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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Burping - do new-borns normally do it?

12 replies

marsup · 02/01/2004 15:57

DS is only 1 week old today and he is breastfeeding like a pro but has only done 3 burps in all that time. He gets wind and it hurts him and keeps him (and me) awake. I've tried vertical positions tummy to my chest or tummy against my hand, and tapping or round massaging movements on back; walking and rocking. Does anyone have a 'favourite' technique that could work with a very small baby? or will this just come with age in a couple of weeks?

OP posts:
bundle · 02/01/2004 16:01

marsup, I think the key with my dd's was moving from around the diaphragm - so I used to put the palm of my hand under their chin, with thumb on one side of their chin, fingers on other, supporting their neck and gently let them lean forward. sometimes just the movement of lifting them would bring up a burp, rather than any actual burping technique. even now dd2 (8 mths) does her own movements & brings up some corkers.

emmatmg · 02/01/2004 16:11

My 3 DS's have been bottle fed form birth so this may not work with breastfeeding and your little man but when DS3 was tiny (well tinier as he's only 3 months now) if he wouldn't burp 'sitting up' with back pats or rubs then I would put up against me so he sort of 'unfolded' and was lying flat. His arms would be up on my shoulder and after a few pats I'd pretty much ALWAYS get the elusive burp.

The other one I try, although once he was abit older than your young man, is to hold him under the arms and let his body hang down and give him a little wiggle. Just so his legs wobble from side to side a tiny bit and when I sit him down on my lap again up comes the burp. It's not a cruel as it sounds, Honest!

tiktok · 02/01/2004 18:10

Why do you think he has bothersome wind, marsup?

Original poster
marsup · 02/01/2004 18:26

I think it bothers him because he makes little grimaces when he is about to produce a fart and also when I put him down to sleep after feeding. It wakes him up and he gets very restive. Thanks emmatmg - I do lie him against my chest but haven't tried stretching out his arms. Bundle, I think he might be too small for this so far - he just lurches forward!

OP posts:
SusannaLH · 02/01/2004 19:51

Marsup, I had nightmare times burping my dd when she was tiny. It seemed to be a focus in my life - getting wind up. I found that the only way to get her to burp was to hand her to my mother or my mother-in-law - just their presence seemed to do the trick! It's a dark art IMO.
I could never get the hang of the hand under chin thing, but my dh did, and I just stuck with the baby over the shoulder position, with clothy for spills. Also, my great aunt (ex-health visitor) recommended treating the baby like a hot water bottle with an air bubble in it. Lie the baby on its back on your knees (imagine the air bubble being up towards their tummy), then gently raise the baby (very slowly) with the result that the bubble escapes. Supposedly......
Good luck. DD now 24 weeks and I don't think I've consciously tried to wind her for weeks now - the wind problem really does disappear without you realising it.

tiktok · 02/01/2004 23:16

Marsup - honestly, I wouldn't worry about the wind thing, then. If all that happens is he grimaces a bit.....babies grimace all the time, and it means nothing. Babies in real pain cry.

We are obsessed with wind in this country - other cultures aren't bothered by it and neither are their babies

bunnyrabbit · 03/01/2004 10:13

Agree with Tiktok. No matter if you wind him or not he can still get trapped wind. Lots of small babies seem to have this problem of painful passing of wind, I think it's probably a newborn thing.... although I'm only guessing.

One thing you could try is lying him on his tummy on your knees with your hand supporting his head. (Tiktok, this is OK for a newborn isn't it?) My DS still gives a good burp when I put him on his tummy.....

BR

mimm · 03/01/2004 11:58

My ds was breastfed but I think the worst piece of advice I was given was that breastfed babies don't need to be winded. Thorough winding helped him as he was in pain after feeds - though I have to say that as he got bigger he just burped himself. Tricks I found helpful in the meantime though were lying him down and picking him up several times and carrying him up and down stairs! HTH

tiktok · 03/01/2004 18:14

Mimm....a few babies certainly do seem to appreciate being given a hand with their burping, and they can be breast or bottle fed. This is something you discover for yourself, as you did.

There's no reason to assume (as we tend to, in the UK) that all babies must do a big burp after every feed, or that crying after a feed or between feeds must be due to wind.

We are hung up about wind in our culture. In the US they call it gas and they are equally hung up about it.

Other places think we are daft.

mimm · 03/01/2004 18:17

Tiktok - do you think this problem when it does occur is more common in boys? In my (small!) experience this seems to be the case but perhaps this is a stupid theory!

Original poster
marsup · 03/01/2004 18:35

You seem to be right tiktok that he doesn't always need a burp after a feed - sometimes he is fine. But last night he cried on and off from the 2.30 feed to 5.30, making grimaces every time I laid him down - finally I put him to the breast again and let him suckle himself to sleep (took half an hour). If it wasn't wind I don't know how to explain it!

OP posts:
tiktok · 03/01/2004 20:14

Marsup - no, probably not wind....just a little boy who wanted an extra chance to snuggle and feed

Mimm - no idea about boy v girl thing!

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