Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Do breastfed babies get wind?

76 replies

Turno1 · 25/07/2017 20:33

I haven't found bf easy but now seem to be getting into the swing of it, however my little one who is now 1 week old, gets terribly grizzly after a big feed I.e 40 mins each breast. I was told by midwives, bf support worker that bf babies don't get wind, but I am sure he does. He trumps a lot and we now wind between breast change and after he does burp, and also gets hiccups. It takes ages to settle him and by the time he does, it is literally time for a feed again so that he does not go over the 4 hours they advise. The cycle is change nappy, feed, gets grizzly, winding, almighty trump and follow through, change nappy, sleeps 30 mins then we have to wake him for feed. It's such a viscious cycle for him, no wonder he is getting distressed, I just want to make it go away for for him. Anyone else have breastfed babies getting wind? Going to try infacol tomorrow. Any tips or advice?

OP posts:
motherinferior · 25/07/2017 20:35

Yes of course they do. DD1 farted massively, DD2 belched like a 16-stone bloke on his way back from the pub. Whoever said they don't is talking spectacular bollocks.

ShowOfHands · 25/07/2017 20:35

Both of mine were bfed. Both needed winding. I used to wind them during a feed, put them back on, wind again etc. Winding once after a 40 minute feed didn't work.

ThisBabyIsAnOctopus · 25/07/2017 20:35

Why are you waking him for a feed? Let him sleep!!

koalab · 25/07/2017 20:37

If I don't get three burps out of my breastfed baby after a breastfeed i know it will cause problems the other end!

sadmum2017 · 25/07/2017 20:38

DS burped and farted like a trooper. He would also get fussy during a feed, I just stopped regularly and burped and it helped.

koalab · 25/07/2017 20:38

And I would never ever wake a sleeping baby unless it's an emergency.

ThisBabyIsAnOctopus · 25/07/2017 20:39

My DS was bf and had hardly any wind - looks like we might have been in the minority!

TheMogget · 25/07/2017 20:39

Maximum 4 hours between feeds so from end of one to beginning of the next rather than start to start if that makes sense.
Definitely wind him.
Congratulations on your baby, it's early days yet so let him lead you but unless he's really little or losing weight it shouldn't be necessary to wake him for a feed. Smile

koalab · 25/07/2017 20:39

Infacol definitely helped us Smile

Helbelle75 · 25/07/2017 20:41

Dd is breastfed and needs burping after a feed. She also trumps loudly and regularly!
Would also question why you're waking him for a feed? Our dd was on a feeding plan in hospital due to initial weight loss, so we had to feed her 3 hourly but stopped when we got home.

LapinR0se · 25/07/2017 20:41

40 mins each side sounds excessive. Is he dozing at the breast?

happy2bhomely · 25/07/2017 20:41

Mine would often burp when switching sides. I didn't have to wind as such because when they weren't feeding they were upright in a sling so the movement shifted wind anyway.

My bottle fed babies needed more thorough winding.

Who has told you to wake and feed after 4 hours?

SarahJonesS · 25/07/2017 20:43

Yes wind him. My dd was terrible with wind.

My sanctimonious breast feeding peer support family member kept saying to me that breast fed babies don't get wind. However, apparently they now do her 3 month old is the windiest child ever, I'm struggling not to repeat what she said to me back to her

HeartburnCentral · 25/07/2017 20:43

Bfing can give babies wind. You need to slip her off and wind her regularly during feeds. It will prevent painful tummy and spitting up. Your own diet will also affect your dd -eating certain foods . I found bf really good once I got used to it.

happy2bhomely · 25/07/2017 20:45

When mine were a week old they fed for 40 minutes out of every hour, day and night if they were breastfed and every 2-3 hours if they were bottle fed. I just fed all 5 of them on demand until they were a year old.

I had quite large babies so I don't know if that affects things.

IamMoana · 25/07/2017 20:48

Yes! I breast fed my daughter for 2 years & she suffered with trapped wind. We used Infacol and lots of cycling of the legs. She suffered from reflux too, both of which she grew out of.

HopeAndJoy16 · 25/07/2017 20:51

Is there a reason you're having to wake your LO for a feed? You can feed responsively i.e. when baby shows signs of hunger, your breasts are feeling full, unless your baby is slow to gain weight or some other clinical reason. But yes, my bf daughter gets wind. She's good at bringing it up herself now but in the early days we had to wind her. If LO is fussy you can try switch feeding- switching between breasts during the same feed- which seemed to help when DD was fussy.

junebirthdaygirl · 25/07/2017 20:53

You drinking fennel tea will help them to wind easier. And yes they have wind but usually easier to get it up.
Make sure baby is latched on well so cant take in air.
Its all a learning curve . One week is so early.

anchor9 · 25/07/2017 20:53

I'm surprised mine hasn't shot himself out of a window with the giant adult farts that cone from his tiny body.

Infacol us useless and will upset your baby!

I found the nct bf counselling massively useful and reassuring!

Mine is now 3mo. He farts and burps all day long and quite a while ago learnt how to handle it all like a champion. I know it doesn't feel like it, but even if you do nothing this problem will be a distant memory in a month or two!

museumum · 25/07/2017 20:54

Yes.
And my ds took weeks to learn how to fart 😂 I had to cycle his legs for him until then.

Unless advised by a professional or concerns about weight gain like others I wouldn't wake a baby to feed.

And don't worry - most of them get faster at feeding pretty quickly.

anchor9 · 25/07/2017 20:55

Christ don't wake him Confused seriously he will let you know when he's hungry!

Believeitornot · 25/07/2017 20:57

Yes my dd had tongue tie so swallowed air and needed winding after a feed every single time until she was about 12 months old! This was even after the tie was corrected.

Newmumtobabyno1 · 25/07/2017 20:58

Yes yes yes. HV said no they can't... I beg to differ. We used infacol and sometimes gripe water (Boots apple flavoured one - he wouldn't take the normal one). Our feedings were about an hour and a half at first too (45 each side) but then I realised he was using me as a dummy. Gave him a dummy and feedings cut to about ten minutes each side and once my milk came in properly and supply settled it was ten minutes on one side. Good luck!! Smile

Newmumtobabyno1 · 25/07/2017 20:59

I also used to wind during feeds, not just at the end!

poppy2021 · 25/07/2017 20:59

Best advice I got from my precious MIL (sadly no longer with us ) was never wake a sleeping baby. And she BF 5 of a family. They'll let you know when you they're hungry. And yes they do get windy. My 2 had colic which bf babies are not supposed to get either. Just remember what you eat they get to so if you have something spicy it may make them a bit windier and oh the nappies. Yuck 🤢