Any tips for winding bf baby to help prevent colic?

[Smurfette33]

my 4 week old is exclusively breast fed. She falls asleep when feeding then hates being winded in any position and gets quite upset, so struggles to get the wind up when crying. She then gets colicky and upset from that - would be great to prevent that upset by getting her to burp properly.
Does anyone have any tips on how to get her to burp? Have tried taking her off before she's asleep, but she gets equally upset by me trying to wind her then, even though I'll put her back on to 'finish'. Have tried over the shoulder, sitting up and leaning forward, lying along my arm and across my knees on her tummy.
Otherwise she's a happy, alert baby, if I could solve the wind problem it would be fantastic!

Seems like winding is causing problems and distress, smurfette - why bother trying?

Winding is a cultural obsession - there's no real evidence of a physical need for it.

Some babies do seem as if they need a bit of help to get a burp out, but far, far more babies go through this pointless ritual of patting and rubbing and massaging than actually need it.

IMO.

You can let her sleep on your chest after a feed then gently rub her back while she sleeps. If there's wind it'll come up.

I found my son was a real guzzler and obviously took in a lot of air when feeding which would lead to a very gassy tummy and colic.

What worked really well with him falling asleep feeding was to put him over my shoulder and rock myself backwards and forwards. This seemed to bring up a fair bit of wind without waking him.

It all seems so long ago now! (he is 11m)

What happens if you just let her sleep after she's fed to sleep?

I agree with tiktok about the "cultural obsession" aspect of winding. With my two I found that colicky behaviour was eliminated when I gave up having milk and cheese (didn't have to cut dairy completely, ie milk or butter in biscuits etc didn't cause problems but creamy desserts was a definite problem for them ) and ensured that they didn't get over-tired.

However DS2 also definitely has a problem with trapped wind - if I don't find a way to wind him after a feed I can guarantee he'll wake up after 30-60 minutes screaming and only settles again once the wind is out. I've tried lots of different things over the last 7 months and once I get a method working reliably it then stops working and I have to start again from scratch! Things that have worked for me include:

*sitting on my knee facing to my right, my right hand holding his chin and left arm up while my left hand supports/rubs his back (worked every time from about 4-6 weeks!)

*changing/pretending to change his nappy then pulling him into a sitting position with his hands and holding him in that position while rubbing his back (this is my favourite it terms of being the most likely to work but a faff beacuse of the nappy change aspect - I tried just cycling his legs and wiggling them about a bit but it often didn't work until I undid his nappy! )

*leaving him to lie down and cry () and wiggle about for a few minutes before picking him up, holding him upright and stroking his back (repeat until burp occurs!)

*holding him upright and close with his head on one of my shoulders whilst I bounced up and down on the edge of the bed (this method was also brilliant for getting him off to sleep for the first few months, although he would often wake up as soon as I put him down )

*sitting him on me knee, holding him under his arms, and bouncing up and down on the edge of the bed

Sorry this is massively long! For some reason holding DS2 with his left arm slightly raised makes any position more likely to work, probably something to do with the physiology of his digestive system...

Hope you find something to work for you!

I found by walking up the stairs with baby up right on my shoulder his wind would come up. it was the only thing that would work for my ebf baby and didnt matter if he was awake or asleep. Give it a try!

Thanks all. I take your point tiktok - I wouldn't bother if the wind wasn't causing so much more trouble and pain the other end.
Will try some of these tips and see how I get on... I'm sure she'll grow out of it before too long, just want to try and make her as comfortable as possible in the meantime :)

smurfette - what do you mean by trouble the other end? Does she get distressed and experience pain on pooing? If so this is worth asking your HV about - if this is real pain and discomfort, getting a burp out is not really going to make much difference. It's a different part of the gut...oh, and some babies really do wriggle and go red-faced when pooing and seem to strain but they're ok, really :)

Swallowing air during a feed won't make them fart - that's gas produced in the intestines when they digest milk. Burping them after a feed only releases air in the stomach.

I hope you don't mind me barging in but I didn't want to start an identical thread.
I'm having a similar problem with DS4, he's a real gulper and is showing signs of slight colic in the evenings. Is there anything I can eat/drink that might help, I was wondering if peppermint tea might? I would like to avoid infacol etc if possible but if needed in the end I will use it.
When I've had a ff baby I've given them a little weak fennel tea but obviously I don't want to introduce a bottle at this point.
I'm getting a moby wrap so he can be upright for that early evening bit making tea etc which will hopefully help, is that something you could try smurfette ?

the most effective way of getting my baby's wind up is to stand up, put her back against my chest put one arm around her tummy and the other hand under her bottom / thighs to support her. Then jig her about a bit. Once she's got a few burps up she'll often fall asleep in that position!!! Excellent way to lose weight too :)

Have you tried infacol then feed. Winding over the shoulder helped as my baby could sleep there ... Although rarely burped once sleeping!