Infants will need special attention, especially when it comes to their eating habits. You have to keep in mind that their digestive system, as well as their entire body, is still developing for many months after they are born.
So, they might naturally need some help to assimilate the food and digest it.
You might wonder if you need to burp your baby if you are nursing them or this is not such an important aspect. With so many split opinions, the confusion is justified!
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Do breastfed babies need to be burped?
The short answer is yes, you have to burp both bottle-fed and breastfed babies. There are several reasons for this as well as several aspects to consider when you do that.
A) Burping is important
Burping is important as it helps your baby to eliminate air from their tummy.
- Infants tend to swallow air when they are eating, especially if they are bottle-fed.
- However, this happens to breastfed babies as well. when you burp them, you help them eliminate that excess of air and get themselves ready for a new meal or a relaxing nap.
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B) Bloating and Tummy aches
If you don’t burp your baby after they eat, they might feel uncomfortable and develop symptoms such as bloating, gas and even tummy aches. You might even be able to feed them the rest of the bottle if you give them a burping break because there will be more space for food in their tummy.
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C) Night Feeding
You should also burp your baby after the night feedings.
- Infants can get fussy and have trouble sleeping if you don’t burp them at night.
- So, if you want your little one to relax and go right back to sleep after you nursed them or gave them a bottle, burping can be a real blessing!
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D) No need to burp after 4 months
If you are wondering at what age you might not need to burp your baby, you will be glad to know that most babies don’t need burped after four months. However, some will still need burping sessions until they reach 6 months of age. It also depends if you gave birth prematurely as premies might need to be burped longer than gull term babies.
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E) Can I burp baby during sleeping?
Can you burp your baby when they are sleeping?
- Yes, you actually can burp them without waking them up.
- This is true especially for young infants in their first weeks and months of life.
- At this age, babies are very deep sleepers so you will be able to pick them up from their crib and burp them for a few minutes.
- Use a cloth on your shoulder to be ready for potential spit ups.
- Do the same if your baby fell asleep as they were eating their bottle or as you were nursing them, which could very well happen to infants.
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F) Babies always don’t burp sometimes
You might notice that your little one will not always burp.
- Sometimes, they will have gas and this is good as well.
- if your baby has gas when you burp them, the air in their tummy is still getting out which is the main purpose of burping them.
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So, you can consider it a success even if they have gas instead of burps.
One thing you need to pay attention to when you are burping your baby is how much they spit up, if any.
Some spit-ups are normal for all infants, but if your baby spits too much milk or they vomit, you might want to talk to a doctor to make sure that they don’t suffer from any gastrointestinal disease.
Key References
- “Burping your Baby | Breastfeeding | Start4Life”. Accessed April 21, 2020. Link.
