The Happiest Baby on the Block and The Happiest Toddler on the Block 2-Book Bundle pdfdrive com

Theory #1: Do Tiny Tummy Troubles Cause Colic?
For thousands of years, many parents have had a “gut feeling” that
their infants were crying from bad stomach pain. The three tummy-
twisting problems that became the prime suspects of causing colic were
intestinal “gas”; pooping problems; and “overactive” intestines.

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Burping with the Best of Them
Babies often gulp down air during their feedings. Here are tips to
help your baby swallow less air and to burp up what does get in:
1. Don’t lay your baby flat during a feeding. (Imagine how hard it
would be for you to drink lying down, without swallowing a lot of
air.)
2. If your baby is a noisy eater, stop and burp him frequently during
the meal.
3. Before burping your baby, sit him in your right hand, with your
left hand cupped under his chin. Then bounce him up and down a
few times. This gets the bubbles to float to the top of the stomach
for easy burping. (Don’t worry, it won’t make him spit up.)
4. The best burping position: Sit down with your baby on your lap,
with his chin resting comfortably in your cupped hand. (I never
burp babies over my shoulder, because their spit-up goes right
down my back.) Next, lean him forward so he’s doubled over a
little. Give his back ten to twenty firm thumps. Babies’ stomachs
are like glasses of soda, with little “bubblettes” stuck to the sides.
So thump your baby like a drum to jiggle these free.

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Let’s examine each individually and then I will explain why none of
these nuisances is the real cause of colic.
Do Babies Cry from Intestinal “Gas” …
or Is That Just a Lot of Hot Air?
Most infants have gas—often. I’m sure you’ve witnessed virtuoso
performances of burping, tooting, and grunting several times a day.
Many parents are convinced this intestinal grumbling causes their baby’s
cries.
Parents who think colic is a gas problem have two powerful allies:
grandmas and doctors. For generations, grandmothers have advised new
moms to treat their baby’s colic by avoiding gassy foods, burping them
well, and feeding them sips of tummy-soothing teas. For decades,
doctors have suggested that mothers alter their diet or their child’s
formula, or give burping drops (simethicone) to reduce a baby’s
intestinal gas.
However, with all due respect to grandmothers and doctors, fussy
newborns have no more gas in their intestines than calm babies. In
1954, Dr. Ronald Illingworth, England’s preeminent pediatrician,

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compared the stomach X rays of normal babies with colicky babies and
found no difference in the amount of gas the calm and cranky babies had
at their peaks of crying. In addition, repeated scientific experiments have
shown that simethicone burping drops (Mylicon and Phazyme) are no
more helpful for crying babies than plain water. It turns out that the gas
in your baby’s intestine comes mostly from digested food, not from
swallowed air.