How important is make your baby burp after feed?

It is extremely important make your baby burp because whilst they are feeding your baby is gulping a lot of air. This air gets trapped in baby’s stomach and since he cannot get this air out alone, you need to help him burp. Making him burp is the only way to help the gas leave. If you not able to get your baby to burp, that trapped air can cause a lot of discomfort and it’s also very dangerous. The amount of discomfort is also influenced by mums diet (if you are breastfeeding) or if your baby has a non diagnostic reflux.

The discomfort is caused when you put your baby down to sleep very quickly the trapped air can come back up suffocating your baby. Remember most babies cannot turn and lift their heads until later in their development. This is especially true in very young babies and new borns.

Mums diet plays a very important part in this subject as a lot of acid in your diet produces more air that potentially gets trapped. There was recently a case where a mum was breast feeding her baby after she had drunk beer. She was also very tied and didn’t put the baby to burp after feeding. Instead she put him to lie down straight away. As a result, the baby died because she suffocated on the milk. Of course this is a tragic and sad case but it needs to be remembered before any mum gives up holding their baby straight after feeds and making him burp.

All mums know it is very hard work to do this all the time, especially in the middle of the night when you have to wake up every 2 hours to feed your baby. This is exactly when you shouldn’t give up!

It is very important to learn effective burping methods so you can try different techniques. If you use the right technique you can make the burps leave much faster and make your baby feel comfortable again. Here are the different burp techniques that we recommend..
Positions to help baby burp

1. Lap position
Make your baby sit on your lap. Place one hand on your baby’s chest and keep your fingers under your baby’s chin. Rub baby’s back with your other hand in a circular motion so that the gas is released.
2. Shoulder position
This is the best and most popular way. With one hand hold your baby’s bottom and rest baby against your shoulder. Now just pat his back with your other hand. Continue to pat until the air is pressed up and released as a burp.
3. Belly position
Put a soft towel over your lap and place the baby on his belly in a way that his head is supported by one thigh while the stomach rests on the other. Pat the baby’s back in a upward motion till the burp comes.
4. Tummy Massage
Try massaging your baby’s tummy in an up and down movement until the burp comes.