead of black bread, you should use baked goods that do not contain rye flour. In addition, it is better to include slightly stale bread in the menu, as yeast contributes to the appearance of flatulence. As for dairy products, it is advisable to replace whole milk with fermented milk products - kefir, fermented baked milk, etc.

If a child is diagnosed with simple dyspepsia, therapy is usually prescribed. Firstly, you need to take a fasting break for 6-8 hours while maintaining your drinking regime. During this time, the child should receive a drink at the rate of 0.15-0.17 liters per 1 kg of body weight. To drink you should give:

saline sodium chloride solution (0.9%) body temperature;
weakly brewed black tea;
rosehip infusion;
sweetened water;
vegetable broth;
5% glucose solution.

A fasting break promotes rest and normalization of the gastrointestinal tract. During this time, the stomach is freed from excess food, and the processes of decay also stop.

After a fasting break for 2-3 days it is indicated breast-feeding with a reduction in the time spent at the breast to 7-10 minutes. The lack of breast milk is replenished with liquid (teas, decoctions, etc.). If the child is bottle-fed, then in the first 24 hours after the fasting break, 1/2 of the usual amount of formula is given, and during the second and third days - 2/3 of the usual amount.

B vitamins and vitamin C are usually recommended as drug treatment for simple dyspepsia. Children, as a rule, tolerate these vitamins well; allergic reactions are rare.

Prevention of flatulence

The main prevention of flatulence in children (one-month-old baby, baby up to six months, etc.) is the formation of proper diet mother.

If the child is already receiving complementary foods or eating independently, then to prevent simple dyspepsia it is necessary to eliminate the causes that cause its occurrence.

Many parents become scared if their baby farts frequently. They immediately begin to think about dysbiosis and other intestinal problems. But in fact, this process is absolutely normal and demonstrates that all the baby’s systems are functioning stably. It’s another matter if the process of removing gas is painful and causes discomfort for the baby - in this case, you should think about the causes of the discomfort.

Gas formation in the intestines occurs constantly, it helps peristalsis and prevents mucous membranes from sticking together. Ideally, a newborn should not experience discomfort or pain when gases move inside or out. But most children before 3-4 months are overtaken by painful flatulence; babies cry and curl their legs to show their mothers that they are in pain. How to help your baby with excessive gas formation and reduce the risk of its occurrence?

Why do babies get gas?

The intestinal microflora of a newborn is just beginning to form, and digestive tract trying to switch from intrauterine nutrition to “human” nutrition. While the system is not stable, it often malfunctions, excessive gas is formed in children, peristalsis and stool character are disrupted. In addition, the parents themselves, unwittingly or out of ignorance, can cause excessive gas formation in the child, and then the baby often farts.

When changing food, increased gas formation may occur in the child's intestines. If you replace breastfeeding with artificial feeding or one type of formula with another, the baby will cry for some time, twist its legs and press them under itself, showing you that it has flatulence and a very sore tummy.
Incorrect body position during feeding can lead to the baby swallowing air. Not finding a way out, the gases are forced to pass through the entire gastrointestinal tract and naturally come out, then the baby farts.
The same situation occurs when a newborn does not properly latch onto the nipple or silicone nipple during artificial feeding. If the bottle with the formula is too tilted, the baby may swallow air along with the liquid.
The milk produced in the mother's breast is not the same in composition. The “fore” milk is sweet, liquid and easy to drink, while the hind milk is fatty and flows slowly. Children are often too lazy to waste energy and suck on the most useful parts - and ask for another breast. In this case, the child does not receive enough nutrients, and the composition that he receives with foremilk provokes increased gas formation. A newborn farts a lot, but you don’t understand why the flatulence occurred.
The diet of a nursing mother greatly affects the baby. Everything she eats is passed on to the baby through milk. If the mother dined on cabbage or legumes, it is logical that the baby farts at night and is capricious from abdominal cramps.

How can you treat flatulence?

You can use any medications to eliminate gases only as prescribed by your pediatrician. The doctor will assess the condition of your newborn,, if necessary, prescribe a test for dysbiosis and decide on the advisability of therapy.

If the doctor has doubts about the adequacy of the enzymes produced by the infant’s pancreas, he may recommend taking lactase;
If the test results indicate a lack of microflora, the pediatrician will prescribe probiotics that will populate your baby’s intestines with the necessary bacteria and improve the processes of the digestive system, eliminating gases;
If increased gas formation torments the baby, the doctor will prescribe simethicone. Preparations containing it break gas bubbles and remove them from the body, and also have an antispasmodic effect.

