Do you burp your baby after night feedings

How to Burp a Sleeping Baby: Step-by-Step Guide

Some babies are gassier than others, but most babies will need to be burped at some point. Babies need to burp a lot more often than older kids and adults. They drink all of their calories, which means they can gulp a lot of air.

Burping a baby can be important day and night. Sometimes babies fall asleep while eating and you may need to find a way to burp them while they’re still asleep. It’s remarkable how much a newborn can sleep through.

Even if your baby falls asleep, try burping them for a few minutes before placing them back down to sleep. Otherwise, they make wake up in pain with trapped gas.

Not all babies burp, though, no matter if it’s on their own or with your help. If your baby is one that needs to be burped, read on for ways to do so even when they’re asleep.

It’s common for babies to fall asleep while eating, whether nursing or bottle-feeding. As their tummy fills and they start soothing sucking motions, they often become happy and relaxed and tend to drift off.

This is especially likely to happen at night when their sleep drive is strong. But even if your little one looks content and totally asleep, for some babies it’s important you try to get a burp out of them before lying them back down.

Burping a sleeping baby is basically the same as burping a baby who’s awake. You might move slower to help them stay asleep. Some burping positions are a bit easier to maneuver with a sleeping baby.

For example, many people sit a baby upright on their knee while supporting the baby’s head by cradling their chin. This position uses gravity and the baby’s own weight to get air up and out. However, this position is more likely to wake a baby, so you might not want to try it if your aim is to keep the baby asleep.

To burp a baby, they should be in a slightly upright position so you can put pressure on their tummy. If your baby doesn’t poop right after eating, you may want to change their diaper before feeding them at night so you don’t have to wake them up if they fall back to sleep while eating.

Here are some positions for burping a sleeping baby:

Burp between changing sides, or mid-bottle

A sleepy baby may enjoy their feeding so much that they overeat and don’t realize they need a pause to burp. Help your baby have a gentler burp and avoid any major gas pain by slowing down the feed.

Burp your baby between switching sides at the breast or before they finish their bottle. This will also help your baby make room for more milk instead of burping and spitting up any of their food.

Hold on your shoulder

If you feed your baby in a semi-upright position, you can gently move them all the way upright and onto your shoulder. Babies can keep sleeping in this cozy position while the pressure from your shoulder pushes on their tummy to release gas. Keep a burp rag over your shoulder if your baby tends to spit up.

Hold lower on your chest

Similar to the previous position, you can lift your baby from semi-upright to fully upright and keep them on your chest or sternum area. This may be most comfortable if you’re on a couch. Babies like to curl up with their legs in a frog position (a bonus move to release more gas from their bottoms) and you can support their head and wait for the burp to come.

Rock on your arm (“sloth hold”)

After feeding, you can slowly turn them away from you at 45 degrees so their tummy rests on your forearm. Support their head in the crook of your elbow. Their legs may dangle on either side of your arm. This position puts pressure on their belly and you can gently pat their back until they burp. You can do this position while sitting or standing.

Lay on your knees

If you’re sitting in a chair, simply move your baby to a laying position on their tummy on your knees. You can move your legs side to side to rock them and gently pat or rub their back until a burp comes. A baby can remain asleep here as long as you want to stay sitting.

Burping is one of the many tasks parents have until their child grows into being more self-sufficient. Kids and adults can easily release their own gas, but many babies need help because they have so little control over how their bodies are positioned.

You’ll figure out pretty quickly if your baby is the type who can eat without burping or if they need to be burped every time. If your baby has a lot of gas or spit-up, you should talk to your doctor about reflux.

If you do have a colicky baby but you can’t seem to get them to burp, focus on any comfort measures that work and don’t worry too much about getting burps out. One study suggests that burping won’t help decrease colic.

Whether your baby burps a lot during the day, it may be worth it to burp them after every nighttime feeding. Since you’re already up feeding the baby, make the most of your time by giving a solid attempt at burping. This may get everyone a long stretch of sleep after the feeding.

Gas drops and gripe water are readily available at pharmacies but ask your doctor first before using any of them. These supplements aren’t regulated for safety and may contain dangerous ingredients. If you have a very fussy and gassy baby — whether or not they spit up often — ask a doctor for coping skills. Most babies grow out of this after a few months.

Risk of choking on spit-up is very rare. It’s still important not to overfeed your baby and to try to burp them after every feeding if they seem to benefit from it.

