Question
Every time my baby finishes feeding, I hold her upright and pat her back to burp her. But since yesterday, the baby has had abdominal bloating and farting, eats less, and cries and fusses when fed. I can only feed her quickly when she’s about to fall asleep. She hasn’t had a bowel movement since yesterday. What could be causing my newborn’s abdominal bloating and farting?
Answer
Abdominal bloating may be caused by indigestion, abdominal pain, or gastrointestinal dysfunction. In addition to medication, acupuncture can be used for selected acupoints such as Shutian, Zhongwan, and Diaokou, with good therapeutic effects. Frequent farting indicates poor digestion in children, as when digestion is poor, bacteria in the intestines will ferment more food residue to produce gas, leading to frequent farting. Feeding some digestive juices can help, such as the ‘Happily Eat’ digestive juice. If the child is breastfed, the nursing mother should pay attention to eating light and non-greasy foods to avoid increasing the child’s digestive burden.