Month: September 2018

Infant feeding, New Mum, Newborn Care, Pregnancy

Boosting Your Breast Milk Supply

kathrynmoreton

Are you worried about your supply of breast milk? Are you anxious because your baby doesn’t seem to want to do anything except eat? Does he or she never seem to settle fully between feeds or only settle for short periods? This can all be normal behaviour for very new babies, but no matter how old your baby is, there are some things you can do to increase your milk supply. That way you’ll know that if there is a problem, it doesn’t lie with your breast milk supply.

**This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase from one of my links, I may receive a commission or credit at no additional cost to you. For more info, please read my disclosure policy.**

Supply and Demand

breastfeeding baby

Your body produces milk on a very simple supply and demand system. If all of your milk is removed, hopefully by a baby, your body produces even more for the next feed. This enables us to strategically increase demand artificially to increase your supply.

  • Pumping

    • You may have thought or heard about expressing or pumping milk. This is an excellent way to increase the amount of milk your body produces and can produce results fast.
    • There are many ways to express milk. Some people like to hand express, others will use a hand pump, others prefer an electric pump. You can even get a double electric pump. Yes, you can feel a bit like a milking machine, but let’s be honest, pregnancy isn’t all that great for dignity or glamour. This is for your baby, right? You’ll do anything to keep them well fed. That includes attaching yourself to an electric pump several times a day. For suggestions of good quality double pumps, trying this search on Amazon.
    • The key to expressing or pumping to bring in more milk is to do it after the baby has fed. That way you know that the baby is getting everything they want before you collect the remainder or put in the order for more.
    • Try expressing or pumping for 10 minutes on each side after every other feed to begin with. Obviously, a double electric pump will be finished in 10 minutes, whereas hand expressing or a single pump will take 20 minutes to do the same. However, some people may get a better let down reflex from hand expressing and end up collecting more milk than they would using a pump. That might be because they feel more comfortable hand expressing – the milking machine analogy can certainly make some women feel uncomfortable enough to slow production. There is no right or wrong way to express and sometimes only trial and error will show you what your body prefers.
    • You may not collect a lot for the first couple of sessions but this is very normal. It simply means your body will be getting clear signals that the supply needs to increase. Just keep going and over the next 24-48 hours you will find the amount you collect increasing.

 

  • Switch feedingbaby feeding

    • If you don’t want to spend extra time expressing after you’ve fed your baby, you can get your baby to make the demand for more milk. Sometimes babies will get so very comfortable and relaxed during a feed that they don’t eat everything they could before they fall off to sleep.
    • If your baby seems to fall asleep after only a short time at the breast, why not try switch feeding?
    • Start feeding the baby on one breast. When you notice the baby slowing down take them off and put them onto the other breast. You need to switch breasts before baby gets sleepy if possible. This means they may only feed for 2 minutes before the sucking and swallowing rhythm slows down. That is the time to switch breasts. Do this 3 times over the feed if possible so that both breasts have been fed from twice. This will definitely remind your body that there is a big demand for milk!
    • When you take the baby off the breast to switch onto the other one, try talking to them before you put them on the second breast. Lift them so that they are facing you vertically and try to catch their attention with soft encouraging words. This may help them wake up a little more.
    • Another classic midwife trick for waking up a rather sleepy baby in order to put them on the breast is letting them hang. Holding the baby securely with both hands under their armpits, lift them up into the air so that their legs are no longer supported by the bed or your lap. Although the baby is perfectly safe, they don’t like the sensation of having their bottom half unsupported, so it may wake them or even make them a little upset. I don’t recommend doing it for long periods! Just use it as a 2-second thing to wake them up enough to put them back on the breast. And tell them it was the nasty midwife’s idea if they complain!

