Newborn Grunting
Baby Bunting, Newborn Grunting
Having a baby is one of the greatest joys in life, but listening to your newborn grunting is not. Getting the news that you are expecting fills you with awe and excitement, and you are mesmerized by the ultrasounds. Meditating on the miracle of life keeps you going and looking forward to having your baby as you mark the days from your calendar. The time to give birth arrives and you can’t take your eyes off of them as they take the baby away to be cleaned up. You are exhausted and on pain medication and as you try to sleep you hear your baby grunting. All you can think is, “I need sleep!” So, why are they doing it and what can you do about it?
Many mothers experience the sound of their newborn grunting which is very common. Babies are actually quite comical from the time they are born because they move around a lot and squirm because they have no muscle control. They look so sweet and helpless all at the same time, but when they grunt you start to worry if they are in pain, or what you can do to help. Being a new mother you listen to every little sound and watch every little motion to make sure they are okay.
Your newborn grunting is possibly due to gas. The baby at birth was introduced to a completely new environment, so they have been in a very small space for nine months and completely feeding off of everything you eat. Since your baby hasn’t been introduced to mother’s milk or formula yet their digestive system isn’t quite ready for everything. The digestive system takes time to develop and get used to new things, so they may feel like they have an air bubble or pressure in the belly. It is so hard to know because as infants, they don’t have the ability to tell us what is going on. So, grunting is just a result of that, and therefore their only way to really communicate.
The other challenge a baby faces is their stomach muscles are not fully developed. As adults when we expel gas we realize it takes just a little bit of pressure to do so. Your baby doesn’t really understand that concept, and expelling gas for them is new. They are now being introduced to more of a whole food and therefore are getting adjusted to it.
For new mothers, the grunting can wear you down especially if you aren’t getting any rest. This is even more of a challenge for those who are dealing with postpartum depression. In the process of feeling frustrated and not understand why the baby is grunting, mothers may try to find a simple solution.
One theory states that by stimulating the bowel slightly, you can help a baby go ahead and produce a bowel movement without them having to struggle. The way to do this is by inserting a baby thermometer into the rectum, and the pressure from that thermometer will stimulate their bowels resulting in a bowel movement. The problem with this method is that it has the same effect on those who use laxatives. If you use them enough you become dependent upon them. Thus, the baby would only continue to have a bowel movement when you insert the thermometer to stimulate the bowels.
This is called Newborn Grunting Syndrome, and it just refers to the result of the baby making these sounds while trying to learn how to expel gas and have a bowel movement. Every baby is different and therefore it may take them anywhere from 3-6 months before they are able to produce a bowel movement without the grunting.