How to help a baby if he is tormented by gases?

The use of medications is an extreme step, and the doctor will prescribe them only if conservative methods do not help reduce gas formation in an infant. As a rule, massage, gymnastics and proper nutrition eliminate flatulence.

An infusion of fennel and dill seeds stimulates peristalsis and the production of enzymes and relieves spasms. If the baby does not like to drink on his own, the mother can take this mild natural medicine, and its properties will be transferred to the baby along with the milk;
Massaging the tummy also improves peristalsis. You can, by gently pressing, move your fingers clockwise around the navel, kneading the contents of the belly. It is useful to press the baby’s knees to his tummy, simultaneously or alternately, as in the “bicycle” exercise, so that gases move faster to the exit. Placing babies on their stomachs before feeding is also a good measure to stimulate the gastrointestinal tract.
To prevent air from entering the gastric tract, it is necessary to carefully monitor how the baby eats. It should completely grip the nipple or silicone nipple of the bottle, and the position of its head during feeding should be higher than the position of its legs. After the newborn has eaten, it is necessary to keep him in an upright position so that gases can easily escape from the stomach.
Often, when holding a baby “in a column” after feeding, not all bubbles of swallowed air come out. If the baby’s position in the crib is strictly horizontal, they will travel further along the gastrointestinal tract and turn into gases, causing pain in the baby. If the design of a newborn’s crib allows the head of the bed to be raised by 30 degrees, then the baby’s head will be higher than the legs and over time, air bubbles will escape through the mouth.
Sugar causes fermentation processes, and if your baby prefers to eat only sweet “foremilk”, he may experience flatulence. If he abandons one breast and reaches for the other, do not give it to the newborn; he must suck the rich, healthy milk from the first. For the same reason, it is not advisable for the mother herself to get carried away with sweets if she does not want her baby to be tormented by gas.
To alleviate the condition of a crying baby, a gas outlet tube is often used. Its tip is lubricated with cream and gently screwed into the rectum by 1-2 cm. If a child cries because for some reason he does not fart, the tube will immediately help remove gases and the baby will calm down. But this rubber product should be used with caution, since if used carelessly there is a risk of perforation of the child’s intestinal mucosa.
A nursing mother should strictly monitor her diet. Everything she consumes through milk enters the baby's body. In order not to cause increased gas formation in children, mothers should give up cabbage, legumes and grapes.

A newborn baby cries when he farts - this worries parents, since such symptoms may be signs of dysbiosis. But you shouldn’t immediately make diagnoses, but rather understand this problem.

Why does a child fart and cry?

The baby cries a lot when he farts, because the newborn feels previously unfamiliar sensations: bloating, intestinal colic, the urge to defecate. An infant has no other means of communication with the people around him, except for crying.

If the baby farts and cries a lot, parents need to pay attention to the child’s nutrition in order to eliminate irritating factors.

Why does a baby cry when it farts:

It is painful for a baby to fart, since increased gas formation in the intestines causes discomfort to the child;
intestinal colic, causing antispasmodic pain in the child;
with constipation, the baby also farts and cries;
the child cries when he passes gas due to a sudden transition from natural to artificial feeding;
The nursing mother does not follow a diet or new complementary foods cause gas formation in the intestines.

Newborn often passes gas and cries , since his digestive system is just getting started and does not always cope with the load that is placed on it. The newborn’s body does not yet have enough enzymes to digest food. For nine months, the fetal body received only nutrients from the mother, and now it is forced to independently obtain them from incoming food.

When a baby often farts and cries, mothers who are breastfeeding need to keep a food diary in which they note the foods they eat and record the baby’s reaction to these foods. By keeping records in this way, parents will be able to determine the reason why the baby often farts and cries.

How to release gas in newborns?

Pediatricians do not advise interfering with the natural processes in the child’s body, however, when a child farts and cries and his condition does not improve, parents can alleviate the suffering of the little man.

It is enough to start removing gases from a newborn using natural medicines or a gas tube. Medicines: drops and teas can be bought at any pharmacy; dill water will also help with this problem.

An ordinary pipette (without a rubber tip) or an attachment from a children's enema bulb is used as a gas outlet tube. The principle of a gas outlet tube is that gases escape through this tube easier and faster than naturally.

