When the wind blows (or doesn't)

There are many, many things no one tells you about babies before you have one, probably because you wouldn't believe them.   One of those is what noisy sleepers small babies are.  Lying in the dark, you could be forgiven for thinking a rhino had entered the room and eaten your baby because it's almost incomprehensible that someone whose head is smaller than your newly-inflated breast could actually make that sort of noise.

A lot of new mammies express concern about the amount of grunting, squirming and farting that goes on in the wee small hours, not least because it keeps everyone awake.    Trapped wind can be a problem with breastfed as well as formula fed babies, which I always felt as a terrible injustice!    Before you run out for infacol, or make arrangements to bootleg some gripe water, consider baby massage.   It's a lovely activity for you and your baby and has lots of health benefits.  If you can afford classes, which generally cost around €120 for a 4 or 5 week course, then they are a great way to build confidence with the techniques, get a full understanding of the benefits and also to meet other mothers.    However, with a small baby, participation in the class can be a bit hit-and-miss as I found out when I took my 2 month old, who didn't appreciate the change to her routine and spent every class except the final one either feeding, protesting or asleep on my shoulder.

Have a look at these videos for a natural way to release that troublesome trapped gas using massage.  I found the first one worked particularly well for us, especially if done at every nappy change. 

There's lots more of this sort of thing on youtube.    Try it - it could be a solution for a (somewhat) better night's sleep for everyone.