What to Know About Baby Gas and How to Treat It

Adjust your bottle technique

Bottle-fed babies can ingest a lot of bubbles. To combat this, tilt the bottle at an angle that fills the entire nipple with milk. "Otherwise your baby will suck in air," Dr. Shu says. "More swallowed air means potentially more gas."

If you use powdered formula, let the bottle settle first before giving it to your baby. Shaking and mixing often causes the bottle to be piled high with bubbles on top of the actual formula. You may also consider using a ready-made formula for gassy newborns, as well as specially vented bottles that may reduce the number of bubbles.

Adjust the angle

"When feeding your baby, make sure their head is higher than their stomach," Dr. Shu advises. You want to hold your baby in a position that allows the liquid to slowly sink to the bottom of their stomach while the bubbles rise to the top. If you keep the bubbles closer to the surface, the natural—and easiest—means of exit is a burp. Trapped bubbles will likely pass in the form of gas.

Examine the menu

Foods that are harder for the body to digest are known to cause excess gas. These foods can include beans, onions, broccoli, cabbage, garlic, fried foods, and asparagus. If you're contending with a particularly fussy or constantly gassy baby, it might be worth taking a look at their diet—and yours, if you breastfeed. The gas-causing food you eat turns up in your breast milk, which might mean extra gas for your little one.