Babies + Burping
As a hospital based Lactation Consultant I heard LOTS of misinformation and just plain crazy statements from coworkers including; “That baby does not want to eat every 2 hours, she needs formula”, or , “I told that Mom she can bottle feed and just breastfeed later”, and my all time personal favorite, “That baby is exclusively breastfeeding but is so gassy. I know you don’t need to burp a breastfed baby so I don’t know what his problem is.”
To be fair, most Pediatricians and Nurses take less than 5 hours of Lactation Specific Education throughout their educational journey. It’s not their fault, it’s the system’s fault. But, knowing I can not tackle the whole world at once, I like to start at home. Educating my fellow peers while empowering them with education (and not judgement) is one thing I do miss about my time as a hospital LC. But this misinformation doesn’t just go around in the hospital, it’s plastered all over google and shared constantly on social media (especially tiktok). Can we agree on something right now? Can we agree we’ll use social media for fun but NOT for education? Anyone can say anything but your source should ALWAYS be someone with proper schooling, degrees and/or certificates. Find someone in their wheelhouse!
Okay, rant over. Let’s talk burping.
There is no right or wrong way to burp your baby.
Yes, I said that. It’s not like I have some magical way to burp your infant but I do have some tips and tricks to help you. Let’s check it out!
This technique is called the bicycle legs because, you can move infant’s leg’s back and forth as if they were pedaling a bike. Think about making slow but steady pedals on a bike, tucking knees to chest.
This position is a knee to chest tuck. Like the bicycle, slow movements but instead of alternating knees you’ll tuck both to chest at the same time, with a long full leg extend after.
The upright burping position with a slight lean forward is probably my favorite because babies tend to like it also. Gently assist your infant in sitting up, with their legs straight out, lean them forward with your hand placed under baby’s chin with NO pressure applied to airway. Their chin should rest on your hand, while the other is burping.
Give these new positions a try. You don’t need to burp until you hear a burp either. Often times you may feel it and not hear it. Or it could come in the form of gas or the hiccups!
But remember, you CAN’T over burp, you DO need to burp a breastfed infant and you DO deserve a margarita ( I just threw that last one in there for fun). You got this!