Night time gas trouble

[carly-g]

My two week old son has been waking up for the past three nights with horrible gas.  Last night, he slept from 10 to 12:30, woke up to feed, and then stayed up, crying and passing gas until 4am!  When he finally went back to sleep, he slept until 8, woke up to eat again (breast) for about ten minutes, and went back to sleep.  It is now 9:30, and he is still sleeping away.  I am mostly breastfeeding, but we do also give him the occasional bottle of formula.  Could it be the formula?  He is a champion burper, but am I missing something?  I know I can't expect a full EASY schedule at only two weeks, but I want to be at least moving towards it. 

I would really appreciate advise if anyone has any!

Carly

[Claire Anne]

Does he feed well or does he take less than the average? How far apart are his feeds? This did happen to my DD – turned out she was lactose intolerant. That does cause excessive gas in most babies. (She had it for 5 months before I cottoned on to what the problem was! I used to spend only 10 mins breastfeeding her in the middle of the night, but at least 20 to 30 mins burping her. Used to drive me around the twist. And she never fed for as long as I expected her to, nor put on weight as I thought she should. On hindsight all the signs were there!) Or if you don’t think it’s the lactose, you could change position when feeding. Apparently lying on your side is the best in case a fast flow is causing the baby to gulp which will make him gassy. Somehow air is either getting in or being produced. I doubt the odd bottle of formula could cause that to be honest. But I’m not an expert by any stretch! Hope you find a solution soon!!

[momofclaire]

Many babies tend to be gassy for a bit because as they eat bubbles get caught in the belly and such. Because they don't move about much the gas sits around and isn't worked out like it is with children and adults to move around.  I would try to move him during A time, bicycle his legs and such to help air escape.  You can try mylicon drops which work to break up air bubbles in the belly.
Hang in there.  We had two gassy weeks and then things got better. If it gets worse or continues to be a real problem write down what you are eating because some babies are very sensitive to the food a breastfeeding mom eats.  Broccoli was really bad for Claire and I.

[carly-g]

Thanks for the responses!  I don't think it is a lactose intolerance, because he has gained weight.  He was 9lbs 13oz at birth, 9 when we left the hospital, and an even 10 at two weeks.  We have been doing the bicycle movement and drops, but I have the feeling that this is something we just have to ride out!

[momofclaire]

Hang in there.  We spent a ton of time bycycling, burping and all that the first few weeks. It does get better as their little tummies get used to eating.

[Claire Anne]

My DD didn't gain weight properly - she lost more than the 10% as is usual in the first 3 days and while she was never underweight, she was nearly 9 lbs at birth and didn't gain as you would expect a big baby to after that. So it doesn't sound really like lactose intolerance then.
Have you tried Baby Massage? THey have really good techniques for moving the gas along. And it's a nice thing to do with a baby anyway!