My one and only baby boy-8mths is having problems with gas and what appears to be tummy discomfort in the early morning hours. Usually this occurs around 4am or so. He has not had anything to eat for approximately 7 to 8 hours. He becomes very restless and sometimes awakens crying like he is in pain, he moves around the bed until he finds a position that allows him to pass the gas. I have read lots about how crying etc. make this worse, but he is not really a crier. He had lots of problems with GERD, but seems to have out grown this for the most part. I give him meds for gas, but has anyone else had this kind of issue and is there any thing that we can do to help prevent this early morning problem. He is not hungry when this happens so I don't think it is related to that. This problem just started happening about two weeks ago. We don't see the doctor again until July 10th so I'm trying to see if this is a common problem to some degree or do I need to contact the doctor prior to the appt. Thanks ahead of time for any advice you guys may have.
You might try putting a bottle (or sippy cup -- the kind with the rubber valve) of WATER in the bed with him at night and let him know that it's there. A few sips might settle his tummy and/or he may also be thirsty.
How do you know he's not hungry? Maybe he is hungry due to a growth spurt. I also agree that Gripe Water may be a good one to try. But I would stay away from Karo syrup. That's outdated and dangerous advice (Karo syrup can contain botulism spores. Go to Karo's website, you'll see a disclaimer there. The chance is small, but there is still the chance). If you've started solids, maybe he's having problems with one. Could be a mild allergy.
If you are really concerned, you could call the ped's office for phone advice while you wait on your next appointment.
Hi, J.. Having worked in Pediatrics in the past, I would recommend that you check with your child's physician, even if it is just through a telephone call. Anytime there is anything that is questionable to you, especially if it is causing your baby pain. The rule of thumb is that if there is anything that hangs on for 2 weeks it should be checked out by your physician. For infants, it is sometimes shorter, depending on what it is. For example if there is a fever over a certain degree (like 101 I think) when the child is under a certain age (60 days, I believe) or a fine rash anywhere on the body, that should be checked immediately because that could be a sign of a potentailly serious infection somewhere in their little bodies. I cannot say what your son's issue sounds like, but I do think that it would not hurt to have him looked at by his doctor. The fact that he wakes out of a sleep and that it occurs at the same time each night is interesting and bears mentioning if you do decide to take him to see the doctor, which I strongly recommend. I would also like to add that you should never follow any advice from any source, no matter how trusted, without first checking with your doctor or at the very least a pharmacist. You never know what is in what you may be putting on or in your body or your family's bodies. Just the smallest little things that seem so benign can cause a very serious reaction, and I am speaking from 14 years of experience in the medical field working my from a medical assistant to an office manager to a dialysis technician, to a nurse. I have tons of experience and advice to give. I see that other mamas have gives wonderful advice, and I hope one of has been able to help you. I hope the best for you and your family, and will keep your baby in my prayers. Best of luck and God Bless you all!
My son was born when I was but eight days from being 36 and I felt sooo blessed. My only other child was nearly 16years old and I was starting to worry about being alone since I was divorce. He has been a beautiful addition to my life. He was plagued with problems from the start and when I finally had him tested, he was allergic to everything nearly. He was on everything from the regular formulas to the soy milks and I finally raised him on the soy based milks but the allergist said he had no idea how I did it since he was terribly allergic to it also, being allergic to legumes. He had gerd from the day he was born. Then he had the gas really bad. The doctors didn't catch it for a long time and then sent him to the allergist and that is what they found. I am not trying to alarm you that may not be your case at all, but you might want to check into it.
S.
My son had a bad prob with gas also, I would just rub his belly until he went back to sleep. If he acted like he was hungry, I would give him just a little formula to tide him over until the morning. As with the gas drops, both of my kids always did worse while I was giving them the drops. It seemed they would get more and more fussy, and acted like they were in excrutiating pain whenever I gave them the drops. Once I quit giving the drops to them, they started calming down a little and they were soothed more easily.
You may want to try Karo(light) syrup in his milk and see if that helps pass the gas. It helped my son and nephew alot!
it is great that he is able to pass the gas on his own, after some hunting out that perfect position. at 8 months, i would think that it was related to a food you have recently introduced. at this age, they are eating new things every day, and we dont even realize it sometimes. some of the most common allergens that cause stomach discomfort, are soy, peas, beans, and nuts. soy is a really tricky one, because almost all pre-packaged baked goods, and processed foods like crackers, contain soy. my son vomits within 30 min. of eating soy lecithin, which is in soy milk, and baked goods. we read labels like novels, very thoroughly. take a look at your little mans diet, and see what may have been added in the last 2 weeks or so. and remember that a child develops an allergy after at least 2 exposures to an allergen. so if he ate peas as babyfood, but now is eating regular peas, that could do it. good luck, i hope that you find a solution to your problem.
Hello J.,
My son has the same problem. He has had GERD since he was two months old. He is 10 months now he doesn't have it as bad. I breastfeed. He has gas really bad and he screams and arches his back mainly its at night. He constantly wants to eat at night still. I got a referral to the Pediatric GI clinic at Vanderbilt. My appointment isn't until the 23rd of July. Eating is the only the only thing that helps my son. Sorry I don't have much advice just wanted you to know your not the only with the problem. Good Luck.
Have you introduced a new food sometime in the last two weeks or so? I'm wondering if something he's eating (or you're eating, if you're still nursing him) is upsetting his stomach.
My now 3 month old daughter would wake in the middle of the night with the same issue. I breastfeed,so I've found that after nursing her I give her Mylicon then put her to sleep. This has seemed to work. Now that she sleeps through the night and wakes up hungry (but not crying at all) I give her Mylicon then I nurse her. Hope this helps you.
burp him really well. also i learned that if you rub there belly clockwise and move their legs up to the chest it helps. there is also something called grip water that you can get at any pharmacy... it saved our lives!!!! you just put some in the bottle and it works wonders good luck
Gripe Water worked like a charm on my daughter. She very rarely had any troubles, but when she did . . . Baby Bliss' Gripe Water to the rescue!
Your post didn't mention what you were feeding him, so as a previous poster suggested, a food allergy might be the problem. I was nursing my daughter exclusively for the first 9 months of her life, but she still occasionally got bouts of gas like you are describing.
I would call the Doc. back and let them know what your concerns are. My oldest little girl had problems I gave her all kinds of things , gas drops every bottle to keeping track of bowel movements, suppositories. you name it I tried it. They finally did a barium enimma on her.( I think thats how to spell it) it where they inject this chalk stuff up the rectum. It looks really bad, but they take x-rays. They ended up not seeing anything, but they said that maybe she had a kinked bowel and the stuff unkinked it. She had no more problems after the enimma.She seemed to be fine during the day but at night it was on. She would poop so noone thought she was constipated. but the enimma works and that is the only thing they could fingure out. Just call your Doc. Good Luck and hope it gets better.
you didn't state if you'd added anything new to his diet. if so try weeding out specific foods and see if that helps. if not call your dr asap gas may seem small but it hurts BIG. take care.
