Expert: ruth kraft - 2/17/2009

Question
My daughter recently turned four months, and for the last week she has occasionally acted as though it's painful for her to poop/pass gas. She still eats about every 2 1/2 hours (solely breast milk), and most diapers are soiled. She also continues to be very noisy when she passes gas, which I read should have subsided by 1-2 months. I usually drink one cup of coffee and one to two sodas a day. She also started teething at around 3 months, but has yet to cut a tooth. Would either of these situations affect her tummy? I don’t eat onions, cabbage, (or the other things I have read could be the cause) and I don’t consume much milk or other dairy products. She is gaining weight wonderfully (was 8 pounds at birth, and is now 13 lbs., 13 oz.). She does occasionally gulp and pull off when feeding, but eats most of what I pump each day (usually 3 to 3.5 ounces at a time), so I don’t believe it’s an oversupply issue. She has been spitting up a little more than usual, but it mostly happens when she doesn’t have a good burp.

Answer
it could be that that she is teething... sometimes this can make babies get irritable and act sick or upset their stomach. Its possible it could be the caffeine too. try not drinking the caffeine for 3 or 4 days and see if you notice a difference in her.  Babies bowel habits and sounds etc are to the individual child.. So that could be quite normal as well. if she is acting that uncomfortable, I would take her to the doctor to make sure there is no blockage.

Hope that helped!
Ruth Kraft