6 Causes of Baby's Stomach Making Noises, Is This Condition Normal?

Have you ever Parents facing a situation where you are breastfeeding your little one, but your baby’s stomach is making noises?

It turns out, it’s not just adults who experience stomach noises. Babies can also experience this condition.

So, what causes a baby’s stomach to make noises? Check the answer below,Parents.

What Causes Baby Stomach Noises?

Even though it makes mothers worry, in fact it is normal for a baby’s stomach to make noises.

Just like adults, babies’ stomachs make noises for a number of reasons below.

1. Hungry Baby

The most common reason a baby’s stomach makes noises is that the baby is hungry !

Not only adults, babies’ stomachs also make sounds when they feel hungry.

The stomach makes noises when the baby’s stomach is empty and starts to contract.

Next, the baby’s stomach releases air around the abdominal space. This condition is what makes the stomach sound strange.

If your baby’s stomach makes noises, it’s time to breastfeed!

2. Normal Bowel Movement

Basically, the human intestine performs peristaltic movements when digesting food.

This movement is what causes the sound like a “krucuk krucuk” sound in the stomach. This even happens in normal conditions, aka when someone is not hungry.

Considering that the walls of a baby’s intestines are thinner, don’t be surprised if the sounds they make are louder than those of adults.

As a result, whatever enters his digestive tract, be it breast milk or soft foods, his bowel movements will be more audible. 

3. Baby Swallows Air

The next cause of a baby’s stomach making noises is swallowing air, aka bloating . Air can enter the baby’s stomach when breastfeeding, either directly or through a bottle.

Babies who breastfeed too quickly and enthusiastically because they are too hungry can also be a trigger.

Air can also become trapped in the baby’s stomach due to the following:

• Wrong breastfeeding position. Ideally, when breastfeeding, the head should be higher than the stomach. If the baby is breastfeeding while sleeping parallel, it can cause bloating.
• The nipple tip is not quite right. The imprecise shape of the nipple tip can also be a reason. Therefore, make sure the entire surface of the baby’s lips touches the dark circle on the mother’s breast, not just the nipple. Mothers can also buy bottles with anti-choking nipples so that they adjust to the baby’s sucking.

No less important, do not forget to burp the baby after breastfeeding. The way to do this is to straighten the baby’s body so that he sits facing the mother’s embrace.

Stroke or pat his back gently until a burp sound comes out.

Another option is to place your baby on his back and gently move his legs up and down while bending his knees in a bicycling motion.

4. Being too full is one of the causes of a baby’s stomach making noises

Who would have thought, being too full can also make a baby’s stomach growl. When hungry, babies are very likely to be enthusiastic about breastfeeding and drink too much breast milk.

This makes the baby very full and eventually the stomach makes noises.

If this happens, some of the milk cannot be digested by your little one’s stomach.

Moreover, the baby’s digestive enzymes are not yet fully developed so whatever food is present will be passed to the intestines.

In the intestines, the food is fermented by intestinal bacteria, causing gas. This gas is what makes the baby’s stomach bloated and makes noises.

5. Consuming MPASI that contains gas

There will be a moment when the baby will be introduced to solid food, aka MPASI.

MPASI is complementary nutrition for little ones over 6 months of age.

However, choosing the wrong food ingredients for MPASI can cause babies to become bloated . 

Some types of food that can cause gas include:

• Cabbage (kale)
• Cauliflower
• Dairy products, such as cheese and yoghurt
• Soy products, such as soy milk, tofu, and tempeh
• Tomato
• Various types of oranges

6. Baby has colic

According to the pageVinmec, another cause may be a blockage of air in the folds of the intestine or other locations in the digestive system, called colic. 

Common causes of colic symptoms in babies are:

• Problems with mother’s diet

Whatever food the mother consumes, the baby will receive the nutrients from that food.

Therefore, if the mother consumes food that is too oily, high in protein, spicy, infected with bacteria, stored for too long, has a rancid smell, and others, all of these will affect the quality of breast milk and cause the baby to have a stomachache or other health problems. 

• Incorrect feeding

Such as using a nipple on a bottle (not the right size for the child’s mouth) or incorrect measurements of formula milk.

