When I was in labor with Baby Ro, I developed a pretty high fever and she was given antibiotics during her first 48 hours of life to treat any potential infection she may have been exposed to. The down side of these antibiotics is that they have the potential to upset the balance of "good" bacteria in the gut.
Sure enough, Rowan had some serious crying marathons every evening and her poor little tummy would get as full and hard as a little basketball! She was so gassy and just seemed to constantly struggle to get the excess air out. Our pediatrician taught us the "toes to nose" technique, where you lay the baby on her back and grab both legs, rolling her toes up to touch her nose. Similarly, you can also "bicycle" her legs to force some gas out. These two techniques worked fine for Niamh but they didn't even come close to soothing Rowan.
Jeff and I thought we were going to lose our mind...until we found a miracle: the Windi. This little tube is a bizarre and disgusting little godsend. It's basically a one-time use catheter that is inserted into the rectum and helps release gas (and whatever else happens to be there - it can get messy). You literally hear the "pssssssssssst" of gas when that thing is inserted and Rowan instantly calms down and is ready to nurse and fall asleep for the night.
They are pricey at about $15 for a package of 10, but they are worth every penny!
this was most interesting - granted, I'm a great grandmother and up in years, so of course raising my two was a bit different---the oldest had horrible problems passing gas - I too, raised his little feet and let it "rip" - when that didn't happen, I inserted (very gently) a q-tip with a little Vaseline - that worked wonders and was cheap - much needed relief for Mommie and baby!
ReplyDeleteInteresting! Just goes to show - things might be reinvented, but there's nothing new under the sun! :-)
Delete