Some babies require burping after their breastfeeding session, even if they’ve fallen asleep. Burping is essential for the baby to get deep sleep, not wake up cranky or crying, spit-up, or avoid seeing signs of discomfort. There are different baby burping techniques even for a sleeping baby, including shoulder, chest, changing from one breast to another, armchair, and bed. There’re even signs your baby gives you when they need help in burping from you.
Babies are sensitive to the milk they drink and food they eat till their digestive system becomes stronger to handle all kinds of foods.
It also means they quickly tend to burp after anything they consume and often. For babies tend to take in the air bubbles whenever they breastfeed, making them burp more often.
But during this age, they also tend to fall asleep quickly after every breastfeeding session. So, burping is essential, and your baby needs your help to do it.
What can be done when your baby hasn’t burped before falling asleep? Is it okay to burp your baby when they’re sleeping? And how important it is for your baby to burp?
Importance of burping your baby
As an infant, your child can’t hold themselves straight and get the required burps which help in their digestion.
You see how difficult it is for a baby to hold its head up straight. Because of this, your infant requires your help to burp.
Although many babies tend to burp after their breastfeeding session, there are still babies who don’t require to burp that much and are pretty comfortable without doing it!
You can figure out what’s your baby’s burping situation is like in the first couple of months after their birth. If they’re usually burping after being breastfed, then they would require burping after night-time sessions too.
Burping is vital for babies to release these air bubbles they consumed while breastfeeding, eating food, or being bottle-fed.
Since babies tend to consume a lot of excess air due to inadequate breastfeeding positions, burping helps them get relieved. But burping aids in digestion and soothes a gassy baby to achieve relief. If not burped at the right time, your baby can spit up and become cranky.
Should I burp a sleepy baby?
When your little one is comfortable in your lap and is feeding correctly, it becomes easier for them to fall asleep.
It’s easier if you have a setup of a calm environment while feeding. In this case, it’s tricky to burp your baby, especially if they’re down for the night.
But worry not as there’s still a scope to burp a sleeping baby. The only thing you have to remember is to be careful, and you would be amazed to witness how much your baby can sleep through.
Some positions to burp your little one are much easier to follow through if they’re awake; nevertheless, it’s not entirely impossible.
How can I burp a sleeping baby?
It’s essential to have your little one in a semi, if not a fully upright position, for them to burp. This is because the air needs to travel upwards for it to come out in the form of burps.
There are some ways to make sure you can get a burp and still keep your baby asleep.
1. Shoulder burp
It’s the most common burping position for any parent to burp their child. Also, the easiest to follow through is where you hold your baby upright, and their chin rests on your shoulder while you support them by placing your hand on their hand and neck.
The other hand is to hold your baby in place by supporting their bum.
While the position is correct, it’s pretty easy to gently start rubbing your hand on their back while holding them close. Gentle patting often makes any baby burp within two minutes. You can also further increase the possibility by moving hands in a circular motion.
It’s better to keep a spare burp cloth on your shoulder while burping. This is because babies often tend to spit up a little.
2. Chest burp
Sometimes, you might fear holding your baby in the previously mentioned position, for they might wake up. What you can do is another version of having them similar to an on-shoulder position.
Hold your baby close to your chest. The most important thing is their upper body should be in an upright position. This burping position works well if you’re in a sitting place with back support.
3. Midway change
As a mother, you will probably will aware when your little one is drifting off to sleep. You can simply change his position from one breast to another. It’s a unique way of making sure your baby burps just before falling asleep.
When you change the position from one arm to another, there’s a better chance of them burping. You can hold them in an upright position for a while before shifting them to another arm.
Similar goes for bottle-fed babies, and you can change their position from one arm to another.
It will settle their food, ensuring they don’t get full quickly before taking the proper food in their system.
4. Armchair position
This position works well with full back support, which usually happens when sitting on an armchair. You can relax your back and gently lift your baby in a semi-upright position to burp them slowly.
You can also slightly shift them to another arm with their face positioned down with their back towards you.