An ill-fitting bottle nipple can cause breast milk or formula to flow too slowly or too quickly, causing the baby to swallow a lot of air and cause colic symptoms. 

• Babies cannot absorb lactose in milk

Lactose is a sugar found in milk and milk products.

For some reason, a baby may be breastfeeding too quickly, but his body does not produce enough enzymes to digest the lactose.

As a result, lactose builds up in the intestines and causes colic in babies.

• Other causes

Other things can be caused by bacteria such as E.coli, Shigella, Salmonella or viruses due to unhygienic thumb or pacifier sucking.

Bad bacteria and viruses can grow and then suppress good bacteria and disrupt the intestinal microflora. Babies can end up with diarrhea or colic .

Is it Normal for a Baby’s Stomach to Make Noises?

When a baby’s stomach is empty or hungry , it contracts and compresses the air around it. This process produces sounds that you might call ‘rumbling’. 

William Penton Sears, an American pediatrician and author of several parenting books , said on the websiteLivestrong, if the rumbling sound in the baby’s stomach is accompanied by occasional burping or vomiting, this is a sign that the intestines are working hard. This can happen when the stomach is empty or full.  

Throughout the day your baby swallows air and saliva many times, and the upper end of his intestine often “kicks back” some of the air that has entered, producing a rumbling sound. 

This sound can also come from part of the food processing process in the intestines. Or it can also be a result of the fermentation process that occurs in the lower intestines.

For example, after a baby eats nuts or starchy foods, the normal bacteria that live in their intestines are eating the sugars produced by those foods.

Some of the gas, which is a by-product of the bacterial digestion process, rises and produces funny ‘noises’ in the stomach, while some goes down and comes out (farting).

It turns out that it is normal for a baby’s stomach to make sounds like this before and after the baby is breastfed, Mom.

Sometimes the sound waves in the stomach sound like they are ‘rushing’, in the form of murmurs, jingles, or even gurgles every 5 to 15 seconds for a duration of only a few seconds. 

What Do Abnormal Baby Stomach Sounds Like?

In normal cases, the baby’s stomach sounds with a loud tone and decreases slowly in a regular manner. This is a sign that the activity of the intestines is slowing down, and usually occurs when the baby is sleeping. 

However, it is not normal if the stomach often makes noises after the baby eats or breastfeeds. These are signs your baby is experiencing:

• Constipation or bowel obstruction, characterized by a sound like water gurgling through pipes. 
• Increased bowel activity. Hyperactive bowel sounds: High-pitched sounds. 
• Food allergy or stress: Very high pitched stomach sound.
• Inflammation of the intestines: Stomach rumbling and rippling.
• Intestinal rupture or intestinal strangulation: If no sound is heard after eating.

This condition is still normal if the sound is accompanied by diarrhea. However, if the baby feels pain, it means that something serious is happening to the baby’s intestines andParentsmust be alert.

Especially if you hear baby’s stomach sounds that are hard to explain or that you’ve never heard before. 

When to be concerned when your baby’s stomach makes noises?

Although it is a normal thing, the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) through its official website explains the triggers for a baby’s stomach making noises that you should be aware of, namely as follows:

• Twisted intestine

This congenital intestinal disorder can cause the baby’s intestines to become blocked. Symptoms include easy bloating , green vomit, no bowel movements or flatulence.

• Invagination

This is a condition where the upper intestine folds to the lower part with symptoms of bloating, abdominal pain, and bowel movements accompanied by mucus and blood.

If this condition occurs, the baby will usually experience stomach bloating 24 hours to 48 hours after birth.

• Lower bowel disorders

In this condition, nerves do not form in the baby’s lower intestine. As a result, the intestine cannot contract like a normal intestine.

Examples of symptoms are that the baby has difficulty pushing and when the anus is poked, feces will immediately gush out.

• Lactose intolerance

It is a condition where the baby does not have the enzyme to digest lactose. Lactose is usually found in dairy products.

It is estimated that around 6 out of 10 children are unable to digest lactose properly.

• Bacterial overgrowth

The situation of excessive bacterial growth will increase gas production in the stomach, causing bloating and the baby’s stomach to make noises.

This condition usually occurs in babies who are malnourished, have intestinal peristalsis disorders, and have long-term use of antibiotics .