How to Help Your Baby Burp Easier

Isn't it amazing how your baby depends on your for everything? When my wife and I brought our baby girl home from the hospital almost 3 months ago, I remember thinking to myself, "This cute little person is totally dependent on us to take care of her needs." Everything from feeding to bathing...she needs us to help her with it all. Even something as simple as burping, which we adults take for granted, is an "event" that she needs help with.

Burping is important for your baby because it keeps the air bubbles or gas from building up in her little tummy and causing pain. And with the pain comes the crying, which will cause you pain. Besides, I think that it's so cute when you hear your little baby letting out a really loud burp! So how do you help your baby to burp? Are there any burping tips for your baby you can follow?

Well, burping a baby is a learned skill. Just like learning how to change a diaper or how to hold your baby so the head doesn't flop around, it's not something you innately know how to do (especially if you are a father). We are lucky that our baby is a good burper. She usually burps frequently during her feedings, which means there isn't a whole lot of gas built up that will need to get burped out after the feeding. She also burps fairly quickly after her feeding, which makes it much easier on us, especially at night time feedings.

Prior to the arrival of our baby, we took some parenting classes. In the Baby Care Basics class, they showed us several ways or positions for burping a baby. We've tried pretty much all of these positions and have discovered that some work better than others. Of course, every baby is different so this is just what we've discovered that worked best for our baby.

The first position we learned in our parenting class was the "classic" hold-your-baby-over-the-shoulder position. I call this the "classic" position because we usually see this being done in pictures or on television when a baby is being burped. We also usually see the parent patting the baby on the back while using this position. We were told in our parenting class that patting the baby on the back doesn't really help with the burping, and that it actually makes the parent feel better than the baby. I don't know about you, but I think it does help. No, I don't have any scientific evidence that it helps. But I know it doesn't hurt...so that's what I do.

Another good position for burping your baby is to sit your baby on your lap facing sideways. While supporting your baby's chest and chin with your hand (to prevent her head from flopping), lean her over and pat her on the back with your other hand. Our experience has been that this position works the best. I don't know why, but our baby burps really quickly in this position.

The third position we learned is to place your baby across your lap with her tummy down. You can gently pat her back too. This position works well, but I don't really like this position because it seems like it would be uncomfortable. Plus, the couple of times I tried it our baby spit up. Yes, she did burp. But she spit up as well.

Here's one final tip. Try to burp your baby frequently throughout the feeding. Our baby now drinks about 5 ounces of milk per feeding, and we try to burp her after every 2 ounces or so. This will help with the build up of gas.

I'm sure there are other ways to burp your baby. And maybe these positions won't work as well for you. But you can at least start with these and make changes along the way. Always remember...you know your baby best!

Happy burping!