Most gassy babies don’t need medicine or special formulas. They need help getting the gas out. Newborns are simply bad at it. After nine months developing in fluid, they have zero experience managing air in their digestive system, and their gut muscles aren’t coordinated enough to move gas along efficiently. The good news: a few simple techniques during and after feeding can make a real difference, and the problem almost always resolves on its own as your baby’s digestive system matures.
Why Babies Get So Gassy
Gas in infants comes from two sources: swallowed air and normal digestion. Babies swallow air when they cry, feed, or even just breathe with a slightly open mouth. That air either comes back up as a burp or travels through the intestines and exits as a fart. Neither is a problem in itself, but babies often struggle with the sensation and the mechanics of releasing it.
The digestive side is equally straightforward. When breast milk or formula reaches your baby’s intestines, some of it isn’t fully broken down. Normal gut bacteria feed on the leftover sugars and produce gas as a byproduct. This is a sign the digestive system is working, not a sign something is wrong. But because a newborn’s gut motility is still immature, that gas can sit in the intestines longer than it would in an older child, causing visible discomfort: a tight, round belly, drawn-up legs, clenched fists, and fussiness that seems to come out of nowhere.
Burping Techniques That Actually Help
Burping during feeds, not just after, is one of the simplest ways to prevent gas buildup. For bottle-fed babies, pause every ounce or two. For breastfed babies, burp when you switch sides or whenever your baby pulls off naturally. Three positions work well, and it’s worth trying all of them since different babies respond to different angles:
- Over the shoulder: Hold your baby upright with their chin resting on your shoulder. Pat or gently rub the back in an upward motion.
- Sitting up: Sit your baby on your lap, lean them slightly forward, and support their chin and chest with one hand while patting with the other.
- Face down on your lap: Lay your baby tummy-down across your thighs, head slightly higher than chest, and pat the back.
If no burp comes after a minute or two, move on. Not every feed produces a trapped air bubble, and forcing it just frustrates both of you.
Adjusting How You Feed
The way milk enters your baby’s mouth matters as much as the milk itself. For bottle feeding, a technique called paced feeding significantly reduces the amount of air a baby swallows. The basics: use a slow-flow nipple, hold your baby in a semi-upright position on your lap, and keep the bottle nearly horizontal rather than tipped up. Let your baby suck for about three to five swallows (roughly 20 to 30 seconds), then tip the bottle down to give a brief rest. When your baby starts sucking again, tip it back up. This mimics the natural rhythm of breastfeeding, where milk doesn’t flow continuously, and it prevents the baby from gulping too fast.
For breastfeeding, two common culprits stand out. A shallow latch lets air leak in around the nipple with every suck. If you hear clicking sounds during feeds, your baby probably isn’t getting a deep enough seal. The other issue is a fast letdown, where milk flows so quickly that your baby gulps and swallows air trying to keep up. Feeding in a reclined position (so your baby is above the breast, working against gravity) can slow the flow. If letdown is very forceful, expressing a little milk by hand before latching can also help.
Movement and Tummy Time
Gentle physical movement helps gas travel through the intestines. The most popular technique is bicycle legs: lay your baby on their back and slowly move their legs in a pedaling motion. You can also try gently pressing both knees up toward the belly, holding for a few seconds, and releasing. Many parents find this produces almost immediate results.
Tummy time serves double duty. The gentle pressure on the abdomen helps push gas out, and it builds the core and neck strength your baby needs for other milestones. Even a few minutes several times a day can help, though you’ll want to wait at least 20 to 30 minutes after a feed to avoid spit-up. A warm (not hot) bath can also relax the abdominal muscles enough to let trapped gas pass more easily.
Do Gas Drops Work?
Simethicone drops are the most widely available over-the-counter option. They work by combining small gas bubbles in the stomach into larger ones that are easier to burp up. The typical dose is 20 milligrams up to four times a day, and the drops are considered safe for daily use. Here’s the catch: clinical research has not found simethicone to be very effective at reducing fussiness or colic symptoms. Some parents swear by it, but the evidence suggests the benefit may be modest or driven by placebo effect. It’s unlikely to cause harm, but it’s also unlikely to be a game-changer.
Gripe water is a different story. These herbal remedies typically contain fennel, ginger, sodium bicarbonate, and various flavorings. The sodium bicarbonate neutralizes acid, but acid isn’t what causes most infant gas, so the logic doesn’t hold up. More importantly, gripe water isn’t regulated the way medicine or food is, so there’s no guarantee of quality or safety. Multiple brands have been recalled over the years for contamination, including one case where a six-week-old developed a parasitic infection and another where bacterial contamination caused septic shock in a nine-month-old. Pediatricians generally don’t recommend gripe water.
Probiotics for Breastfed Babies
One option with stronger evidence behind it is a specific probiotic strain, L. reuteri DSM17938, which has been studied in multiple clinical trials for infant colic. A meta-analysis published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, covering four double-blind trials with 345 infants, found that babies receiving this probiotic cried and fussed about 25 fewer minutes per day than those on placebo by day 21. The probiotic group was nearly twice as likely to show meaningful improvement.
There’s an important caveat: the benefits were dramatic in breastfed infants (only about three breastfed babies needed to be treated for one to see clear improvement) but insignificant in formula-fed infants. If you’re breastfeeding and your baby has persistent gas and fussiness, this probiotic is worth discussing with your pediatrician. If you’re formula feeding, the evidence isn’t there yet.
When Formula Changes Make Sense
If your formula-fed baby remains uncomfortable despite good feeding technique and regular burping, switching formulas is a reasonable next step. Partially hydrolyzed formulas contain proteins that have been broken into smaller pieces, making them easier to digest. In clinical trials, both standard and partially hydrolyzed formulas with added prebiotics reduced gassiness and fussiness significantly within the first day of switching, suggesting that sometimes a fresh start with any formula helps, but the hydrolyzed option may offer an edge for sensitive stomachs.
Your pediatrician can help you decide whether to try a gentle or hydrolyzed formula, or in rarer cases, a formula designed for cow’s milk protein sensitivity. Give any new formula at least a few days before judging whether it’s helping.
Gas vs. Colic vs. Something More
Normal gas causes intermittent fussiness, a bloated-looking belly, and lots of burping or passing gas. It tends to come and go, often worsening in the evening. Your baby should still feed well, gain weight normally, and have periods of contentment between episodes.
Colic is more intense: loud, continuous crying that starts suddenly, often at the same time each day, with clenched fists and legs pulled tight against the abdomen. Colicky babies still grow and gain weight appropriately, but the crying can last hours. If your baby fits this pattern, the same gas-relief strategies apply, though colic often requires more patience than intervention. It typically peaks around six weeks and resolves by three to four months.
Some signs suggest something beyond normal gas or colic. Watch for poor feeding or refusing the bottle, vomiting (not just spit-up), diarrhea, blood in the stool, a rigid or hard belly, fever above 100.4°F, unusual sleepiness, a change in breathing, or a cry that sounds different from your baby’s normal fussiness. Any of these, especially in a baby under three months, warrants prompt medical attention.