Windy (farting) BF baby. Is it my diet?

[goodname]

Hi my EBF baby is so windy he wakes up all night because of it (too many times too count). Is it to do with what I eat, I have tried to keep a track of what I eat but cant seem to isolate anything that makes it worse? Can anyone suggest foods/diet which definately do not produce wind. Has anyone else suffered with this and when does it get better? Would he be better with formula?

I had this (well, DS had painful wind, not me!) and the only thing that helped was time. He got much better at around the three months mark.

When he was in pain with it, we used the tiger in the tree hold - have you tried that?

Quite possibly nothing you have eaten has cause your baby's wind. Most foods that cause wind (cabbage/onion/brussel sprouts/what have you) cause wind because they ferment in your gut which produces gases. This can't happen in breastmilk as the fermented gases would have to get into your blood then into your milk. If you have fermented brussel sprout gas in your blood you need to call the Guinness Book of Records (and a Dr!).

Your best bet is to wind baby frequently during feeds, do baby massage on his tummy and bicycle his legs to get rid of the gas.

(I'm assuming his tummy is hard and distended, he brings his legs up and writhes a lot?)

Chances are he would not be better on formula - formula-fed babies have considerably more problems with wind and colic, not less - as well as more allergies and tummy infections - but I'm sure you know that already. In cases where the baby is genuinely intolerant to something in his mother's diet, the most common culprits are dairy and soy - which explains why formula is usually not a solution!

There is a brilliant article on windy babies here which explains that most wind is caused by the baby swallowing air. That might happen for all sorts of reasons: if he is crying a lot (especially at the start of a feed), also if there is a forceful let-down or a poor latch (e.g. where the suction is being broken, so you can hear clicking sounds when he feeds). But do read the article, there's loads of good info in there ...

He is 16 weeks old, I do baby massage every day, i wind him frequently etc. He is fine during day but very often wakes himsself up at night by pumping.

Bottom wind isn't due to swallowing air - that would cause burps.

Most likely suspect is cows milk protein intolerance or too much foremilk (it's sugary and quickly digestive and can cause gas).

My DS intolerant to cows milk which caused bad wind. I'd have to pump his legs after night feeds. I also cut out all dairy and soya from my diet which made a huge difference.

You can also do tummy time as part of the bedtime routine to help wind on it's way.

Is he actually farting when pumping his legs?