My daughter gave birth to my first grand daughter four days ago, and our first few evenings with our beloved baby have been absolute torture. She seems to be suffering from gas, and her pains are inconsolable. This morning at 7 am, my son-in-law headed out to the store to purchase Mylicon, which is an over the counter anti-gas medication made specifically for infants.
Walgreen’s were out of Mylicon, and so was the local CVS store, so he purchased the CVS Pharmacy store brand, simply called “Infants’ Gas Relief. The medication comes in a one half fluid ounce bottle, with a small dropper that lets you easily squirt the drops into your infants mouth.
The package states that this is comparable to the active ingredient in “Infants’ Mylicon Drops”, that it is a non-staining formula, contains no alcohol, no saccharin, and no artificial flavors. The small bottle contains enough anti-gas medication for 50 doses, based on 0.3 ml per dose. The dropper is clearly marked so you can give your infant the 0.3 dose, or less.
The active ingredient in CVS Infants’ Gas Relief is simethicone, which is the same active ingredient in adult anti-gas products such as Gas-X. To use the drops, you should shake the bottle well first, and give them as needed, after meals, and at bedtime (or as directed by your pediatrician). You should not exceed 12 doses in one day.
I believe the problem with my grand daughter is that she is swallowing too much air when she nurses. She was born three weeks early, and it took her a while to get the hang of nursing. About 20 minutes after nursing she would start to cry, and it was the “I am in pain” kind of cry that is just heart breaking. Since we have been giving her the CVS Infants’ Gas Relief drops, her distress has been much less.
She still has her bouts of crying, but they are more controllable now. We give her half of the recommended dose, since the 0.3 ml is intended for infants under two, and she is not even a week old. We looked on the internet and all ages were recommended the 0.3 ml dose, but we felt comfortable giving her less since she is so young. These drops really do help a lot, and considering the fact that it was the only bottle left on the shelf, and all of the bottles of Mylicon were gone, I think a lot of parents are also purchasing the simethicone based over the counter anti-gas drops for their infants.
If your baby is suffering from gas, I highly recommend you speak to your pediatrician or physician about giving your child simethicone drops. The small bottle of CVS brand retailed for almost seven dollars.