Burping usually only takes a minute or two. Sometimes a burp will come up as soon as you move your baby upright, and sometimes you have to wait a little while and help things with a gentle pat or tummy pressure.

Another helpful strategy is to get your baby in the habit of falling asleep in their crib rather than while feeding. When you notice them getting sleepy at the breast or bottle, stop the feeding, burp them for a minute or so, and then put them down to sleep. The younger you start this, the easier it is to do.

If your baby is often stiff and uncomfortable, talk with their doctor about more help for relieving gas. Some babies with bad reflux may need to stay upright for 30 minutes after eating, day or night.

If your baby is asleep, try burping them for a minute before you lay them back down. Sometimes babies don’t need to burp as much at nighttime because they eat slower and don’t get as much air while feeding.

If they wake up crying, soothe them, check to see if they need a clean diaper, feed them again if it’s time, and try to burp them after that feeding.

Some people believe that bottle-fed babies are more likely to get gassy, but evidence of this is only anecdotal. Bottles may expose babies to more air as they gulp and may make it easier to overfeed your baby. But every baby is different and even breastfed babies can be very gassy — sometimes because they’re sensitive to food in their mother’s diet.

Though uncommon, a breastfeeding mother may have to experiment a lot before figuring out exactly what they ate to cause their baby’s upset stomach. There’s no solid research to tell a mother what exactly causes her baby’s excess gas. Also, many babies with gas aren’t bothered by it.

Burping is a basic but important way you can take care of your baby and keep them comfortable. Even if your baby is asleep, burping may be helpful to allow them to relieve gas so they don’t get uncomfortable or wake up too soon.

How to Hold a Baby: Step by Step

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Cradle hold

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The cradle hold is one of the easiest and best ways to hold your newborn for the first several weeks of life:

With your baby horizontal at your chest level, slide your hand from their bottom up to support their neck.
Gently nudge baby’s head into the crook of your elbow.
While still cradling their head, move your hand from the supporting arm to their bottom.
Your free arm will be able to do other things or provide extra support.

Shoulder hold

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With baby’s body parallel with your own, lift their head to shoulder height.
Rest their head on your chest and shoulder so they can look out behind you.
Keep one hand on their head and neck, and your other supporting baby’s bottom. This position may also allow baby to hear your heartbeat.

Belly hold

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Lay your baby, stomach down, across your forearm with the head up toward your elbow.
Their feet should land on either side of your hand, angled closer to the ground so the baby is at a slight angle.
This position is helpful if baby is gassy and needs to be burped. Gently stroke baby’s back to work out the gas.

Lap hold

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Sit in a chair with your feet firmly on the ground and place your baby in your lap. Their head should be at your knees, face up.
Lift their head up with both of your hands for support and your forearms under their body. Baby’s feet should be tucked in at your waist.

Pay attention to baby’s mood while you’re holding them. If they’re fussy or crying, you might try another position to see if that makes them more comfortable. You can also try a gentle and slow rocking. Take note that baby’s head should always be turned out to allow them to breathe.

Try skin-to-skin contact while holding baby. It’s a great way to bond and keep them warm. You can strip baby down to their diaper, place them against your bare chest, and cover with a blanket.
Choose a seated position if you feel nervous about holding baby. Sitting down is also a good idea for anyone who might not have the strength to support baby’s weight, like children and older individuals.
Use a baby carrier, like a Boba Wrap, for hands-free holding. Follow all instructions on the carrier’s packaging. It suggests age-appropriate holds and positions.
Use an infant support pillow, like a Boppy Pillow, when holding baby for extended periods of time or to help with breast-feeding.
Do not cook or carry hot drinks while holding baby. Knives, flames, and excess heat are dangerous and could lead to injury by accident. Stay away from others who are working with those things near you.
Hold your baby with both hands while you’re going up and down the stairs for added safety.
Do not ever shake your baby, whether to play or to express frustration. Doing so can cause bleeding in the brain and even death.

There’s really no right or wrong way to hold your baby if you keep these tips in mind. Though they’re tiny, newborns are less fragile than you might think. The key is to get comfortable and support your little one’s delicate head and neck. Even if holding your baby feels funny or frightening at first, it will soon become second nature with practice.

Q:

What are some helpful resources for new parents to learn about caring for an infant?

Anonymous patient

A:

There are many great resources. Your baby’s pediatrician can be helpful. A good book is “What to Expect the First Year” by Sandee Hathaway. Also visit http://kidshealth.org/ for more information.