Even the 45-degree angle of this position will work well. Just pat them slightly on their back. Make sure not to put too much pressure on their belly.
5. Bed position
Many parents prefer to breastfeed their baby while laying down on the bed to make it easier to transition them to sleep at night. When you’re in this particular position, it’s best to turn over your baby with their chest on the bed.
Place one arm under their chin to slightly hold it on a raised platform for the burp to get out. Gently pat for your little one to burp easily.
What happens if you forget to burp your baby?
Most parents often ask what happens if you forget to burp them before they fall asleep, and you don’t want to bother them while they’re sleeping.
We all know the importance of burping for both adults and babies as it aids in digestion and helps pass out excess gas formed in the stomach.
With breastfed babies tending to gulp more air during feeding, it’s frequent to burp more often than the adults.
Your baby might be in discomfort after feeding if you don’t aid them in burping. It can also result in them getting cranky. It can hinder them from achieving deep and proper sleep, and they might end up waking up in between while crying all the time.
So, if your infant wakes up in the middle of the night crying, then you know not burping could be one of the reasons!
When do you know to burp your baby?
Burping business can be tricky, especially for new parents. What you need to be aware of is that not every baby requires a burp. Some babies don’t require as much burping as they’re to feed correctly, but for others, they might!
So how do you know when to burp your baby? Are there some specific signs that your baby shows that you need to watch out for?
The answer is yes, they do.
Let’s take a look at some of the prominent reactions of your baby, which can make it easier for you to recognize as a sign for them to burp:
- If your baby suddenly stops feeding, then that’s your sign. Their tummy is complete because of all the air ingested, and they need to make more space in their tummy, for they might still be hungry but are in the illusion of being full.
- A squirming baby is another sign. If they start fidgeting or squirming in your arms, these are the signs of discomfort that your baby needs some much-needed relief.
- Of course, if your baby wakes up from their sleep, which happens when you don’t burp them after feeding them, it could be one reason.
- One secret tell-tale sign of a baby in pain, which happens when they’ve gas build-up, is scrunching their knees. If you see your little one doing this, then they need to burp.
- While switching between the breasts, if they don’t want to start feeding immediately and pull away, then it’s a sign for you to sit them in an upright position and burp them.
- If you notice your little one spitting, then this implies that they need burping more often than they’re currently being.
FAQs
How long do babies need to be burped?
Newborn babies need help from you to burp. Since babies can’t hold themselves up upright and can’t hold their heads, they need to burp until six months of age.
At a time, you need to pat their back gently for a couple of minutes before they burp.
How long after feeding can I put my baby down?
Sometimes your baby might start to fall asleep while feeding, and that’s okay if they have burped enough before drifting off to sleep. If your little one hasn’t burped yet and falls asleep immediately after breastfeeding, it can cause them to throw up, wake up, and become cranky overall.
Ideally, it’s best to make sure to put your baby to bed after 15 minutes of being fed to avoid accidents like reflux.
How often should baby burp?
Babies require more burping, but no particular amounts of burps are set in a day for them. There’re signs which indicate when your baby needs burping that might help you.
Aside from these signs, you might want to burp them whenever you switch feeding on one breast to another. If you’re bottle-feeding, it’s vital to try burping after two to three ounces of milk are fed to them.
Can you bounce a baby to burp?
It’s this little bouncing that you usually see parents doing with their infants that is the only bouncing that’s right for the baby after feeding.
If you violently start to bounce with sudden movements, that might cause your baby to throw up. Especially after being fed, you can gently pat their back while bouncing a tad bit to help to burp.
To summarize
Burping is essential to making sure your baby gets a comfortable deep sleep. It’s another thing that makes your baby happy and makes them wake up crying or be cranky in any way.
Even if your baby falls asleep while feeding, it’s necessary to burp them so both you and your little munchkin can get a peaceful rest.
There are different positions for a sleeping baby to burp in that you can try using. For some parents, it might be vexing not knowing when they should try burping, but there are always signs of discomfort that your baby gives when they’ve gas.
Just try to understand your baby’s movements, and you’ll know.
