8 month baby needs burping thru'out meal times

[Happychaos123]

My breast fed 8mo add has always been a burpy baby and is on ranitidine for (mostly silent) reflux. Seemingky, since starting solids at 6mo things have got worse again and I need to take him out of his high chair to burp him repeatedly during his meal times. He is also waking up at night needing more burping. I've tried restricting his foods incase he is intolerant to something (eg I think wheat may make him worse, and we avoid acidic foods)....But even on the most simple diet he has problems. Likewise I've tried just finger foods or just purée incase he was somehow swallowing more air one way or another- but neither makes a difference. He is also much more burpy post breast feeds recently.

Has anyone experienced anything similar? Any tips? Meal times are becoming very tricky as I need to burp him so many times plus I'm now fearful of introducing new foods as don't want to upset him further.

Forgive my possibly ignorant question, but how do you know if he needs burping? What happens if you don't do it during a meal?

He starts shaking his arms and looking uncomfortable...then within a minute is crying so I pick him up and he continues to wriggle until he burps and then is happy and smiley and wants to sit back down....again and again (he is the same with milk feeds - I end up feeding him little and very often as don't have time to keep burping him!...)

Can he do burps on his own ever at all? I was just wondering what would happen if you left him to it when he seems like he needs to burp - would he produce one on his own?

He often burps on his own so I never pick him up until he is crying but inevitably several times / meal he cries and writhes and tries to climb out and demands to be picked up and then continues crying until burps....he is actually quite distressed with it. It isn't just meal time though. He still needs to stop breastfeeding every ?2-5 mins for burping (then he usually pulls off and crawls around the floor for a few min...burps...then comes back for more! Although sometimes he cries and gets agitated and needs patting etc.... Especially at the later feeds)

I posted something similar not long ago but mine doesn't appear to have reflux. It doesn't take long for a burp to build up (red face, moaning etc) after a few mouthfuls and I have to take him out of the high chair to get it out. Often he spends the rest of the time on my lap being spoonfed (I wonder if he's sometimes getting distressed because he actually doesn't like the highchair). Sometimes it really gets in the way of eating.

I've tried completely loosening the straps so he's sitting/wobbling around upright which helps a bit rather than being too harnessed in. I think there's nothing else you can do but wait until he grows out of it....but then I haven't sought expert advice on this. Maybe try another high chair? People rave about the Ikea one on here.

The issue of night time burps was cured by me not feeding him to sleep. I was burping him throughout being BF but I didn't get the final burp out because he would fall asleep. Cue waking up 45 mins later screaming. Now I burp him and put him straight in the cot. He cries for a few minutes but then passes out. This has made all the difference.

Mine is 8 month also btw.

Thanks lostinspace - it does sound similar. I also borrowed various high chairs as initially wondered if that was the problem - but no difference so have stuck with our ikea one (and no harness!) as you say not much we can do.
(Oh and agree with you re feeding to sleep! Thanks)

Eventually cut out wheat and dairy and everything resolved->happy baby!

This sounds exactly like my ten month old... I stopped breastfeeding at 3 months as it was like it was making him worse... I thought it was all the chillis I ate when pregnant. I've cut out bread as thought it was making him sick but will try dairy now too... How long did it take for you to notice a difference? This is the only similar story I have found. Everyone seems to think he needs "sleep training" but I know it's just wind. He doesn't fart very often. Got a dietician appointment in a few weeks so hope that will help too. Thanks for posting.