Infants experience gas… a lot of gas. For new parents, infant gas may seem so excessive that it almost feels like something to be concerned about. But the reality is that a gassy baby is very normal. Unfortunately, so too is an amount of distress and discomfort that goes along with that gas. For babies, experiencing gas can be an unpleasant experience.

But this discomfort is not necessarily a sign that anything is wrong. Rather, your baby is figuring out an entirely new way to ingest and digest food. (For infants, just about everything is new.) These sensations are so new, in fact, that your baby can experience surprise and distress for the first several months of their life. 

For parents and caretakers, offering comfort and learning how to soothe your baby can be important skills to learn. When your baby can’t be soothed or seems to experience distress that goes beyond normal expectations, it may be important to talk to your baby’s pediatrician or seek medical advice. 

In most cases, however, discomfort associated with gas will eventually resolve on its own as your infant grows and becomes accustomed to the new sensations and experiences.

Why Babies Experience So Much Gas (and Why They Dislike it)

Babies tend to dislike passing gas. It’s a surprising and sometimes slightly painful experience. As a result, crying when passing gas is both normal and common–even if it can be difficult for parents. 

As with all humans, there are typically two ways that infants pass or expel gas: burps and farts. Both of these methods tend to happen more frequently in infants than adults. That happens for several reasons, including the following:

• Babies swallow a lot of air: One thing that many people will often forget is that newborn babies have never used their mouths to consume liquid or solids before. It’s a whole new process for them. Which means they are not as practiced or efficient as adults or older children. One of the ways this manifests is that babies tend to swallow a lot of air. Swallowed air is generally expelled in the form of burps. So infants tend to burp far more often than adults. As they grow accustomed to feeding, babies learn to swallow less air and will therefore burp less often.

• Your infant’s digestive system is just getting started: Infants are not necessarily born with a fully developed gut biome. They are typically exposed to these helpful bacteria after they are born. And because gut biomes are essential to healthy digestion, this basically means that your baby’s digestive system is starting from scratch. As the gut biome becomes established, gas is often a normal byproduct. This can lead to significantly more baby farts than one might at first expect. But parents shouldn’t worry. These farts are typically an excellent sign that your baby’s digestive system is starting to work as expected.

In other words, infant gas is a good sign that your baby’s digestive system is starting to work in a healthy and productive way. But to your infant, these are all entirely new sensations and experiences. As a result, babies will likely cry and get fussy when experiencing gas. This may last for at least the first few months of their life. 

And while there are some things parents can do to soothe and minimize this discomfort, the overall unpleasantness of the experience should eventually subside on its own. Eventually gas will become a normal part of everyday life for your baby (just like it is for the rest of us).

Signs Your Baby is Experiencing Digestive Issues

While discomfort associated with gas is incredibly common, it’s important for parents and caretakers to know what’s normal and what isn’t. This can be a challenge. Parents may find it difficult to use typical crying or fussiness to gauge whether there’s a problem. 

This can be important because digestive issues are important to treat. Your baby is growing quickly and requires a significant amount of calories everyday. The negative impacts of digestive problems can add up quickly. To help spot these issues, keep an eye out for the following signs:

• Any presentation of a fever: If your baby has a fever–especially if that fever presents with digestive problems–your infant should be evaluated by their pediatrician.

• Your baby won’t calm down in between bouts of gas: When experiencing gas typically, your baby will likely become upset but will then calm down relatively quickly afterward. If your baby remains fussy, however, that may be a sign of digestive issues.

• Your baby does not poop: Your baby should be pooping with frequency, ranging from once every couple of days to several times a day. Some variation in this is to be expected, but If your baby stops pooping altogether, it’s important to make an appointment with your baby’s pediatrician.

• Your baby’s stool is bloody: Blood in the stool can be another sign that there are problems with your baby’s digestion. Bloody stool should be reported to your infant’s pediatrician immediately.

• Your baby begins vomiting: If your baby is vomiting more than usual, talk to your doctor about the best way to proceed or make an appointment. 

It can be scary when your baby’s digestive system isn’t working right. Often, these issues can be treated quickly and successfully by your doctor. Which means the sooner you get your baby looked at, the more quickly they can get back to feeding normally!

How to Help Your Baby Manage Gas

Discomfort, crying, and fussiness are all normal for your baby to experience as they get used to having gas. But that doesn’t mean parents and caretakers are powerless to minimize that discomfort. It can be important to soothe and comfort your baby–as well as prevent unnecessary discomfort from occurring. Many parents have had success with the following strategies:

• Take time to burp your baby during feeding: Burping your baby can be done in several ways. Generally, however, you can simply hold your baby upright during a natural break in feeding and give them a chance to burp. If a burp seems stuck, you can lay your baby down on their back for a minute, bring them upright, and try again. It’s important to note that you don’t need to interrupt your baby’s feeding to burp your baby. Instead, look for natural breaks in their feeding process and use those as opportunities to burp proactively!

• Pay attention to your baby’s position: When feeding your infant, you can help minimize gas by keeping your baby as upright as you can. However, gas is still going to happen! There are two ways to help alleviate this after feeding. First, if your baby is awake, you can lay them on their tummy for a while (do not do this if you are concerned your baby will fall asleep). Second, you can also try laying your baby on their back and pedaling their legs to try to expel some gas that way.

• Try some baby massage: There are some ways that massage can help your baby work out gas more slowly and less explosively, which can make for a more comfortable experience. So try a little infant massage! (There are added benefits to infant massage as well, so this approach provides some extra bonuses).

• Pay attention to when you feed your infant: In many cases, infants become gassy because they swallow air–and they certainly swallow a lot of air while they are crying. If you can feed them before they start getting fussy and crying a lot, that may help minimize the amount of air they take in and, as a result, keep a lid on the amount of gas they experience.

• Talk to your doctor about your diet: If your baby is breast feeding, there may be things that you are eating that could impact your baby. But it’s hard to tell what has a big impact in this way and what doesn’t, so it may be worth talking to your doctor about whether there are any foods you should minimize in your diet. Just be careful about cutting out too many foods. After all, both you and your infant require nutrition!

Gas is Normal… Until it’s Not

Knowing when to consult with your baby’s pediatrician can be tricky. In most cases, you’ll want to talk to your baby’s doctor if it seems as though they are having any kind of digestive issues. It’s always better to be a little too communicative than not communicative enough!

That said, gas is a normal part of your baby’s life! It will begin a little more frequently than you might expect. But after a few months, it should normalize. And your baby should get more used to it and more comfortable with it, too.

If you have questions about gas or what to expect with your baby’s gas, be sure to talk to your baby’s pediatrician during their regular wellness exam. If your baby is a patient here at Children’s Healthcare Associates, you can schedule an appointment at our Northbrook or Chicago offices today!