 

  • Passive milk collection

    • Have you noticed that your breasts are leaking milk? Does that feel like a waste of the good stuff? There are ways to collect this leaking milk so that it can be used to feed your little one, rather than getting lost in a muslin cloth or your favourite nursing top.
    • Try using a silicone breast pump. This is a pre-formed silicone cone which is shaped to fit onto your breast and collect the dripping milk without any pumping action, manual or electric, required!
    • I like this one at Amazon:
      •  
    • Nipple shells can also collect the dripping milk if you don’t feel you have such great quantities. Shells are also great for wearing even when you aren’t wanting to collect the milk. If your nipples are really sore, nipple shells can help reduce the pressure on them from your bra or top.
    • Amazon has this twin pack with great reviews:

  • Keep to a schedule

    • The easiest way to boost your milk supply requires no extra money to be spent, which is great news since babies are very expensive little creatures! It’s such a good job they’re so cute!
    • The simplest technique is simply putting the baby to the breast more often. Babies are definitely the most efficient at removing milk from a breast. You may find you get nothing when you use a pump or hand express but your baby is getting plenty of milk when they feed at the breast. That’s absolutely fine!
    • Keep sleep periods short if you want to increase your milk supply. For healthy babies, demand or baby led feeding is recommended. That means as long as the baby gets at least 8 – 10 feeds of 10 minutes or more in 24 hours, we don’t mind how long the gap between feeds is.
    • However, if you think you need to increase your milk supply, try planning for a feed every 2.5 – 3 hours maximum. Gaps of 4 hours or longer might be normal in healthy babies who feed 8 – 10 times in 24 hours, but they won’t stimulate an increase in milk supply.
    • You can be kind to yourself and try waking the baby more frequently for feeds during the day. Let him or her have longer sleeps during the night. Don’t make your sleepless nights even harder by waking yourself and baby every 2.5 hours overnight!

 

  • Keep watching for hunger cues

    Pacifier

    • Sometimes we miss an opportunity to put the baby on the breast because we haven’t noticed that they are hungry.
    • Keep your baby close to you, preferably in the same room. You can then notice the signs of hunger which come before crying, such as licking their licks, searching with their mouths open and sticking out their tongues. If you have left your baby in a safe place in another room you may want to consider bringing them back to your side when the 2.5 hour point comes, as they may already be beginning to stir.
    • Don’t use a pacifier all the time. Pacifiers can be really useful as a baby gets older or if your newborn just seems to be a very sucky baby who wants to suck even though they’ve fed well.
    • However, if you want to increase your milk supply, then the baby needs to be using your breast as its pacifier instead. You can still use the pacifier overnight if you would rather have that help for settling the baby to sleep. Just consider avoiding using it during the day.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

IF YOU THINK YOUR BABY IS UNWELL BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT GETTING ENOUGH MILK, SEEK ASSISTANCE FROM YOUR DOCTOR, MIDWIFE OR HEALTH VISITOR AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. DO NOT WAIT TO TRY THESE TECHNIQUES AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. 

THE TECHNIQUES ON THIS PAGE SHOULD ONLY BE USED BY MUMS WITH HEALTHY BABIES WHO WANT TO INCREASE SUPPLY FOR CONVENIENCE OR PRACTICAL REASONS.

Woman feeding baby

Pregnancy, Pregnancy Problems

Urine Infections in Pregnancy

kathrynmoreton

Burning, stinging, smelly urine? Yeah, pregnancy is all about the glamour! Unfortunately, women are more likely to get urine infections when they are pregnant. Find out more about what causes them, what you can do to prevent them and what treatments are available.

woman wc sign

Why urine infections are common in pregnancy

During pregnancy, you have many different hormones at different levels in your body. These hormones help your body to nurture and develop your baby. They also help prepare your body for birth. One of the hormones involved is called Relaxin. This hormone is brilliant at relaxing (yes, really) the small vessels in your body. These vessels might be blood vessels or the tubes which carry your urine from your kidneys to your bladder or from your bladder to the exit! Relaxed blood vessels make it easier to send more blood flow to the baby to help them grow. Relaxed tubes for urine make it easier for bacteria to enter these tubes and cause urine infections. You can also find more information on the effects of Relaxin in my article on pelvic pain in pregnancy.