University of Illinois-Chicago, College of Medicine

Answers represent the opinions of our medical experts. All content is strictly informational and should not be considered medical advice.

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How to help the baby when regulating

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↑ Verki

Breastfeed special time for mom and her newborn baby. Together with the feeling of closeness and affection that feeding brings, understanding its nuances cannot but raise many questions, including the question of how to help an infant spit up. Regurgitation in a newborn is by no means always the result of a simple pat on his back.

In this article, we'll talk about the basics of helping a newborn spit up, as well as other questions you may have about spitting up.

Why do babies spit up?

Let's get it straight: why do newborns need to burp in the first place? During feeding, children usually swallow extra air - this is called aerophagy. Spitting up helps prevent this air from entering the intestines, as well as vomiting, gas, and crankiness in the baby. To avoid the return of milk after feeding, you should give the baby the opportunity to burp more often.

How to help a newborn spit up?

During the first six months, the baby should be kept upright in a column for 10-15 minutes after each feed. This will help keep the milk in his stomach, but if the baby occasionally burps anyway, parents need not worry. While carrying your baby in an upright position, you can put a baby diaper or wipes on your shoulder to keep your clothes clean.

We've already seen why spitting up is important, now let's find out how to help your baby spit up. Parents should gently pat the baby on the back with a hand folded in a handful until he burps. Folding your hand into a handful is important because clapping with a flat palm may be too strong for an infant.

Every baby is different and there is no one right position for spitting up. To get started, you can try the following options:

Sitting position with the baby on the chest. In this position, the parent puts the baby's head with his chin on his shoulder and with one hand supports the baby under the back. With the other hand, you can gently pat the baby on the back. This method is most effective in a rocking chair or when the baby is gently rocking.
Holding the child upright on your legs. With one hand, parents can hold the baby by the back and head, supporting his chin and placing his palm on the baby’s chest, with the other hand, you can gently pat him on the back. At the same time, it is important to be careful: do not press the child on the throat, but only gently support his chin.
Holding a baby on your lap while lying on your tummy. Make sure his head is above his chest and gently pat your baby on the back until he burps.

Here are some tips on how best to help your newborn spit up:

Let your baby spit up during feeding. If the baby is restless or has swallowed air, it is worth giving him the opportunity to burp during feeding, and not just after.
When bottle feeding, let the newborn burp after every 50-60 ml.
When breastfeeding, let the baby burp at every breast change.

It is important to let your baby spit up after eating, even if he spit up during feeding!

If your baby is gassy, spit up more often. Also, if he vomits frequently or suffers from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), have him spit up after every 30 ml bottle-feeding or every five minutes while breastfeeding.

How long should a baby be held for it to burp? It's different for everyone, but generally keeping a newborn upright for 15 to 20 minutes after a feed helps the milk stay in the baby's stomach.

Minimize the amount of air you swallow. Gas production and regurgitation result from aerophagia during feeding. The baby will inevitably swallow air, but there are ways to prevent it from swallowing too much. Whether you bottle feed your baby or combine breastfeeding with bottle feeding, the Philips Avent anti-colic bottle with AirFree valve is designed so that the nipple is always filled with milk without excess air, even in a horizontal position, thus preventing the baby from swallowing excess air during feeding.

Reducing the amount of air your baby swallows can help reduce your baby's risk of colic, gas, and spitting up.

Breastfeeding is a wonderful time to strengthen the bond between parent and baby. Every mom and every baby is different, so learning to help your newborn burp properly can take time and practice.

Articles and tips from Philips Avent

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Regurgitation in children: causes, diagnosis and treatment

Children's private clinic and dentistry in Kaliningrad

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Pediatric gastroenterologist

Regurgitation is considered normal in infants. According to various sources, this symptom occurs in 85-100% of infants. The main reason for the involuntary reflux of food back into the mouth is associated with the anatomical features of the esophagus in newborns. When overeating, as well as rapid uneven sucking of the breast, air enters the baby's stomach along with mother's milk, which provokes the effect of rejection of food.

If a child is constantly spitting up, this should alert parents, because a frequently repeated symptom may indicate the presence of serious disorders and even abnormalities in the development of the gastrointestinal tract. Moms living in Kaliningrad can apply for qualified help to the multidisciplinary children's center "Edkarik".

Pathogenesis

Digestive system of an adult differs in structure from that of a child. Newborn babies still have very weak sphincter muscles - a kind of valve that is located between the esophagus and stomach. This important organ performs two functions:

ensures the passage of food masses;
prevents the back ejection of the contents of the stomach, that is, it performs a locking function.

