Debunking Old Wives' Tales: Do Babies Need to Burp After Feeding? New parents may worry that their newborn will have stomach problems if she doesn't burp after feeding. But pediatrician Dr. Cindy Gellner says not to worry: the air in your baby will find a way out.
The key message here is that it is ok to put a baby to sleep without burping. For many babies, parents find they don't notice an improvement in sleep if they purposefully relieve gas before putting their baby down to bed. However, some babies do tend to sleep better by burping their baby before falling asleep.
What happens if a sleeping baby doesn't burp? If you're concerned about what happens if your baby won't burp after feeding, try not to worry. He'll likely be just fine and will end up passing the gas from the other end.
An important part of feeding a baby is burping. Burping helps to get rid of some of the air that babies tend to swallow during feeding. Not being burped often and swallowing too much air can make a baby spit up, or seem cranky or gassy.
There are no rules on when to burp your baby. Some babies need to be burped during their feed while others after. And some may find it easier than others.
How Long Should You Burp Your Baby? There is no specific length of time needed for burping your baby. The more important factor is how often you burp him. With that in mind, burp your baby frequently throughout feeds, even when it looks like he doesn't need to be burped.
However, if your baby is lying on his or her stomach, the trachea is positioned below the esophagus. So the spit-up can more easily flow down the trachea and into the lungs, causing your baby to choke or aspirate.
It turns out there's actually been a study that looked at this question in healthy infants, and it found that burping a baby does not decrease the rate of newborn colic and actually may increase spitting up in young infants. So, burping may not be as necessary as we thought.
Spit-up is what happens when the contents of your baby's tummy come back up easily -- not forcefully -- through their mouth. It often comes along with a burp. It's not the same as vomiting, which is when your baby throws up their stomach contents with force and muscle contractions.
Hiccups are a reflex that happens when the diaphragm causes a prompt opening and closing of the vocal cords. They usually happen when eating, drinking, or dealing with stressful events. Hiccups are common in babies. Most newborns hiccup quite often, which can be a sign that your baby is healthy and developing well.
“If anything,” Jones wrote, “infants are protected from gas build up by normal immaturity of the lower esophageal sphincter, which relaxes and opens frequently.” Basically, they naturally vent their own stomachs. Maybe you're worried that not burping babies will cause them to spit up more. That's actually been studied!
There's no single, definitive answer as to when you need to, should, or can stop burping your baby. But generally, once they can sit up and move around well on their own as well as handle some solid food, the risk of gas pains as a result of not burping goes way down.
Can you burp a swaddled baby? You can burp a swaddled baby. But, just like your baby needs their whole body to feed, it's also helpful if they have access to their full body to burp.
Place your baby face down on your lap or your forearm so they're looking sideways, supported by your knee or hand. Rub your baby's back gently with your other hand. Avoid this position if your baby brings up milk or vomits a lot. Some babies might be unsettled during and after a feed until they've been burped.
Keep your baby upright after feeding
Instead of laying your baby down flat after feeding, keep them upright for about 30 minutes so gravity can help them digest their food. Otherwise, they're more likely to spit up.
Healthy babies placed to sleep on the back are less likely to choke on vomit than tummy or side sleeping infants. In fact, sleeping baby on the back actually provides airway protection.
It's more likely that you have a hard-to-burp baby on your hands. Those air bubbles are there and have just got a little stuck and your baby won't burp. This may mean that the way you normally burp your baby just don't do the job, leaving you stuck with a baby that won't burp and has gas.
Also, babies with colic may burp frequently or pass a significant amount of gas, but this is thought to be due to swallowing air while crying, and is not a cause of colic. The face may be flushed. The abdomen may be tense with legs drawn toward it.
Gas is just as uncomfortable for babies as it is for adults. The discomfort may cause your newborn to cry or be “fussy.” Drawing legs up. If your baby moves their legs up toward the belly, it could be a sign of abdominal pain caused by gas.
Most babies do not burp a lot when they are drinking colostrum the first few days, however, still burp them for a minute or two. If you don't get one, no big deal. Start all feedings with a burping session. They usually will give you one and this also helps to arouse them and be more eager to latch.
Not all babies burp every time they're winded, and some find it easier than others to let out all that trapped air. If you've tried winding your baby but he or she is still showing signs of uncomfortable wind you could try laying your baby down on a safe, comfortable surface and gently massaging his or her tummy.