How do I know if I have a urine infection?

urine pain

The symptoms of urine infections include:

pain when passing urine;

smelly urine;

cloudy urine;

lower back pain on one or both sides of your back;

feeling generally unwell;

and needing to pass urine urgently but only passing small amounts when you do.

That last one can simply be because your baby is bouncing about on your bladder and making you think it’s full. However, if you have any of the symptoms of a urine infection, you should get a urine sample checked by your midwife or doctor. You can also have a urine infection without any symptoms, which is why your midwife checks your urine sample at every appointment just in case.

When the midwife checks your urine, she is looking for things like proteins, nitrites and leucocytes. Proteins can show up because the bacteria are made of proteins, nitrites because some bacteria produce these, and leucocytes because your body is producing them to fight off the infection.

Treatment for urine infections in pregnancy

The standard treatment for a urine infection is antibiotics. You will be asked to provide a urine sample which will be sent to the hospital laboratory. They will check which antibiotics work best to kill the bacteria. However, you can be started on antibiotics before the results come back, as there are general groups of antibiotics we can start with. The doctor will contact you within a couple of days if we need to change the antibiotics or if your sample actually showed that you have no infection.

It is important to complete the whole course of the antibiotics and to provide a sample at the end of the antibiotics to confirm that the infection has gone. Untreated urine infections can occasionally spread up into your kidneys and make you very ill, even possibly needing hospital care, so please ask for help if you think you have an infection.

Ways to prevent urine infections

toilet roll

So how can you reduce your risk of a urine infection, even if you do have that troublesome Relaxin hormone floating around your body?

  • Good Hygiene.
    • Make sure that you are keeping clean. When you go to the loo, wipe from front to back. You can even get wet wipes to use after you’ve used the toilet just to keep everything fresher.
    • Change any pad or liners regularly. You do tend to have a heavier discharge during pregnancy, so you may be using liners or pads to keep your underwear clean. Just remember to keep changing these if they become wet or soiled.
  • Keep drinking
    • Drinking plenty of fluids is really important. It keeps you and baby hydrated, which regulates your own and the baby’s heartbeats. It also means that you are passing urine a lot. This might be inconvenient but passing lots of urine means you are flushing out any nasties before they can start an infection.
  • Good sexual health
    • Mother told you to wee after sex and she was right. Any sexual intercourse can introduce bacteria into the area, some of which might want to set up shop and cause you an infection. By passing urine, then perhaps using a wet wipe or two, you are going to help flush them out of the area before they do.

Other things to consider

Some women find out during their pregnancy that they have a bacteria called Group B Strep in their urine or around their vagina. If it is in the urine it should be treated as usual but this bacteria can also impact upon your labour, birth and baby. I will be writing another post on Group B Strep and will link to it as soon as I have, but in the meantime, here is the link to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists patient information on Group B Strep.

 

Urine infections

New Mum, Newborn Care

The Newborn Blood Spot Test

kathrynmoreton

One of the first medical tests your newborn baby has is the heel prick test. It is also called the blood spot test and forms part of the UK national screening programme. Further information on the programme can be found here.

You may have heard stories from other parents about how upsetting they and their baby found the test. It does involve a small cut on the baby’s foot but I don’t believe it has to be distressing for parents or baby. In fact, I always aim to cause as little discomfort as possible. I warn parents that the baby is likely to be more upset about getting naked to be weighed that they are about getting the test done.

Baby's foot

What is the Blood Spot Test for?

The blood spot test collects a small amount of blood and checks it for 9 different health conditions.

