Help for Grunting 2 Month Old

My daughter did the same thing. It used to keep me up at night. I was breastfeeding but giving her a bottle of Enfamil LIPIL with Iron at night before bed. Then I switched over to just Enfamil LIPIL with Iron. It just seemed to get worse. Mylican didn't seem to work for her either. So we decided to try Enfamil LIPIL Gentle ease. It took a few days for her to get used to the new formula, but it really helped her with her gas and now she sleeps better at night, which helps me to sleep better.

Are you sure it is gas that is causing him to grunt? Maybe he can't breathe. My daughter and now newborn do it and it was caused (found out later with baby #1 and a minor surgery helped) by enlarged andenoids. I am taking baby 2 to an ENT tomorrow to take a look at her small airways and size of adenoids. Nothing they can do now, but will monitor her.
After our first daughter had the surgery (shaved her adenoids) it was like a whole new baby and a different sleeping experience for all of us.

My (now almost 5 month old) son used to grunt a lot also. It was most often worse early in the morning. One day, it just stopped and he hasn't done it since. Our doctor told us that it had nothing to do with gas or bowel movement. She told us some newborns are just noisy sleepers.

my daughter, now 8 months, was a HUGE grunter. My husband and I just were talking the other day about how nobody tells you that new babies sometimes grunt. we were terrified when we first heard her. i even took a video of it to show my ped.

So, it's totally normal and sometimes not even related to gas. If you still feel like it is from gas there is a great product that we used and still sometimes use called colic calm. I think the website is coliccalm.com. It's an all natural product and it is a sort of gripe water but one that actually works. read about it. I swear by it. Mylicon never worked for my daughter.

good luck

I wouldn't use the Gripe water - it contains Belladonna. I'm sure other people feel it is safe in the quantity, but any poison is unnecessary for an infant for something like gas.

My DS did this, though he didn't wake me up (DH was concerned about this, and the lactation consultant told him that maternal instinct would kick in when I had recovered from my c-section - long story!)

Grunting is embarrassing and at times funny. We could occasionally cajole him into other noises (and he did grow out of it). It sounds terrible at times, and well, just doesn't sound right.

It does go away (at least 99.9% of the time :)

Mylicon if anything for the gas, and the gas hold (on your knees) or patting his butt (that worked for mine for a few months).

Hmmmm, maybe it is a boy thing? ;)

Good luck,
M.

Hi A..

I have a 6 month old little boy. He had very bad gas for the first couple months. I tried all of the over the counter remedies and not much helped. What I found that did help was fennel tea. An old fashioned remedy that was popular years ago. I didn't want to try it but after I went through everything else I gave it a go and it actually did seem to calm him a bit. Put about 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds in a cup of water and let it cool. Then mix about an ounce in with his bottle. If his grunting is from gas it should help a little. Good luck!! K.

Are you nursing him? If so-it is surprising that he would be constipated. Stop eating dairy-he might be allergic to it. Also, you could take a probiotic, which might help the baby with his allergies and constipation.

My 16 mo old son was born with a condition called Laryngomalasia. He made weird grunting noises too especially when sleeping. Basically its a breathing disorder where the throat muscles are weak. Luckily kids can outgrow it by 1yo. My son still has a trace of it. Take him to an ENT - pediatric if possible. There's not much to do for it except wait it out. My son also had reflux & restricitve airway disease which didnt help the situation. He sounded like an old man snoring on the porch!

If you breastfeed.. I highly suggest YOU drinking warm milk with a gooooood amount of dark molasses in it.. lots of fiber.. it will help.

Sounds like mild constipation, yes? I know my son had issues at that age.. doctor made me give him a little PLAIN karo syrup.. the light kind.. worked well. But it's only for a once or twice issue. Call his ped.

If it's just noise.. it's something he will grow out of. No worries.

Try these techniques when he is awake-

When baby's belly is rigid & he's crying:
1. Gently fold the baby's knees up to the tummy (as far as is comfortable), hold for 15 to 30 seconds and release.

2. Gently hold both of the baby's feet and move the legs one at a time, bending at the knees as if riding a bicycle for 30 seconds.

When the baby's belly is relaxed:
1. Using your fingers or hand, circle the belly button in a clockwise motion. This gets any remaining gas moving in the proper direction for the baby to easily pass it. Another way to do this is to rub clockwise "parentheses" around the belly button, i.e., if the belly button is the center of a clock, one hand moves from ten to one o'clock and the other from four to seven. Or the "I love you" technique which you can see on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ4HPREfBgo

2. Have the baby on his tummy and "walk" your fingers up his back. Make sure your fingers are on either side of his spine.

HTH :-)
-Kate

my daughter does in fact grunt when she has a bowel movement, while i know other babies that grunted when they slept, ate, went poo, or just played. he may be a loud baby, and be in that in between sleep/waking up time. my daughter moves her head back and forth violently making faces as if she is pain before she wakes up.
my daughter doesnt seem to have any more problem with bowel movements laying down vs upright.
imo, if he is doing this grunting then passing gas, thats what it is, and it might be because of swallowing air or what foods he is eating. try to burp more and figure out whats foods are causing it. if he grunts, and then has a BM, but the bowel movement isnt hard balls, he is NOT constipated, he is just a loud pooper. if he grunts, and passes bowels, and they are hard balls, he is constipated and i would contact your doctor. if he is doing this and not passing gas, or having a BM, thats just him. 6am is a very average time for a baby to wake. i really think he is just a noisy baby:)
prune juice will bring on bowel movements as they actually irritate the stomach lining causing you to go. but you shouldnt use prunes as a regulator, nor should you give them unless you are sure about constipation(not going doesnt mean constipation, only hard stools does). he will just grow up to be someone who pushes the snooze button a few times on the alarm clock as it takes him awhile to wake up.

Have you tried doing bicycles with his legs often during the day? Also, you can give him a little water between feedings to hydrate him more and help loosen those stools. sorry! You know, a friend of mine had a very grunty baby. It was just how he was, those were his infant noises. Now he doesn't do it anymore and she misses it. It might just be "his" noises.

Hello! Give him some prune juice or food. Not alot but it should make his bowel movments softer or easier to come out! Good luck!

My son was the same way -- I had to move into his room so at least my husband could get some sleep! Like Denise, we also video taped it to show our pediatrician. He didn't seem concerned, but later we determined he had silent reflux (reflux without spitting up) and started him on Zantac. He quieted down after that! I think he was grunting to keep the milk down ... at least that is my best guess. However, it could have just been a coincidence and perhaps he would have quieted down on his own.

I have to agree with Denise S. My son did the same thing, and it drove us NUTS!!! He grunted all night like he was trying to push something out, but he really wasn't constipated.

We put him in his crib at 3 months, and I could still hear it on the monitor, but it slowly went away. I tried mylicon and all that stuff, too, and I really don't think it was necessary. There wasn't anything wrong. It was just the way he slept.

Don't worry about it, and turn the monitor down, so you can hear him when he cries, but tune out the grunting.