Most babies can get relief from gas with a combination of better burping, gentle belly massage, and small changes to how they feed. Gas is one of the most common discomforts in newborns and young infants, largely because their digestive systems are still maturing. The good news: simple physical techniques work well, and most babies outgrow frequent gassiness by four to six months.
Why Babies Get So Gassy
The biggest source of infant gas is swallowed air. Babies swallow air when they cry, when they feed too quickly, and when they latch poorly to a breast or bottle. A baby who has been crying from hunger for several minutes will gulp frantically once they finally start feeding, taking in even more air than usual. This creates a cycle: hunger leads to crying, crying leads to air swallowing, and air swallowing leads to a bloated, uncomfortable belly that causes more crying.
Their digestive tracts also play a role. An infant’s gut is still developing the muscle coordination needed to move gas efficiently through the intestines. The bacterial colonies that help break down food are still establishing themselves. Together, these factors mean gas can get trapped more easily and take longer to pass than it would in an older child or adult.
Burping Techniques That Actually Work
Burping during and after every feeding is the single most effective way to prevent gas buildup. Don’t wait until the end of a feeding. If you’re breastfeeding, burp your baby each time you switch breasts. If you’re bottle feeding, pause every two to three ounces for a burp break.
Three positions tend to work best:
- Over your shoulder. Hold your baby upright against your chest with their chin resting on your shoulder. Support them with one hand and gently pat or rub their back with the other. Rocking gently in a chair while you do this can help.
- Sitting on your lap. Sit your baby upright on your lap. Cradle their chin (not their throat) in the palm of one hand to support their chest and head, and pat their back with the other.
- Face down across your lap. Lay your baby belly-down on your legs, keeping their head slightly higher than their chest. Pat their back gently.
If nothing comes up after a couple of minutes, switch to a different position and try again. Some babies burp more easily in one position than another, so it’s worth experimenting. After bottle feedings, holding your baby upright for a few extra minutes gives lingering air bubbles time to rise.
Belly Massage and Bicycle Legs
When gas is already trapped, gentle pressure on the belly can help move it toward the exit. Lay your baby on their back on a flat surface. Using two or three fingertips, stroke their belly in a clockwise direction, starting from the lower right side (where the large intestine begins), sweeping up and across, then down to the lower left side. This follows the natural path of the intestines and encourages gas to travel toward the bowels.
Bicycle legs are another reliable technique. Hold your baby’s ankles and gently move their legs in a cycling motion, alternating one knee up toward the belly while the other extends. You can also try pressing both knees gently toward the belly together, holding for a few seconds, and releasing. Many parents find that alternating between belly massage and bicycle legs for five to ten minutes brings noticeable relief. Doing this during a diaper change, when your baby is already on their back, makes it easy to work into your routine.
Some babies also respond to gentle pressure on the sole of the foot, in the area just below the ball of the foot. This is a reflex point that some parents find helps with gas, though the mechanism isn’t well studied.
Feeding Adjustments to Prevent Gas
How your baby feeds matters as much as what they eat. The goal is to reduce the amount of air they swallow in the first place.
For breastfeeding, start feedings before your baby gets worked up from hunger. A calm baby latches better and swallows less air. Feed in an upright or semi-upright position when possible, which lets air rise above the milk in their stomach and makes burping easier.
For bottle feeding, a technique called paced feeding can make a significant difference. Hold your baby in an almost-sitting position, supporting their neck and upper back. Keep the bottle horizontal rather than tilted down, just filling the nipple with milk. This lets your baby control the flow instead of gravity flooding milk into their mouth. When your baby pauses sucking, tip the bottle down so milk pulls away from the nipple. Tip it back up when they start again. This slower, more controlled feeding dramatically reduces air intake.
The bottle itself matters too. Different nipple shapes and flow rates work better for different babies. If your baby gulps quickly, sputters, or seems to struggle with the flow, try a slower-flow nipple. Some bottle designs include venting systems meant to reduce the air mixed into the milk. It can take some trial and error to find what works for your particular baby.