Some of these conditions are metabolic. This means that the baby may be born unable to digest a certain protein or fat. If the baby’s diet included it, the undigested protein or fat would build up to levels in their body which would cause them harm. However, if we find out that the baby has that condition we can give them a diet without the particular protein or fat and the baby is absolutely fine.

The other conditions we look for are:

  • Cystic Fibrosis, a condition which causes problems in our lungs and digestive systems. The baby may need physiotherapy and medications
  • Sickle Cell or Thalassemia, a condition where blood cells have an unusual shape. It is more common in families with African ancestors.
  • Hypothyroidism, which is where the baby’s thyroid doesn’t produce enough of the hormone thyroxine. The baby may need medication.

How to help reduce baby’s distress

Crying baby

So how can I promise that your baby will be more distressed by the weighing that follows the heel prick test than by the test itself?

Well, in order to collect the right amount of blood, we need the foot to have a good blood supply. Have you noticed that your baby always has cold hands and feet? This is very normal and important as the baby is keeping most of its blood in the important areas of its brain and chest. This means that normally we would have to press quite hard and wait for ages to collect the right amount of blood from the baby’s foot. It’s this drawn out pressure and holding of the foot that causes the most distress.

The key to reducing distress is warm feet.

I always ask parents to put socks on their baby before I visit. Sometimes that means they do it in the middle of the night. I also ask them to put lots (more than 2 or 3) of pairs of socks on the baby, as well as booties, as well as wrapping them in a cosy blanket. No kidding! Sometimes the baby’s feet look twice their size, but I’d rather that for a short time so the baby doesn’t find the test upsetting, than that the baby looks fashionable!

If for some reason the baby’s feet are still cold, or if the parents have forgotten to put on any or enough socks, we still have options to warm the feet up.

My next action is to ask you for a mug or jug or bowl filled with really really warm water. I don’t want lukewarm water. I want the kind of water that turns your fingers red when you put them into it. You should be able to put your fingers into it, though, not find them burning!

The reason your fingers turn red is because the blood flows into them to cool them down. So yes, my plan is to put the baby’s foot into the water until it turns red. Their first experience of paddling! After about a minute of paddling in good warm water, I find that the babies’ feet don’t need lots of pressure to provide enough blood. It also flows quickly so that the test is over quickly too.

Other things you can do to help

Baby being cuddled

Cuddle your baby during the test. They already know you and your scent and your voice. Being held by you is always going to calm them more than if the midwife holds them.

Hold them in an upright position. Gravity will help with the blood flow to their foot. This means that cuddling them across your chest won’t be as effective as holding them over your shoulder or sitting them up in your lap so their feet dangle down over the side of your legs.

Speak gently and soothingly to them. A calm soothing sound such as ‘shush’ or ‘sssshhhh’ can really comfort a baby in distress.

Feed the baby or provide a pacifier for them to suck. Sucking is always a comforting experience for babies. Letting them feed will also keep them close to you which will help keep them calm.

Results of the Blood Spot Test

The results of the test are usually sent out in the post to you if everything is ok. It can take up to eight weeks for these results to arrive. If you still haven’t heard anything, ask your health visitor.

Any abnormal or unexpected results are followed up quickly by professionals. The midwife may return to repeat the test and collect extra blood for further checks. You may be asked to attend the children’s department of your local hospital for further tests. The Health Visitor may come to discuss the results with you or may give you details of a specialist nurse who can talk you through the results in more detail.

The conditions we check for can be found in more detail on the NHS website here, or in the screening booklet your midwife gave you at the beginning of your pregnancy.

Please be reassured that the conditions we are looking for are very rare and entirely manageable. You shouldn’t be overly anxious about the health of your baby if he or she is feeding well and behaving normally. If you do have any concerns about your baby’s health please speak to a health professional as soon as possible.

