Gassy Baby? Signs Your Child Has Gas and How To Treat It

A buildup of gas in the intestine can lead to pain in babies and toddlers, causing concern for parents. “Gas is a normal part of the digestive process, but it’s also involved in most intestinal complaints,” says Jeremiah Levine, MD, director of pediatric gastroenterology at NYU Langone Health. “Too much gas is usually a symptom that something else is going on.”

Signs that your gassy baby may have more than just simple baby gas include frequent fussiness, loose or foul-smelling stools, difficulty feeding and/or sleeping, and crying for long periods of time. These could be symptoms of colic or a food intolerance.

On the other hand, for babies who are otherwise happy and feeding well, gas can be normal and not a sign of an underlying medical condition. Learn more about what causes babies to be gassy, how to know whether your baby’s gas is normal or cause for concern, and how to help your little one cope with gas-related discomfort.

Why Is My Baby So Gassy?

Everyone, including your baby, produces and expels gas. As food moves through the gastrointestinal tract, the small intestine absorbs the usable nutrients. Bacteria in the large intestine break down the leftovers, releasing hydrogen and carbon dioxide and producing bubbles of gas in the process. Burping allows some gas to escape from the stomach early on, and the rest travels from the colon to the rectum, where it’s ejected primarily via bowel movements or flatulence.

But when gas doesn’t pass easily, it collects in the digestive tract and causes bloating and discomfort. Babies are especially prone to this. “Newborn digestive systems are immature, so they produce a lot of gas, and this is normal. Infants also take in a lot of air while feeding and crying, which produces more gas,” says Samira Armin, MD, a pediatrician at Texas Children’s Pediatrics in Houston. Bottle-fed babies tend to have it the worst, but breastfeeding doesn’t make a baby immune. Ultimately, it is common to have a gassy newborn.

The frequency of gas is generally not cause for concern, and a fussy baby might be perfectly normal. Unlike adults, babies pass gas with a little less decorum or restraint. “They may seem uncomfortable or just downright fussy when they’ve got gas that needs to come out,” says Ari Brown, MD, an Austin-based pediatrician and the author of Baby 411. “But it’s rare that a baby will actually have discomfort due to gas.”

In other words, the work of expelling gas may look more uncomfortable than it really is for your baby. However, if your baby seems to be in pain, particularly if it doesn’t end after the gas is released, it’s time to consult their pediatrician.

The type of formula

Parents may be tempted to try a new formula at the first sign that their baby is having gas pain. Though there are formulas that are designed and marketed to help with gas, it is not always necessary to make the switch.

Willow Jarosh, MS, RDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist based in Manhattan says, “I’d recommend speaking to your baby’s pediatrician (or a dietitian who specializes in infants and can also communicate with your pediatrician) before changing formulas.” They may want to try other measures first to see if your baby’s symptoms improve.

Signs of a Gassy Baby

If you suspect that your fussy baby is genuinely uncomfortable, and they keep squirming and pulling up their legs, they might have some gas that refuses to pass. The best way to confirm your suspicions is to try some gas-relieving techniques such as burping them and/or moving their body into different positions.

“If your baby seems much better after passing gas, then that’s a telltale sign that the problem was gas,” says Jennifer Shu, MD, an Atlanta-based pediatrician and co-author of Food Fights: Winning The Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood Armed with Insight, Humor, and A Bottle of Ketchup. This applies to gassy breastfed babies and gassy bottle-fed babies.

For some babies, even normal amounts of gas can cause abnormal discomfort. These babies may have an increased sensitivity to distension (the stretching of the intestines), says John Rosen, MD, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Children’s Mercy, in Kansas City, Missouri. Kids (and adults) experience sensations from intestinal pain fibers in different ways and have individual pain thresholds.

Common Causes of Gas In Babies

There are several reasons why you may have a gassy newborn or infant, including:

• Swallowing too much air. This can happen while baby is feeding or crying.
• Having an immature digestive system. Immature or underdeveloped digestive systems are unable to break down food. This causes it pass through too quickly, resulting in gas.
• Hypersentivies. This can be formula or food, in baby’s’ diet or the nursing parent’s.

How to Relieve Gas in Infants and Toddlers

If you have a gassy newborn (or even an older toddler), there are several things you can do to help relieve their discomfort, though what is safe and appropriate will be dependent on your child’s age.

