Some positioning tips: Feed your baby as upright as possible; lay your child on their back and pedal their legs with your hands to help expel gas from below; if your child is awake after a feeding, place them on their belly. Increase tummy time.
Gently massage your baby, pump their legs back and forth (like riding a bike) while they are on their back, or give their tummy time (watch them while they lie on their stomach). A warm bath can also help them get rid of extra gas.
When a baby has trouble sleeping due to gassiness, it may be tempting to place them on their side or stomach to see if that helps their digestion. However, to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the best sleeping position for a gassy baby—and every baby—is on their back.
What position should I lie in to relieve gas? Your side. Lying on your side with your knees bent can help to relieve trapped gas. If you don't feel relief after a few minutes, pull your knees closer to your chest or try alternating between straight legs and bent knees.
Lie flat on your back, legs extended, arms at your sides. Bend your right knee and bring it up toward your chest. Hug your knee with both hands while pressing your back, shoulders, and neck into the mat. As you exhale, bring your forehead up toward your knee.
At nighttime, there's less movement and the gas can build up and get trapped. Additionally, babies tend to feed close to bedtime, and air introduced during this feed can become trapped. Also, our digestive systems are still very active at night and the results of digestion can be… gas!
Using a pacifier.
“Almost all babies will find some baby gas relief by sucking on a pacifier,” O'Connor says, because the sucking action releases endorphins that will soothe them.
Gas is particularly common during the first 3 months of life when your little one's digestive tract is still maturing. You may even notice it's worse at night. 3 Most of the time, gas is from swallowing too much air, but there may be other reasons your little one is gassy.
Gas troubles often start right away or when babies are just a couple of weeks old. Fortunately, most infants outgrow them by the time they're 4 to 6 months old, though for some, baby gas can last longer. Infants are usually gassy because they have immature digestive systems and swallow air during feedings.
Their cries could indicate gas or maybe that they're tired or hungry. However, all this crying isn't doing their tummies any good. “It's important to remember that while gas can result in fussiness, fussiness can also result in gas, and infants tend to swallow a lot of air when crying,” Boone said.
In healthy babies, gas is caused by the air and should not be a source of distress or pain. But babies have immature digestive systems, which means the food does not move smoothly from time to time, and the result can be a bit of uncomfortable gas.
So, can pacifiers cause gas? While pacifiers are not the major culprits of producing gas, they are one of the minor causes. “Babies can swallow air during feeding, when using a pacifier and while crying,” Natasha Burgert, M.D., wrote in Forbes.
Check if your baby has colic
All babies cry, but your baby may have colic if they cry more than 3 hours a day, 3 days a week for at least 1 week but are otherwise healthy. They may cry more often in the afternoon and evening. It may also be colic if, while they are crying: it's hard to soothe or settle your baby.
"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, M.D., a pediatrician at Texas Children's Pediatrics in Houston.
Tummy time.
Placing a baby on their stomach while awake helps to relieve gas pains. By gently increasing the abdominal pressure, tummy time pushes gas bubbles up and out. Tummy time is also a great way to strengthen the head and neck muscles needed to reach early motor milestones.
Can Swaddling Help with a Baby's Gas? Yes. If your baby is younger than 2 months, you can help them release gas by swaddling them. In addition to applying gentle pressure to their stomach, swaddling relaxes baby, which may help them calm enough to lull them to sleep.
Some babies squirm, grunt, and even wheeze at night as they develop their breathing muscles. Their breathing patterns change and they breathe more slowly when they are asleep, which can cause them to grunt. Check that your baby is breathing calmly and there are no other signs of distress.
Shift Positions
Parents tend to cradle a colicky baby face-up, but that may not help. Instead, hold their face down -- with your hand under their belly and their head on your forearm. The pressure on their tummy can help relieve uncomfortable gas.
While trapped gas may cause discomfort, it usually passes on its own after a few hours. Some people may be able to relieve pain due to trapped gas using natural remedies, certain body positions, or OTC medications. Avoiding known trigger foods or drinks can help prevent trapped gas from occurring.
Ways of making yourself burp include drinking fizzy drinks, moving around, chewing gum, swallowing air, and taking antacids. A person can also activate their gag reflex, but this should be a last resort.