Labour and Birth, Pregnancy

Gifts for Midwives

kathrynmoreton

Block letters spell thank you

Maybe you’ve had a baby recently and want to express your thanks to the midwife who cared for you. Maybe you are a student midwife who has come to the end of a placement and wants to show appreciation to your midwife mentor. Perhaps you have a friend or family member who is a midwife. Whatever the occasion, here are some ideas for gifts for midwives that may help if your mind has gone blank.

General Gifts for Midwives

Cards

Midwives love getting ‘Thank You’ cards. It helps us to feel we are making a difference and helping people, which is definitely our ultimate aim. Even if it is just a small card with 3 lines written in it, it can make a difficult day seem not so hard and put a smile on a stressed face. We love to remember your birth or experience with you. Cards can also be used as part of the revalidation process. Revalidation is how midwives renew their professional registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. It requires us to provide evidence of feedback on our work, so your card can help us to do this.

Mugs

Stethoscope next to coffee cup

Who can survive the day without a bit of caffeine? Midwives are no exception, so coffee cups or mugs are always a great idea. We may not get a chance for lunch or tea, but sometimes we do get to stop for a drink. Finding a suitable mug in the work kitchen can be a challenge, so a unique mug which is easy to find is a big plus. Some people like thin china mugs, while others prefer enormous chunky mugs. There are so many options in terms of designs such as pictures or slogans. Let your imagination run free.

Chocolates

Chocolates are always a good idea. When we have a busy shift and no time to stop for lunch, a quick scoff of a truffle or fudge can stop the hunger pains for a short time. There are also so many options, from biscuits to selection boxes and more. You’re bound to come up with some original choices.

Fruit

Let’s be honest, we shouldn’t really survive on caffeine and chocolates. Most of us want to try something healthier so a basket of fresh fruit is a refreshing option and can be pretty quick too for those busy shifts.

Equipment Gifts for Midwives

Ever a practical person, a midwife is always happy to receive practical gifts.

Person taking blood pressure

Wheels

I’m sure you’ve seen your midwife with a wheel in her pocket. These tiny plastic whirlygigs can help us figure out when your baby is due or what your Body Mass Index is. Because they are used so often, they do wear out or crack and break. Why not see if you can find a new one for your midwife? Try searching for a pregnancy calculator wheel or BMI calculator wheel on Amazon, the Goodies for Nurses website or the Funky Midwife website.

Pens

I have no idea where all the pens of the NHS go, but there seems to be an epidemic of disappearing writing utensils! We write a lot. Sometimes it feels like we write more than we provide care, which isn’t good at all. However, it does provide you with another gift option. We will always appreciate a lovely pen and if it is not just a standard biro, we’re more likely to chase it if the doctor tries to walk off with it! In order to meet our standards for record keeping, it needs to have black ink and a rollerball or ballpoint pen is less messy than a fountain pen.

Watches

Although Infection Control policies prevent us from wearing any wrist watches, we still need to be able to count seconds and minutes. You’ll probably have seen some midwives with fob watches, which are pinned to our uniforms. Most of the time we buy the cheapest as we have to provide these ourselves. However, there are so many amazing designs out there for fob watches! Having a unique one would always make putting on the uniform a little more fun. Watches need to have second hands on them so that we can measure you and your baby’s heartbeat if our other equipment isn’t available. If we work night shifts a glow in the dark or backlit watch might be really useful.

Hand Creams

Woman applies hand cream

Hopefully, you’ve seen us wash our hands. A lot. As an integral part of care and infection control, we wash our hands more often than you can count. This is good for you, but not great for our skin. It doesn’t have a chance to replenish those lovely nourishing oils between washes, so our skin is often dry and can even crack, peel and itch. Not so glamorous. This is why gifts of good quality hand creams can be a lifesaver for a midwife. Little bottles we can keep in our pockets or bags or larger ones we can leave by the sink are all very much appreciated.

Alcohol Gels

Another thing you might see midwives use is alcohol-based hand gels. These are really useful for disinfecting our hands quickly if soap and water and a clean towel aren’t available. There are actually quite a number of different brands offering hand gels these days. Some have lovely scents, whilst others are said to be more gentle on skin, or even just a pretty colour. As a small but much-appreciated gift, they are definitely worth considering.