How to release gas in newborns video:

How often can newborns pass gas? If the child farts a lot, but is active and does not cry, there is no need to remove gases or give any medications. If an infant farts and cries for a long time, and all measures have been taken: frequently placing the child on his stomach, performing gymnastics and massage did not produce results, you can use medications or a gas tube.

But do not forget that frequent farting promotes bowel movements, and with unjustified intervention contributes to constipation in the newborn.

A child farts and cries at 1 year of age, most often when constipation occurs or a new product is introduced into the baby’s diet. The baby’s body has already established the functioning of the digestive system, but a violation of the diet, the individual reaction of the body to a particular product causes colic, cramps in the child’s abdomen, as a result of which the baby often farts and cries.

The child screams when he farts due to discomfort or pain, which causes him constipation and intestinal colic.

If the usual methods for placing the baby on the stomach, carrying out gymnastic exercises, excluding new foods from the diet has not yielded results, the child’s parents should consult a pediatrician for advice.

Perhaps the reason for this behavior is dysbacteriosis or the development of staphylococcus. Upon referral from the pediatrician, stool samples or a smear will be taken to determine the cause of the disease. Based on the research, the pediatrician will prescribe qualified treatment.

Many parents have to deal with a situation where a newborn farts and cries. This manifestation of childhood intestinal colic is common and causes quite severe pain to the little toddler. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to avoid colic in newborn babies. Every child suffers from this to one degree or another. This is due to the fact that the baby is for a long time Being in the mother’s tummy is used to functioning according to one method, and after birth it is attacked by many factors at once real life. A newborn's constant desire to be held in his mother's arms in the usual embrace alternates with incomprehensible pain in the tummy. This is where the constant crying and whims come from.

It takes a baby several months for its digestive system to begin to cope with the load. And all this time the baby’s gastrointestinal tract is growing up, parents will have to gain strength and wait. Only your patience, love and care will help the baby during this difficult period. Be calm about periodic colic, gasping and changes in your baby's stool.

The most important thing in this situation is not to panic, because colic is a very common phenomenon in infants. And from panic and constant anxiety, a nursing mother may lose milk. The transition from breastfeeding to artificial feeding will cause an even greater attack of colic in the baby!

Let's calmly understand all the intricacies of this matter, find out the causes of its occurrence, methods of control and prevention.

Causes of colic in newborns

The main reason for this problem is the immaturity of the digestive system. Before birth, the child did not have to deal with digesting food; his mother did it for him. Now, when maternal or artificial milk enters his tummy, active foaming occurs and gases are released. The situation is further aggravated by the large amount of air that the child often swallows while eating.

Pay attention to the correct placement of the toddler to the chest! This will not only help him eat well, but will also reduce the severity of colic in his baby tummy. The less air the baby swallows, the less gases will accumulate in his intestines!

Also, children of this age often experience difficulty passing stool. The baby's fermentation does not have time to cope with the incoming milk. It is difficult for a baby to cope with a completely new task of removing feces and gases from his tummy. It takes time to learn all this, but in the meantime, the child farts and cries.

Also, colic and the active secretion of gas are often influenced by the incorrect diet of a nursing mother. You should be careful about what she eats and record your baby's reaction to these foods. Keep a special food diary for your baby and clearly record your entire diet there.

Let's once again list the causes of colic in newborn babies:

Adaptation of a child to “adult” food;
A sharp transition from breastfeeding to artificial feeding;
Slow process of assimilation of complementary foods;
Incorrect selection of formula;
Maternal malnutrition.

Is colic normal for babies?

Naturally, it is very difficult for all parents to see their child cry. The child turns very red, tenses, then farts and screams. This makes his parents feel great concern for the health of their baby. Why does he do this? What hurts him? Or maybe it's dysbacteriosis?

Anxieties and worries are quite clear, but not always justified. If the baby is developing well, is constantly gaining weight and has an excellent appetite, then it is not he who has the problem, but his parents! These indicators indicate that the child’s body is functioning perfectly and does not suffer from any abnormalities or disorders. Farting and crying? It's OK! Wait a few months and everything will be behind you.

The baby will learn to control himself, his digestive and nervous systems will become stronger. Give him some time!

If the child exhibits disturbances in normal increase to weight, there is no appetite, then it is necessary to show it to the pediatrician! He will conduct a series of tests, prescribe a specific diet for the nursing mother and prescribe the necessary medications for treatment.

When will my baby's colic go away?

At the age of 3-4 months, the baby’s digestive system is fully functional and colic gradually disappears. In some cases this happens much later. Boys are especially susceptible to this due to their structural features. nervous system.