Do Gas Drops and Gripe Water Help?
Simethicone gas drops are the most widely sold over-the-counter remedy for infant gas. They work by combining small gas bubbles into larger ones that are theoretically easier to pass. However, the clinical evidence is not encouraging. In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 83 infants, simethicone performed no better than a placebo. About 54% of infants showed improvement regardless of which treatment they received, suggesting that time and natural digestive maturation were doing the real work. Parents who feel the drops help may be seeing a coincidence rather than a drug effect.
Gripe water has a longer history but a similarly thin evidence base. Modern formulations typically contain fennel, ginger, sodium bicarbonate, and various flavorings. The sodium bicarbonate neutralizes acid, but acid isn’t usually what causes infant gas, so the logic doesn’t hold up. Cleveland Clinic notes that while today’s gripe water isn’t dangerous the way the original 1800s version was (which contained alcohol and sugar), there’s little research showing it actually works. If you choose to try either product, they’re generally considered safe, but set realistic expectations.
Does a Mother’s Diet Cause Gas?
This is one of the most persistent beliefs in parenting, and for most families it’s a myth. Johns Hopkins Medicine is direct on this point: for the majority of breastfeeding parents, what you eat does not make your baby gassy. Breast milk is synthesized from your blood, not directly from your stomach contents, so a plate of broccoli doesn’t send gas-producing compounds straight to your baby.
The exception is a genuine food allergy or sensitivity, most commonly to dairy proteins in the mother’s diet. This affects only about 3% of exclusively breastfed babies. Signs go beyond ordinary fussiness and can include mucus or blood in the stool, skin rashes, or persistent vomiting. If you consistently notice that your baby seems more uncomfortable after you eat a specific food, it’s reasonable to eliminate that food for a few days and see if things improve. But broad elimination diets are unnecessary for most breastfeeding parents.
Formula Changes for Gassy Babies
If your baby is formula-fed and consistently gassy, switching to a partially hydrolyzed formula with reduced lactose may help. These formulas contain proteins that have been broken into smaller pieces, making them easier for an immature gut to digest. In one clinical trial, flatulence scores dropped significantly within the first day of switching, along with reductions in vomiting and crying within the first three days.
A formula switch isn’t always necessary, though. Start with the feeding techniques described above, since swallowed air is the most common culprit regardless of what’s in the bottle. If gas persists despite good feeding habits and regular burping, talk to your pediatrician about whether a different formula is worth trying. Give any new formula at least a few days before judging whether it’s helping, since the digestive system needs time to adjust.
What About Probiotics?
Probiotics, particularly one strain commonly marketed for infant colic, have received a lot of attention. The reality is mixed. A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial gave breastfed infants with colic either a probiotic or a placebo for 42 days. Crying and fussing time declined in both groups at similar rates, with no significant difference between them. At day 21, 66% of infants in both groups had reduced their crying by at least half. The probiotic was safe, but it didn’t outperform the placebo.
Some smaller studies have shown more promising results, which is why the conversation around infant probiotics continues. If you want to try them, they’re unlikely to cause harm, but the evidence doesn’t support them as a reliable gas remedy.
Signs That Gas Might Be Something More
Ordinary gas makes babies fussy, squirmy, and sometimes inconsolable for stretches of time, but it resolves on its own and doesn’t make a baby look sick. Certain symptoms signal something more serious and need immediate medical attention: a fever of 100.4°F or higher in a baby under three months, bright green vomit (which can indicate a bowel obstruction), blood in the vomit or stool, or intense vomiting combined with a swollen belly, unusual sleepiness, or signs of dehydration. These warrant a trip to the emergency room, not a wait-and-see approach.
For everyday gassiness, consistency with the physical techniques tends to pay off. Most parents find that a combination of proactive burping, paced feeding, and belly massage handles the bulk of the problem while their baby’s digestive system catches up.