So there we are. Just a few suggestions for simple and inexpensive gifts for midwives. Thank you for thinking of your midwife and considering a gift for her. Please know that we really do love sharing the whole pregnancy experience with you and are very happy if we know you have had a good or great pregnancy and birth.

Any other gift ideas I’ve not mentioned? Why not write me a comment below?

Pregnancy, Pregnancy Problems

Pelvic Pain in Pregnancy

kathrynmoreton

Just when you thought pregnancy couldn’t get any more glamorous, you find yourself struggling with pelvic pain. You start walking with a John Wayne waddle and even the simplest of tasks is accompanied by sharp stabs of pain in your pelvis. What is going on, and how can you solve it or at least soothe it?

WHY PELVIC PAIN HAPPENS

Woman in pain

Your pregnancy causes an increase in various hormone levels in your body, and the hormone responsible in this case is Relaxin. Relaxin does exactly what the name suggests. It relaxes things like your blood vessels and your ligaments.

Relaxed blood vessels are great as because they relax they can hold more blood and send that blood to the baby to help him or her grow. Relaxed ligaments is also a good thing when you consider the process of labour. You have to get a baby out of an area not used to dealing with things that size! By relaxing the ligaments which hold and stabilise your pelvis, the exit area gets wider and giving birth gets easier.

Unfortunately, the downside of relaxed ligaments is the reduction of stability in your pelvis. If this happens very early in pregnancy, it can bring a lot of pain and discomfort. This pain might be around the edges of your pelvis or at the back near your coccyx. Pelvic pain commonly occurs at the front of your pelvis, where the two bones are joined by a pad of cartilage called the pubic symphysis. The only cure is the end of the pregnancy when the Relaxin hormone levels drop back to normal.

Pelvic bones
Pelvic Bones

HOW TO MANAGE PELVIC PAIN

If giving birth is the only cure for pelvic pain, then the key is learning to manage it while it lasts. Here are some tips and tricks I know women have found helpful.

Be ladylike

Woman sitting at window

Have you ever noticed how the Queen sits so elegantly? She is a great example of good pelvic alignment. Since the focus of pelvic pain for many women is the pubic symphysis, keeping your hips aligned and stable is really key.

Try to keep your knees together and your hips at the same level. This is something most of us forget to do on a daily basis. We put one leg into the car, then sit then pull the other leg in, or get out of bed one leg first then the other. We sit on the sofa with our knees curled under us.

Instead, try to sit sideways on the car seat with both legs outside. Then once you are seated, swing your legs in together. When getting out of bed start by keeping your knees together and rolling onto your side. Drop both ankles over the side of the bed and push yourself up using your arms. Sit on the sofa with your feet both touching the floor or out on a footrest in front of you.

Speak to the Professionals

Physiotherapists are the experts in healthy movement and support of joints and ligaments. There are always local specialist physiotherapists who have a great deal of experience in treating and helping pregnant women. They have great advice for back and pelvic pain, separated abdominal muscles and pelvic floor exercises as well as so much more. Please speak to your Midwife or GP and get a referral to the physio service in your area. Even if the pain isn’t too bad at the moment, sometimes the referral can take a couple of weeks and things may be worse by then.

Heat helps

Heat can be very soothing for pelvic pain. Use it as an excuse for an extra long shower or an extra daily long bath. You can also use heat packs or hot water bottles. These are good for positioning directly over the painful points. However, please be careful not to burn yourself and give yourself short breaks without the heat packs so you don’t overheat the area.

Feet in bathtub

Extra support

There are lots of options for extra support to help reduce pelvic pain. These include tubigrips, support belts and taping. All of these offer different levels of support and none will cause any harm to the baby.

