Yes, newborns fart a lot. Some babies pass gas dozens of times a day, and it’s one of the most common concerns new parents bring up. The reason is simple: a newborn’s digestive system is brand new, still maturing, and colonized by bacteria for the first time. All of that adds up to a gassy baby.
Why Newborns Produce So Much Gas
A newborn’s gut is immature in almost every way that matters for digestion. Gastric emptying is slower, bowel transit takes longer, and the enzymes needed to break down milk sugars like lactose aren’t yet at full capacity. When carbohydrates aren’t fully digested in the upper gut, they travel to the lower intestine, where bacteria ferment them. That fermentation is what produces gas.
At the same time, your baby’s gut is being colonized by its very first community of microbes. In breastfed infants, bacteria like bifidobacteria dominate early on, and their primary job is breaking down sugars from breast milk. This process generates high levels of acetate and lactate, two byproducts that are quickly converted in an adult gut but tend to accumulate in an infant’s. The result is more gas, more often, as these microbial colonies establish themselves over the first weeks and months of life.
Air Swallowing During Feeds
Fermentation isn’t the only source. Babies swallow air every time they eat, a process called aerophagia. This happens with both breastfeeding and bottle-feeding, though bottle-fed babies tend to take in more air depending on the nipple flow and bottle design. That swallowed air has to go somewhere, and it exits as either a burp or a fart.
A poor latch during breastfeeding or a nipple that flows too fast (or too slow) from a bottle can make the problem worse. If your baby gulps loudly during feeds or seems unusually fussy afterward, they may be swallowing more air than average. Repositioning during feeds and burping your baby both during and after a feeding session can reduce the amount of trapped air. Trying a different bottle designed to limit air intake is another practical option.
The Straining and Grunting Is Usually Normal
Many parents worry not just about the frequency of gas but about how hard their baby seems to work to pass it. Newborns often turn red, grunt, squirm, kick their feet, and even cry while trying to fart or poop. This looks alarming, but in most cases it’s a coordination problem, not a digestive one.
There’s actually a name for it: infant dyschezia, sometimes called grunting baby syndrome. Babies haven’t yet learned to coordinate the two muscle groups involved in pushing stool or gas out. They’ll bear down with their abdominal muscles while simultaneously clenching their pelvic floor. The result is 10 to 30 minutes of straining and fussing before anything comes out. When stool does pass, it looks completely normal, soft or pasty. Babies may even cry because they’ve learned that crying helps them contract their abdominal muscles. It’s not pain, it’s practice. This resolves on its own as their coordination matures.
Does Your Diet Affect a Breastfed Baby’s Gas?
If you’re breastfeeding, you’ve probably heard that foods like broccoli, cabbage, beans, garlic, onions, or spicy dishes will make your baby gassy. This belief is widespread, but the scientific evidence behind it is thin. Research has consistently found that, with the exception of cow’s milk protein in babies who have a true cow’s milk allergy, there is little evidence that eliminating specific foods from a breastfeeding parent’s diet reduces infant gas or fussiness.
A qualitative study published in Canadian Family Physician found that breastfeeding mothers commonly restricted caffeine, cruciferous vegetables, gluten, and beans based on the belief that these foods caused their baby’s symptoms. The researchers noted this happened “in spite of scientific evidence demonstrating the contrary.” Restrictive diets can reduce your own nutritional intake without benefiting your baby, so broad elimination diets aren’t recommended unless a specific allergy has been identified.
Simple Ways to Help a Gassy Baby
You can’t eliminate newborn gas entirely, but you can help it move through more comfortably. A few techniques that pediatricians commonly recommend:
- Bicycle legs. Lay your baby on their back and gently move their legs in circular pedaling motions. This compresses the abdomen and helps trapped gas shift.
- Knee-to-belly presses. With your baby on their back, hold their feet and gently bend their knees up toward their belly. Hold briefly, release, and repeat.
- Tummy time. The gentle pressure of lying on their stomach can help gas work its way out. Always supervise tummy time.
- Frequent burping. Don’t wait until the end of a feeding. Pause to burp your baby midway through, then again when they’re done.
These are low-risk, no-cost options that many parents find genuinely helpful, even if the relief is temporary.
Gas vs. Colic
Normal gas causes short bursts of fussiness, a temporarily bloated-looking belly, and frequent burping or farting. Your baby may be uncomfortable for a few minutes but settles down once the gas passes. This is the everyday experience for most newborns.
Colic is different in its intensity and duration. The standard definition is crying that lasts more than three hours a day, more than three days a week, in an otherwise healthy baby under three months old. Colicky babies often cry hardest in the evening hours, roughly 6 p.m. to midnight, with clenched fists, a flushed face, and legs drawn up toward the belly. They may also burp or pass gas frequently, but that’s thought to be a consequence of swallowing air during prolonged crying rather than the cause of the crying itself.
Signs That Something Else Is Going On
Frequent gas alone is rarely a problem. But gas combined with other symptoms can point to something that needs attention. Watch for vomiting (as opposed to normal spit-up), a visibly swollen or hard belly that doesn’t soften after gas passes, blood in the stool or vomit, poor weight gain, excessive sleepiness, or fever. These can indicate conditions like reflux disease or a food protein allergy that benefit from medical evaluation.
A baby who is gaining weight, feeding well, producing regular wet and dirty diapers, and settling between bouts of fussiness is, in all likelihood, just a normal gassy newborn. The good news is that gas typically improves significantly by three to four months of age as the digestive system matures and your baby’s gut bacteria stabilize into a more efficient community.