My daughter loves to eat, but the result is often painful gas which keeps her from being able to settle down to sleep, and has woken her up from time to time. I never would have thought I would be so happy to hear another human being fart, but once she does, I know it means that my wife (and therefore I) can relax.

We try to burp her during feedings, sometimes we're rewarded with a nice moist belch, othertimes we're met with stony silence. I also work her legs (bring knees to chest, straighten, repeat) before we swaddle her up for the evening, but it's a bit of a crapshoot as to what works.

Anyone here had a really gassy child? Good experiences with gripewater? I'd rather stay away from actual drugs until a last resort, but would love to hear any tips other dads have had in soothing a gassy young'un.

Our first son had some gas issues. Not constantly, but they usually became epic battles. Once we were camping and thought he may have been bitten or stung, so we ran him to the ER where they gave us a prescription bottle of Mylacon. The same stuff you can get anywhere. And it always worked. We just hadn't thought about gas being the issue that time.

I'm pretty sure that Mylacon isn't labeled as a drug. It just breaks up the bubbles.

Crapshoot. Heh.

Our kids were all really "colicky" which is something of a catch all phrase meant to encompass all fussy, uncomfortable, screaming babies. We tried lots of things, but the only sure-fire cure in our house was getting to be four months old.

Just always seemed to clear up after that. The dark circles would start to fade from our eyes, and life began again.

I would also maybe find a pro, a nurse or a childcare worker, to check out your burping technique. I was so worried about hurting the baby, that I was not burping firmly enough, and the baby would rarely burp when it was up to me.

Later, I had a chance to observe daycare workers doing the same thing and they were much firmer and always got a good, satisfying BELCH in return.

If you want to impress people with your dadness, point out that 'colicky' is from the Latin 'cōlica', which means 'of the colon.'

Remember, omnia dicta fortiora si dicta Latina

We've bought some gripe water (fennel oil, dill oil, sugar, sodium bicarbonate) but so far haven't broken it out. Well, I tried some, figuring anything I gave my daughter I'd want to try for myself, first. So far I'm not dead.

One thing we have noticed is that her gassy phases are punctuated by green tinged stool. That wasn't out there on the Internet, so let it be known: if your newborn has green poop, the crying you're hearing might be from gas.

We wonder if we are burping forcefully enough. Do y'all burp with vigor? Should spit up be the goal? What are favoured methods?

We have a friend that mixes gripe water with weak chamomile tea to take care of gas. The tea will help settle the stomach after a meal and it helps with the taste of gripe water.

I'm sure you've tried all sorts of directions with he movement of your child's legs to expel gas, but I've found the knees to the chest and extend doesn't work with my daughter. What does work, however, is when she is on her back with knees bent, swaying her legs from side to side, without extension. You may try that... Good Luck!