In infants up to six months, this function is weakly expressed. Also contributes to regurgitation relatively wide, but short esophagus. In infancy, the place of its transition to the stomach resembles a constantly open bottleneck. It is for this reason that regurgitation occurs almost after each feeding, that is, regurgitation of food masses.

American scientists conducted a series of studies, the results of which showed that almost all babies up to three months of age spit up after each attachment to the breast. Only in 20% of babies, regurgitation persists until the age of one. The frequency of episodes varies from 20 to 50%. But for most children, by six months, this phenomenon stops.

Causes

As already mentioned, muscle weakness of the sphincter is the main cause of regurgitation. Due to underdevelopment, this section of the esophagus simply cannot cope with the main task - holding food in the stomach. This reason with the growth of the child disappears without outside intervention. In addition to this factor, several more causes of regurgitation in babies should be highlighted:0003

Overeating. The diet of infants provides for frequent feeding. Therefore, there is a risk of overfilling the stomach, designed for a certain amount of food. Hence the regurgitation, which can be observed not only with breastfeeding, but also with artificial feeding.
Ingestion of air along with mother's milk into the stomach is the second most common cause. Air masses in the stomach chamber create increased pressure, which leads to the reverse ejection of food.

Entry air:
- hasty sucking of the baby himself;
- nasal congestion, then the child is forced to breathe through the mouth;
- uneven sucking, which can occur if the baby is distracted while eating extraneous sounds.
Violation of the rules of feeding by the mother. The baby is supposed to be fed in a half-sitting position, and after eating it is necessary to hold it upright for several minutes to let the air out. If the mother does not have the opportunity to do this, then you need to put the child on the barrel.

Attention: in no case should the baby be placed on its back after feeding, and even more so left alone. Regurgitation occurs spontaneously, and the child in this position may simply choke.

How regurgitation differs from vomiting

The imperfection of the digestive system in young children often keeps parents in a state of constant anxiety. After all, it is sometimes difficult to understand whether a baby has burped or vomited. Between these two phenomena, despite the apparent similarity, there are significant differences.

Regurgitation is a passive process that does not involve the diaphragm, the anterior abdominal wall and the stomach itself. During vomiting, all of the listed structures are actively involved.
Regurgitation usually occurs immediately after feeding. Vomiting can occur regardless of the time of the meal.
Regurgitation is a one-time throwing of food, and vomiting, especially in case of poisoning, is repeated.
Regurgitation does not affect the well-being of the baby. Of course, he may cry because of the discomfort, but after the incident, he will quickly calm down. Vomiting is often a companion of infections and poisoning. It is accompanied by a significant deterioration in the condition of the baby, especially with frequent repetitions. The child becomes capricious and lethargic, his skin turns pale, sweating and salivation increase.

This is important: if a child has symptoms that are more like vomiting, do not delay contacting a pediatric gastroenterologist.

Cases of pathological spitting up

Most children spit up small amounts after feeding. And this is considered a physiological norm. Abundant regurgitation, as mothers often call a "fountain", requires increased attention. Frequent episodes of regurgitation, as well as repetitions in the pauses between feedings, may indicate very serious problems in the baby. Among the most common pathologies:

Malformations of the digestive organs. Typically, these anomalies are detected immediately after birth. The most serious violation is a violation of the patency of the esophagus or stomach. Regurgitation with this type of pathology occurs frequently and abundantly. Often episodes are repeated many times after one feeding.
Food allergy is quite common in infants. A negative reaction is expressed in the inability of the child's body to absorb cow's milk protein. In such a difficult situation, the mother has no choice but to completely exclude dairy products from the diet. Formula-fed babies will need special nutrition - mixtures containing highly hydrolyzed protein.
GRD (gastroesophageal reflux) is diagnosed in children after a year. If regurgitation does not stop after six months, and involuntary emissions differ in impressive volume, there is every reason to suspect the development of this disease in a child.

If the child is prone to frequent spitting up, it is necessary to observe him for several days. Extreme anxiety should be caused by nocturnal cases of regurgitation, not associated with feeding.

Diagnosis and treatment

Physiological regurgitation resolves on its own by about six months of age. But, if the negative symptoms do not lose intensity, and are also combined with other warning signs, for example, poor weight gain, it is necessary to consult a pediatric gastroenterologist.