J Walking

J Walking

My little global warming problem.

posted by David Kuo | 12:25am Sunday July 8, 2007

My month-old son farts…a lot. I’m not talking an occasional discreet toot. I’m talking 12-hours-after-eating-a-bowl-full-of-hot-chili-and-beans fart; farting so loud and powerful it will wake him up from a deep sleep. If sleep apnia describes people who have trouble sleeping because they stop breathing, he has fart apnia.
We cannot quite figure out what is causing this problem. Kim is on a diet more bland than someone who has the had the stomach flu. Still, he farts.
I recall hearing that “bovine emissions,” aka, cow farts are a major source of greenhouse gasses thus leading to global warming (I’m not joking here). Cow farts produce methane and methane has been determined to be 23 times more “warming” than carbon dioxide. I fear for the cows. I fear for my son. In just the time I’ve been typing (and I type quickly) he as farted five times. The air in my room feels warmer. I don’t know what to do.
[Note - Some readers have inquired whether everything is ok and the answer is genuinely yes. He has an allergy to something in Kim's diet plus he ingests a lot of air while nursing. He's really fine, sleeps well, is gaining wonderful amounts of weight, etc. ]



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Comments read comments(11)
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Karen

posted July 8, 2007 at 2:22 am


Well, unless your son can manage to produce 600 liters a DAY, I don’t think you have much to worry about.
That’s ONE cow. And a LOT of gas.



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Jillian

posted July 8, 2007 at 5:27 am


This is probably a matter for a pediatrician to look at first thing Monday morning, David. I hope Kim is not visibly ill.
I gather it’s been going on for some time. If it continues, my first guess would be some difficulty with digesting milk or certain sugars in larger quantities than before.
I hope it’s nothing serious and gets figured out quickly. My best wishes, David.



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Bitner

posted July 8, 2007 at 10:04 am


On a serious note, yes I’d check with the pediatrictian.
On a side note, and as a fellow parent, thank you for the belly laugh this morning :) And for pity sake, don’t opent he window and let all that gas out into the atmosphere, lol.



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Trish Ryan

posted July 9, 2007 at 10:29 am


Okay, is it wrong to giggle at this post? I am so sorry if the answer is yes, because I can’t help it. If I were a better person, perhaps, I’d see the gravity in the cow situation (and your home situation – adding hot air to any indoor enclosure in July is a problem to be reckoned with) and spend the rest of the morning worrying about it.
And yet…the fact that part of our global warming problem is cow farts makes me see how helpless we are to do anything but pray for God’s guidance when problems arise. If Solomon were still alive, perhaps he’d update the wisdom books to include reminders to this effect…



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the Pajama Pundit

posted July 9, 2007 at 10:57 am


Belly laughs indeed!
David, I am the proud parent of two kids (four years and 10 mos. respectively) and while I occasionally get a whiff of noxious fumes, I must say that it sounds like you are getting the worst of it.
On the other hand – my 10-month-old gives us a terrible time with getting up in the middle of the night. So, my advice is to put a clothes-pin on your nose and be thankful that you get consistent sleep! :)



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Anon

posted July 9, 2007 at 12:05 pm


I have to post this anonymously.
According to the gastrointestinal specialist who did my first colonscopy, excess flatulence can be caused by two things – swallowing too much air (maybe through hyperventilating?) or not digesting food properly. It can also be a symptom of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which I have.
I am a middle-aged (around 50) woman and have had this problem for a few years. Loud, frequent, no doubt, smelly. It’s only funny for a short time, then it gets really aggravating, since it requires frequent trips to the restroom so as not to be antisocial. I agree that you should see a pediatrician.



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Phil DeBrier

posted July 9, 2007 at 12:19 pm


Well, stop feeding him the bowls of hot chili and peppers, and the problem should clear right up. Oh, and the warm room problem…light a match. :-)
Seriously..If jr. is putting on weight and keeping food down and developing normally then it is what it is. My oldest was born hungry. He’d pound down a bottle and tons of air, spit it all up (usually on me), then start screaming for another bottle. Not quite a normal feeding pattern. He’s 17 now, about 210 pounds, and hopes to start on his HS football team this fall, so it seems to have worked out okay.
Cheers…Phil



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canucklehead

posted July 9, 2007 at 4:22 pm


Let everything that hath breath, praise the Lord!



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elemgee

posted July 9, 2007 at 7:11 pm


Because she was my fourth baby, and I had let up a great deal on the “perfect diet”, I drank a cup of coffee in the just a couple of hours before I went into a very hard and short labor with my daughter. Later on, when we were back in our room for the night I was cuddling and nursing her. Every few minutes, I would smell the most HORRIBLE, NOXIOUS flatulence–which, since it wasn’t me, I automatically blamed on the other mother in the next bed. I kept getting fresh whiffs every so often until I realized by pulling her diaper open that it was coming out of my daughters perfect little pink butt!!! (The nurse and I had a good laugh, and she confirmed that the coffee could have stimulated her digestive tract.)



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elemgee

posted July 9, 2007 at 7:13 pm


By the way, babies do need a little time to develop the enzymes and colonize their intestinal tract with the kinds of bacteria that help them digest their food–just be patient!!!



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David Kuo

posted July 10, 2007 at 11:42 pm


cnucklehead – howling



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