When your bundle of joy comes to this world, you have to master so many skills at the same time like swaddling, putting your baby to sleep, breast feeding, changing diapers and even burping. Your baby has gas trapped in his gastrointestinal system which needs to be released. How? Burping will help him eliminate gas from the system. We have garnered all the information regarding baby burps to help you out if you have any questions.
Why is it important for your baby to burp?
Your baby will feel full and uncomfortable when gas bubbles are trapped in the baby’s stomach. The only language babies use to communicate is crying. It is hard to figure out if it is because of the discomfort caused by gas. A better thing to do is burp your baby on a regular basis whether or not he becomes all fussy. You never know how much gas that little stomach contains.
How babies get gas in their stomach?
There are three major ways babies get gas trapped in their little bellies:
1. Digestion
When the food breaks down in the large intestine, it naturally produces gas. It is the food that mother takes in and it gets its way into the breast milk and the food that the babe takes. It is believed that carbohydrates in foods have more chances of creating gas than other foods. Some of the gas causing foods are Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, soda, fruit drink and sugar free candies.
2. Gulping air
You must have probably seen babies drinking from the bottle. They keep sucking on the bottle even when the milk is finished. That is how they swallow some air and they can even swallow air with the milk. Babies fed with bottles particularly have this problem because they try to drink milk really fast. Breastfeeding babies swallow air when they also try to drink milk really fast.
3. Food intolerance
At times, breastfeeding babies can become intolerant to certain food that the mother is eating which can result in the production of gas. Sometimes formula milk doesn’t suit babies and they tend to create gas.
Perfect burping positions
You can check which position your baby feels more comfortable and lets out a burp. Make sure you keep a burp cloth near the mouth of the baby to prevent any spit up from sticking to your clothes. Here are two most common positions mothers use to burp their babies:
- Sitting on the lap: make your baby sit on your lap while supporting his head and body with one hand. With the other hand rub the back of your baby till he burps.
- Over the shoulder: let the baby face you and hold him on your shoulder. Keep him elongated rather than curling him up. Hold the baby with hand and use the other hand to rub the baby’s back till he lets out a burp.
What to do if the gas remains consistent?
If your baby seems to have a gas problem that remains consistent, then it is time to think about changing some of the gas causing things:
1. Shaking formula milk
When you make milk using formula milk, you add water and the formula and give it a vigorous shake. This vigorous shaking adds quiet a lot of air to the formula milk creating gas. What you can do is let the bottle stay for some time before giving it to your baby or fetch a premixed formula milk from a store.
2. Shape of the bottle
Did you know some bottle have a better angle to keep the milk directed towards the nipple and helps create less gas? In case your baby is dealing with gas issues consistently, think about changing the bottle and getting one with a different shape that can reduce the amount of air trapped in the bottle. This will prevent air entering the system of the baby through the nipple.
3. Mother’s diet
Very often, it is the food that mothers eat that result in baby’s gaseous discomfort. The food that you eat finds its way to the milk in case of breast feeding mothers. This can cause gas in babies. The most common food item that results in gas is dairy products like cheese, milk and ice cream. Making changes to diet can be difficult one to figure out but it is something you should definitely try. Every person is different. It is not necessary the gas causing foods be same for everyone.
4. Milk flow through the nipple
There are different nipples that come for different ages of babies. Make sure you don’t use a nipple that has a really fast flow of milk. Using those with fast flow of milk can make your baby swallow the milk too fast and get him to swallow air in between. Select nipples according to the age of your baby.