Babies

Start by placing your baby on a flat surface, belly down. Lift them up slightly on their stomach and gently massage their belly by rubbing in a clockwise motion or place your baby on their back and “try moving their legs and hips around as if they were riding a bike,” Dr. Brown says. Often these kinds of motions break up bubbles and give gas an extra push to work its way out. “You can also try a nice, warm bath to relieve the discomfort,” Dr. Brown adds.

If you’re still faced with an unhappy infant, you might want to consult your pediatrician about trying some gas drops or to see if a formula change or diet-modification for a breastfeeding parent is needed. “Some babies are said to respond well to over-the-counter anti-gas drops containing simethicone,” Dr. Shu says. Another option is to consider what might be causing the excess gas—such as taking in too much air while feeding or eating gas-producing foods—and see if you can reduce the bubble intake from the get-go.

Toddlers and Older Children

Avoiding gassy foods is usually the best treatment for children with excessive gas. If gas does bother them, however, simethicone is available for kids in several forms, including Gas-X and Mylanta Gas Relief.

Beano, available as drops or a chewable tablet, is a digestive enzyme that helps make many high-fiber foods, including beans, broccoli, and whole-grain bread, easier to digest. And if your child is lactose intolerant, instead of avoiding cow’s milk and other dairy products, it may help if they take a lactase enzyme tablet to help them digest the lactase in milk.

What To Consider in Toddlers and Older Children

While gas can also be normal in toddlers and older children, a chronic problem with gas pain could point to an underlying medical condition. Lactose intolerance, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), malabsorption, and celiac disease can all cause gas in addition to other digestive symptoms.

Fortunately, older kids are often better at describing associated symptoms, such as bloating, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. They may also be able to recognize the association between their physical signs and specific foods, including milk, fruits, or vegetables.

Gas and gas pains may subside if your child avoids:

• Artificial sweeteners (often found in sugar-free drinks, candy, and gum)
• Carbonated drinks
• Cow’s milk (in cases of lactose intolerance)
• Eating too fast, so they don’t swallow excess air while eating
• Fruit juices with a high sorbitol content (such as apple, pear, grape, and prune juices)

Although not common among kids, high-fiber diets can also lead to excessive gas. Since a high fiber diet is considered healthy, it is not recommended to restrict the fiber in your child’s diet until you talk to a pediatrician, even if you think it is causing some gas.

Gas Prevention Methods for Babies

Try these gas prevention methods if your baby is plagued by excess gas.

Bring on the burps

Feeding time can come with a lot of crying, gulping, guzzling, and suckling—in other words, a lot of swallowed air—which eventually manifests itself in the form of a burp or gas. “And while relief from a burp might be more immediate, air that turns into gas has a longer journey through the intestinal tract first,” Dr. Shu says. Try being a little extra vigilant about burping your baby during and after a feeding to see if you can keep some of the gas at bay.

Adjust your feeding technique

In addition to the type of formula your baby drinks, the way in which you feed them can affect their digestion. This applies to both babies drinking formula or expressed breast milk from a bottle. Both the speed of milk flow and the quality of their latch are important.

If the flow speed (either from the breast or bottle) is high, your baby may be gulping a lot of air along with their meal. When breastfeeding, you can alleviate this issue by pumping or hand expressing for a few minutes before nursing as flow tends to be fastest at letdown.

If bottle feeding, you can switch to a slower flow nipple to decrease the rate of flow. This allows your baby to drink at a less hurried pace, which should decrease the amount of air they take in as they swallow.

Monitor your latch

If you’re breastfeeding, check your baby’s latch to ensure they are taking in the areola and have good suction. An improper latch can lead to the baby continually coming off the breast and consequently ingesting more air as they struggle to attach properly.

The following signs may indicate a poor latch:

• Babies who do not make sucking sounds as they nurse
• Breastfeeding for more than 30 minutes with no signs of fullness
• Bruised, cracked, and/or sore nipples
• Poor weight gain
• Pulling off the breast repeatedly

Certain positions can make it trickier for infants (especially newborns and premature babies) to latch on well. One breastfeeding position that makes it easy for your little one to get a good latch and allows you to easily see their mouth is the cross-cradle hold.

In this position, you lay your baby on a pillow across your body and support them with your arm. Their head is turned toward you, even with the breast they are nursing from. A lactation consultant will also be able to recommend other positions after they evaluate you and your baby during a breastfeeding session.

Adjust your bottle technique

Bottle-fed babies can ingest a lot of bubbles. To combat this, tilt the bottle at an angle that fills the entire nipple with milk. “Otherwise your baby will suck in air,” Dr. Shu says. “More swallowed air means potentially more gas.”