Tubigrips and support belts can be supplied by a physiotherapist or sourced online. Tape can also be bought online and applied by yourself or a partner.

Tubigrips can help you feel like your hips are being held in and comfortably surround your whole tummy and back.

Support belts can be found on Amazon in various styles. Some will sit just underneath your bump and give the feeling of lifting it up off the pelvic bone. Others are adjustable with straps across or over your bump. Which style is best for you is a matter of personal preference.

Taping is another option for providing abdominal support. This involves using kinesiology tape in various lines across or around your abdomen. Kinesiology tape is used by sports people and physiotherapists to help provide flexible temporary support to joints, ligaments and muscles. The Rock Tape brand has suggestions for tape positions in pregnancy on its Youtube channel here. Try searching on Pinterest for kinesiology taping in pregnancy as this will also provide lots of great positioning suggestions. Have a look at Amazon for a selection of tape options to buy.

Pain relief

Although taking painkillers regularly throughout pregnancy is not ideal, you may need to consider this if the pain is very bad.  ALWAYS discuss this with a pregnancy professional such as an Obstetrician, Midwife or GP.

Worst Case Scenarios

It is very uncommon for pelvic pain to be completely overwhelming. Usually, measures such as those outlined above will help you manage until the baby arrives. Unfortunately for a very small minority of women, the pain is so bad that they need to use crutches or a wheelchair to get around. If this is you then please keep in touch with your pregnancy professional and make sure you are linked in with the local physiotherapy service. For a small number of women, the obstetrician may be willing to discuss starting labour off early to stop the pain. This is always only done after long discussions regarding the health and well-being of both mum and baby.

Other information

Why not have a look at the helpful physiotherapist videos at Best Beginnings or on your Baby Buddy app?

You can also find more sources of information on the useful links page, including the NHS website and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists website which has guidance on many subjects.

Newborn Care

Helping Babies to Burp

kathrynmoreton

Babies often need a little help to bring up their wind, or burp. Whether they are fed by bottle or breast, it is definitely useful to know how to encourage this as trapped wind can be very uncomfortable. Here are some of my favourite techniques for helping babies burp.

 

If your baby is reluctant to release their trapped wind, try going through all the suggestions below in a cycle. Every baby is different and what works once may not work another time. Trial and error, along with lots of patience, will help you figure out your baby’s preference.

Mother and Baby

Stroking up their back

Sit baby up on your knee, facing to one side. Lean them slightly forward onto one hand, using your thumb and forefinger to support their head in an upright position. Use a very gentle lift in that supporting hand to keep their back as straight as possible. Whilst their back is straight, use firm pressure to stroke up their back from about the level of their belly button to their shoulders. You can also alternate the strokes with gentle patting, concentrating on the middle area of the back. It can be tempting to pat between their shoulder blades, but you’re trying to move the air bubbles up from their stomachs, so patting that area is more effective.

Rocking

The main way to relieve the pain of trapped wind is to dislodge it so the baby can burp, so rocking can be very helpful. Hold the baby in the same way as when stroking up their back, but hold them with one hand on their front and one on their back. Gently rock them from side to side, then from front to back, again and again. You only need to rock them about 1-2 inches each way. Try to keep their back as straight as you can.

Lie them up over your shoulderBaby looking over shoulder

 

This position really helps keep a baby’s back naturally straight so you can concentrate on the gentle patting of their back. Hold the baby in the same arm as the shoulder you want to put them over. Their chin should be level with the top of your shoulder. Let their hands rest next to their chin, as in the picture above. The hand you are holding them with should be over the nappy area and around their chest. Your free hand will hover over the back of their rib cage. Keep your hand quite close to baby as you pat since newborns can sometimes throw themselves back without warning. With your hand close, you can catch and control this movement very easily.