Treatment and prevention of colic manifestations

Let us immediately draw your attention to the fact that treatment should only be prescribed by the attending physician. Self-medication can cause serious damage to the health of your miracle!

Some simple tips for prevention:

Often there is an active manifestation of colic when evening comes. The baby begins to moan, grunt, fart and scream. Sometimes the crying goes away after the gases are successfully removed from the intestines, and sometimes the child can cry for several hours in a row. Evening “concerts” are directly related to the fatigue of the children’s nervous system. During the day the baby learns the world around us, listens to unfamiliar voices and sees some faces, of which he recognizes only his own mother’s face. In the evening, after receiving a lot of impressions, an explosion occurs due to anxiety in the tummy. To avoid this, try in every possible way to avoid noisy quarrels and scandals in the room where a small child is. A favorable home environment will help both the baby and his mother cope with this little misfortune.
Try to place your little one on his tummy more often and play with him in this position. The pediatrician may also advise you to use a special ball for baby tummy exercises. Just don’t do such exercises when the baby has just eaten. Leg exercises are also extremely useful for a little toddler. Pull his legs towards you and then press them against his tummy. This will help the easy and painless passage of gases and feces. During such exercises, the newborn farts easily and does not experience discomfort.

Often, pediatricians prescribe medications for the treatment of colic in newborns to normalize the intestinal microflora (Bifiform, Hilak Forte, etc.). Also prescribed are drugs that have the ability to destroy gas bubbles inside the intestines (Espumizan, Bebinos).

It is possible that your pediatrician will advise supplementing your child with decoctions of fennel, anise or chamomile.

Be healthy!

A newborn child, especially if he is the first in the family, often surprises young parents and confuses them with its peculiarities. Adults have a good idea of how an “adult” body functions, but a baby is not a smaller copy of an adult, and his body still works according to different laws. For example, new mothers may be concerned that their baby farts and poops many times a day. Let's try to figure out whether there is any reason for concern.

How a newborn poops

If your baby is breastfed, then the fact that he poops 5-6 times a day is completely normal. Breast milk is absorbed very quickly, which is what gives it this effect. Despite the fact that the consistency of infants' stool is liquid, this is not diarrhea. You can only talk about diarrhea when the baby poops about 20 times a day.

Artificial babies poop less often - 1-2 times a day, and their stool has a different consistency. The feces are more shaped and have a characteristic odor.

Why does a child fart often?

It is also not surprising that a newborn baby farts: gases are formed during the digestion of breast milk or formula. This process intensifies if the mother does not follow a diet and her diet contains gas-forming products (peas, white cabbage, grapes, etc.).

Infantile colic

Some mothers notice repeating situations: the newborn baby is worried, cries, bends its legs, then farts, maybe even poops, and calms down. Obviously, the accumulation of gases in the tummy gives him discomfort. So-called infant colic may be behind this behavior. It is believed that this phenomenon has nothing to do with the mother’s diet and its errors. Colic occurs due to the immaturity of the baby's intestines and the lack of enzymes to digest milk or formula.

Since the baby always cries during an attack, I want to somehow alleviate his condition. Usually this helps carminatives, that is, agents that facilitate the passage of gases. Such products “break” gas plugs into small bubbles, which come out much easier and do not irritate the intestinal mucosa.

A tummy massage and a warm heating pad can help ease the passage of gas. It is better to take all these measures before the attack begins. The last resort is a gas outlet tube. Its downside is that it is addictive. Mothers notice that if they often use the gas tube, after a while the baby can no longer “fart” and poop without it.

Dysbacteriosis

Another reason why a child often farts and cries is dysbacteriosis. In addition to the above-mentioned manifestations, it is accompanied by foamy or greenish stools. An imbalance in the intestinal flora in a newborn can be caused by various factors: from taking medications by the mother or child to simply drinking water. Given the immaturity of the intestines, even harmless boiled water can cause changes in microflora and dysbacteriosis.

Doctors have different opinions on the topic of treating dysbiosis. Some do not consider it a disease and suggest simply observing correct mode nutrition and wait for the restoration of normal stool. However, few mothers are ready to calmly watch their baby poop “greens” and cry from unpleasant sensations in the tummy. To treat dysbiosis, bacterial preparations are prescribed to help populate the baby’s intestines with the necessary microorganisms.

All infant bowel problems go away by 3 months, so mothers should not worry if their baby farts frequently. At this stage, the mother is required to calm down and help alleviate the baby’s condition if his tummy is bothering him.