If you use powdered formula, let the bottle settle first before giving it to your baby. Shaking and mixing often causes the bottle to be piled high with bubbles on top of the actual formula. You may also consider using a ready-made formula for gassy newborns, as well as specially vented bottles that may reduce the number of bubbles.

Adjust the angle

“When feeding your baby, make sure their head is higher than their stomach,” Dr. Shu advises. You want to hold your baby in a position that allows the liquid to slowly sink to the bottom of their stomach while the bubbles rise to the top. If you keep the bubbles closer to the surface, the natural—and easiest—means of exit is a burp. Trapped bubbles will likely pass in the form of gas.

Examine the menu

Foods that are harder for the body to digest are known to cause excess gas. These foods can include beans, onions, broccoli, cabbage, garlic, fried foods, and asparagus. If you’re contending with a particularly fussy or constantly gassy baby, it might be worth taking a look at their diet—and yours, if you breastfeed. The gas-causing food you eat turns up in your breast milk, which might mean extra gas for your little one.

The best advice for a breastfeeding parent considered with a gassy baby is to eat a varied, nutritious diet while nursing. If your breastfed infant is having painful gas, talk to a pediatrician, dietitian, or lactation consultant before removing foods from your diet.

And if the introduction of solid foods has resulted in more gas, you’ll want to take note of whether certain foods appear to bring on your baby’s symptoms.

When to Visit the Pediatrician

As a parent, it’s often best to trust your gut. If you have a concern or your child seems uncomfortable or in pain, check in with their pediatrician. Sometimes, other issues can be at play when a baby is gassy that merit evaluation and treatment.

Food allergies

When fussiness, squirming, and other gassy behaviors persist beyond your baby’s first few months, it’s reasonable to consider a possible food allergy or intolerance. The biggest clue: They’re dealing with other significant health problems, too.

“A baby or child with a food allergy will also probably have skin rashes, vomiting, diarrhea, or blood in her stool, and they may not be gaining enough weight,” says Jean Molleston, MD, a pediatric gastroenterologist and professor of clinical pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine. Visit the doctor if you suspect this.

Celiac disease

Gas pain is also a symptom of celiac disease, a serious intolerance to gluten. Children aren’t born with this autoimmune disorder, but it can develop at any point when something in their environment “turns on” the genes that cause it. Ask your doctor to test your child for celiac disease if they’re also experiencing growth issues, abdominal discomfort, vomiting, chronic diarrhea, or constipation, or if celiac or any other autoimmune diseases run in your family.

Overabundant breast milk supply

Producing an overabundance of breast milk can create a strong letdown and/or flow that causes your baby to gulp in extra air as they suck. This is called an overactive letdown reflex and can result in excess gas in their tummy.

You can often remedy this situation by pumping or hand expressing for a few minutes before breastfeeding, which should make the flow slower so they can drink without taking in so much air. You can either discard the milk or freeze it for later use.

You may also find luck with a different breastfeeding position such as a laid-back position where you are reclined, your baby is lying on you upright and tummy-to-tummy, and gravity won’t exacerbate the fast letdown

Typically, an overabundance settles down as your body gets in tune with how much breast milk your baby is consuming. If not, consult with a doctor or lactation consultant to help you manage your breast milk supply.

Lactose overload

Another issue that can cause gas in breastfed babies is lactose overload. This happens when there is a foremilk and hindmilk imbalance. Foremilk, which contains less fat and more lactose, is the first breast milk the baby gets each nursing session. Hindmilk, which comes after the foremilk is drained, contains higher levels of fat.

If your baby gets full from foremilk and doesn’t drink enough hindmilk, they may get gassy from the excess lactose. Possible signs your baby is experiencing lactose overload include watery, foamy, or greenish poop (indicating their food is moving through their system too quickly to be fully digested), persistent diaper rash (from contact with acidic stools), and gassiness.

This imbalance can happen if you switch sides too frequently before your baby gets down to the hindmilk. An overabundance of breast milk can also create a situation where the baby fills up on foremilk. Fully draining the breast before switching sides can help ensure your baby gets hindmilk at each feeding. You can also pump at the start of each session to drain off some of the foremilk. If needed, talk to your pediatrician or lactation consultant to help even out your supply.

Infection and other medical concerns

Finally, let your pediatrician know about any gassiness that’s accompanied by fever, incontinence, diarrhea, severe abdominal pain, poor growth, blood in the stool, or other sudden symptoms. These symptoms might signal an underlying issue like an infection.