Babies tend to have more gas in them as compared to older kids, as they are mostly drinking liquids. Hence they have to gulp a lot of air and this causes them to have a lot more gas.
You must burp your baby day and night to get these gases out, otherwise they will be uncomfortable and cranky.
Very often babies fall asleep while feeding/eating/nursing and it is important to get them to burp without waking them.
Otherwise they could wake up with all that gas inside them.
We will guide you on how to get a sleeping baby to burp in this post.
Table of Contents
Different ways to burp a baby
Burping a baby who is sleeping is more or less the same as burping one who is awake.
The only difference is that we have to move very slowly so that we do not wake up the baby
We are giving some different way to burp a sleeping baby.
Burp them when you change sides or half way through their feed
Sleepy babies tend to overeat and do not pause to burp.
Try to burp them when you switch sides during breastfeeding or when they are half way through their bottle.
This will help the baby to make more space for more milk and also prevent the excess food from coming out.
Burp them on your shoulder
If the baby is semi-upright, gently move them up onto your shoulder.
They will continue to sleep while your shoulder will put pressure on their stomach and this will help to release the gas.
A rag on your shoulder will help in case your baby spits out during burping
Burp them on your chest
This is more of less like the above position, but you will be holding the baby lower on your chest in a fully upright position, and legs will be curled up like a frog.
Generally this should be done when you are sitting on a couch.
The burp will come in a while.
Burp them on your arm
Turn them so their stomach rests on your forearm and support the head in the fold of your elbow.
This puts pressure on the tummy and you can gently pat them on the back so that they burp.
This works while you are sitting or standing.
Burp them on your knees
Sit on a chair and put the baby on his tummy across your knees. Then move your legs side to side or rock them while they burp.
You can try out any of the above positions to get a sleeping baby to burp.
Burping is very important to keep your baby comfortable and you should make it a point to burp them even if they are asleep, otherwise the may wake up too soon and be uncomfortable
When to burp a baby
You will need to burp your infant in the following conditions
• If the baby has been crying for a while before the feed, he could have swallowed a lot air and would need help in bringing it up. You could try to burp the baby before feeding.
• If you are using a bottle, the baby may not be able to get a good hold around the nipple and will end up swallowing air while feeding. Further, most feeding bottles have a very fast flow of milk and the baby has to gulp the milk down, and then usually gulps a lot of air along with it.
• Some breastfeeding mothers also have a very fast flow of milk ,if the mother is overactive or has an overabundant supply of milk.
The baby maybe swallowing a lot of air and will need help with burping. ( You could consult a lactation consultant to help with tips on how to reduce the fast flow of milk.)
If one of these situations seems familiar to you, or your baby seems uncomfortable after feeding, a burp might help.
Very often babies fall asleep while feeding/eating/nursing and it is important to get them to burp without waking them.
Otherwise, they could wake up with all that gas inside them and disturb the entire family.
Do I really need to burp my baby?
Burping is an important task that all parents have until their child grows. Toddlers know how to release their own gas, but babies need help because they do not know in what position they are placed in by the parent.
Most babies need to be burped after a feed, but some babies may not need it. You’ll find out soon if your baby can be fed without burping or no.
If your baby has a lot of gas or keeps spitting-up, he may be suffering from reflux and you need to consult a doctor.
If your baby is suffering from colic and can’t seem to burp, try to comfort the child, and don’t worry even if they can’t burp.
Burping will not help reduce the colic.
Even if your baby does not burp much in the day, you must try and make sure that he burps after the night feed. So put in that extra time to get a burp out before putting the baby to sleep, or even if they have fallen off to sleep.
This will ensure a good night’s sleep for the parents as well as the baby.
Also remember not to overfeed the baby at night as well as burp them after every feed, if you find they seem to benefit from burping.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
What if baby doesn’t burp and falls asleep
If your baby has fallen off to sleep, try burping them without waking them, as explained above and lay them back down.
Sometimes babies don’t need to burp much after the night feed, since the food intake is slower and consequently don’t gulp in as much air during the feed.
If they wake up later on crying, gently pat and soothe them, see if they need a diaper change, give them a feed again if it’s time, and then try to burp them after.
At what age do you stop burping a baby?
Generally, there is no definite age for this and as their digestive systems matures, they will not need to be burped as often.
It has been observed that babies do not need to be burped once they reach the age of 4 to 6 months.
By this time they have started on solid foods and hence do not gulp in too much air while feeding, so there is no build-up of gas.
However if they are cranky and fussy, you can try to burp them.
1 thought on “How to get sleeping baby to burp”
Comments are closed.