Increased gas production - why does a baby fart often?

The intestinal microflora of a newborn is just beginning to form, and the digestive tract itself is trying to switch from intrauterine nutrition to “human” nutrition. While the system is not stable, it often malfunctions, excessive gas is formed in children, peristalsis and stool character are disrupted. In addition, the parents themselves, unwittingly or out of ignorance, can cause excessive gas formation in the child, and then the baby often farts.

When changing food, increased gas formation may occur in the child’s intestines. If you replace breastfeeding with artificial feeding or one type of formula with another, the baby will cry for some time, twist its legs and press them under itself, showing you that it has flatulence and a very sore tummy.
Incorrect body position during feeding can lead to the baby swallowing air. Not finding a way out, the gases are forced to pass through the entire gastrointestinal tract and naturally come out, then the baby farts.
The same situation occurs when a newborn does not properly latch onto the nipple or silicone nipple during artificial feeding. If the bottle with the formula is too tilted, the baby may swallow air along with the liquid.
The milk produced in the mother's breast is not the same in composition. The “fore” milk is sweet, liquid and easy to drink, while the hind milk is fatty and flows slowly. Often children are too lazy to waste energy and suck on the most useful parts - and ask for another breast. In this case, the child does not receive enough nutrients, and the composition that he receives with foremilk provokes increased gas formation. A newborn farts a lot, but you don’t understand why the flatulence occurred.
The diet of a nursing mother greatly affects the baby. Everything she eats is passed on to the baby through milk. If the mother dined on cabbage or legumes, it is logical that the baby farts at night and is capricious from abdominal cramps.

How can you treat flatulence?

If the doctor has doubts about the adequacy of the enzymes produced by the infant’s pancreas, he may recommend taking lactase;
If the test results indicate a lack of microflora, the pediatrician will prescribe probiotics that will populate your baby’s intestines with the necessary bacteria and improve the processes of the digestive system, eliminating gases;
If increased gas formation torments the baby, the doctor will prescribe simethicone. Preparations containing it break gas bubbles and remove them from the body, and also have an antispasmodic effect.

How to help a baby if he is tormented by gases?

The use of medications is an extreme step, and the doctor will prescribe them only if conservative methods do not help reduce gas formation in the patient. infant. As a rule, massage, gymnastics and proper nutrition eliminate flatulence.

An infusion of fennel and dill seeds stimulates peristalsis and the production of enzymes and relieves spasms. If the baby does not like to drink on his own, the mother can take this mild natural medicine, and its properties will be transferred to the baby along with the milk;
Massaging the tummy also improves peristalsis. You can, by gently pressing, move your fingers clockwise around the navel, kneading the contents of the belly. It is useful to press the baby’s knees to his tummy, simultaneously or alternately, as in the “bicycle” exercise, so that gases move faster to the exit. Placing babies on their stomachs before feeding is also a good measure to stimulate the gastrointestinal tract.
To prevent air from entering the gastric tract, it is necessary to carefully monitor how the baby eats. It should completely grip the nipple or silicone nipple of the bottle, and the position of its head during feeding should be higher than the position of its legs. After the newborn has eaten, it is necessary to keep him in an upright position so that gases can easily escape from the stomach.
Often, when holding a baby “in a column” after feeding, not all bubbles of swallowed air come out. If the baby’s position in the crib is strictly horizontal, they will travel further along the gastrointestinal tract and turn into gases, causing pain in the baby. If the design of a newborn’s crib allows the head of the bed to be raised by 30 degrees, then the baby’s head will be higher than the legs and over time, air bubbles will escape through the mouth.
Sugar causes fermentation processes, and if your baby prefers to eat only sweet “foremilk”, he may experience flatulence. If he abandons one breast and reaches for the other, do not give it to the newborn; he must suck the rich, healthy milk from the first. For the same reason, it is not advisable for the mother herself to get carried away with sweets if she does not want her baby to be tormented by gas.
To alleviate the condition of a crying baby, a gas outlet tube is often used. Its tip is lubricated with cream and gently screwed into the rectum by 1-2 cm. If a child cries because for some reason he does not fart, the tube will immediately help remove gases and the baby will calm down. But this rubber product should be used with caution, since if used carelessly there is a risk of perforation of the child’s intestinal mucosa.
A nursing mother should strictly monitor her diet. Everything she consumes through milk enters the baby's body. In order not to cause increased gas formation in children, mothers should give up cabbage, legumes and grapes.