Oh my goodness.....FT, you have a real bee in your bonnet about me!
Here's my rejoinders (and I am sorry it's long but I feel somewhat in need of self-defence!)
I have not* given advice on burping or winding on this thread at all. I have not even suggested what anyone might try. That is my MAIN point - no advice whatsoever
- I have not said that 'babies never need burping' or made any dogmatic statements about it
I have challenged (by asking for the evidence) that most babies would be in pain* without active burping
- I also challenged the idea that blowing on a baby's back would heat the wind so it would rise out of the baby's stomach. But I mean....come on!! Think about it :)
I have said - and I stick by it - that emphasising winding as something all babies need is cultural. I did not say it was only cultural in the UK - there are other plenty of places. I contrast cultural with biologically essential*. Just because millions of mothers all round the world burp their babies does not mean it is not cultural. Prams, cots, vests and nappies are cultural, too.
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I have acknowledged whenever appropriate that individual people may have individual experiences with their individual babies, and yes, some babies really do seem to have discomfort/pain linked with digestion and burping seems to relieve this
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Some mothers - because, I suggest, of this cultural emphasis on winding - worry unnecessarily about winding (you get posts on here asking how you can tell if all the wind is up; or if babies should be waked to be winded; or if the normal grunts and wriggles of a newborn's peaceful sleep are wind and if so is it pain; or concerns about responding to a baby's feeding cues because it's assumed the baby's cries mean wind.....and so on)
The emphasis on winding can sometimes mean the baby's real needs are not responded to - there's a post talking about In-Laws practically wrenching a baby from the mum's arms because they think the happy, peaceful, sleeping baby must* be winded
all this makes me question the emphasis on winding, and challenge* the idea that it is essential or the baby will be in pain
- I was not evasive about my credentials or qualifications - you asked if I was medical or had had babies, and I answered! Later you asked for more details and I gave them
(Individual NCT practitiioners may say babies should be upright 20 mins after feeding, though I have never heard any of us saying that, and there is certainly no 'NCT says.....' about it. I find it hard to believe we would say that for every baby, and suggest there is some misunderstanding here).
Hope that explains things!