Put them over your knees

Sit down in a comfy chair and keep your knees together and your feet flat on the floor. It can be helpful to lay a blanket or muslin cloth over your knees in case the baby dribbles or vomits.  Lie baby down over your knees, with his head at the side of one of your thighs and his feet at the other side. This position puts a little pressure on the baby’s stomach. Gentle patting can be combining with stroking and rocking your knees together from side to side.

Bouncing

Babies like bouncing even if they don’t have wind! You can hold them facing towards or away from you with your hands around their torso and under their armpits. Bounce gently up and down, at a rate that suits you and baby. About 120 times a minute, or twice a second is a good place to start. If you just use your forearms, this is an excellent arm workout!

However, if your baby really does like bouncing, your arms are likely to get tired quite quickly. Try resting baby’s bottom on your bent knee whilst sitting. Bring your knee up by raising onto your tiptoes, then gently drop your heel down towards the floor. This gives a gentle bouncing motion without as much effort on your biceps. You can also do this with the baby facing outwards with their legs either side of your thigh and their back resting against your abdomen.

Sleepy baby

Massage

Massage is an excellent way to soothe your baby and can help to stimulate the gut movement needed to help them pass wind. Keep the room nice and warm and strip baby down to their nappy. Give a little gentle pressure to their tummy in a clockwise circular motion. This matches the direction of their intestines so helps move air along to the exit! Some people recommend motioning as if they were writing I L U (for I love you) over the baby’s tummy. There are plenty of images on pinterest showing how to do this, but a simple circular clockwise motion will work just as well.

Knees up

Baby bent knees

Have you noticed how your baby will often poo right in the middle of changing their nappy? That’s because when you lift their knees and hold them bent, it stimulates movement in their intestines, so they can’t help but poo out more! That makes this position a great one to remember if your baby has wind as well as if your baby hasn’t pooed for a while or seems a little constipated. Just as when you change a nappy, gently hold their feet and push their knees up to bend naturally. Hold in that position for a few minutes if baby will tolerate it.

Bath time

A lovely soothing warm bath can often ease the pain of trapped wind for babies. Just make sure that the water is nice and warm and deep enough to cover their tummy. Use a bath thermometer if you are unsure of the right temperature, and please remember to NEVER EVER LEAVE A BABY UNATTENDED IN A BATH, NOT EVEN FOR A SECOND!!! If the phone rings or the doorbell goes, ignore it and look after the baby instead!

Baby in a bath

Extra Considerations

There are a couple of other things to consider if your baby seems to struggle with trapped wind quite frequently.

Feeding techniques

Some babies are just very fast or very hungry feeders. They want to get their food so fast that they don’t care about bringing in all the extra wind that comes with it. Until the extra air causes them pain, of course! With babies who need to slow down a little, it can be useful to split feeds into shorter periods at the breast or with the bottle. Give the baby a couple of minutes to feed to start with, then take them off the breast or remove the bottle. Give them a chance to process that they have got a little something in their tummy, as this may help them to slow the rate of feeding when you put them back on. It can also be useful to split feeds into smaller parts so that you can try and help the baby to burp in the middle of the feed, rather than at the end.

If you are bottle feeding, it may be worth looking at a different sized teat for the bottle, as some will allow the milk to flow more slowly or more quickly.

Over the counter remedies

There are three main over the counter remedies in the UK. All are suitable from birth, but they all work in a different way. It is therefore impossible to know exactly which one will work for your baby. Some will be given via a dropper before a feed, others can be mixed in with artificial milk and others are given on a sterilised spoon before a feed. Do head to Amazon.co.uk and look at the options and reviews for each product and see what you think.

Colief

Infacol

Gripe water

 

A word about Colic

Some babies develop colic from very early on. This is a sustained pattern of distress usually in the early to late evening, which happens every day for several weeks. It can be extremely distressing as you can’t figure out what to do to help soothe your baby. For support when your baby just won’t stop crying or settle, visit the UK charity Cry-sis website.

Further sources of support can be found on the Useful Links page