Everybody knows the significance of burping a newly born one as they are being fed. Such young ones tend to swallow in some considerable amount of air which is not good for them since it makes them quite uncomfortable. Some mothers of the new born babies may not know what to do with such a situation. It would be necessary for such mothers to understand the most appropriate ways to do burping as well as the right positions to go for while carrying out this exercise. For some new parents, feeding a newly born baby can be such a fascinating experience but can also result to a more intimidating one. This is so if the new mother does not know what to expect from that. While feeding the baby, there is need to keep on burping it. It is an important aspect of feeding these newly born ones since it would assist in getting rid of the air which might be swallowed by the babies while being fed. Too much swallowed air which can result from the baby not being well burped occasionally can lead to crankiness, gassiness as well as spitting up.
Therefore there is a need for the mother to understand the appropriate ways of burping the newly born ones.
Patting on the baby’s back: It is essential while burping. However this should not be done while pounding the baby hardly. A towel will do the trick when you burp a new born baby. It will assist in preventing the messy cleanups which happens when the baby spits up or experiences a wet Burp. The towel should be placed under the chin of the baby or on the shoulders of the mother or the person doing the burping. Burping should be done while the mother is in a comfortable position for herself and for the baby.
Some of the commonly used burping positions include the following:
1. Holding the baby against the chest of the mother’s body while sitting upright.
2. Placing the baby to sit up on the mother’s lap or across her knees.
3. Let the baby lay on the mother’s lap with its belly.
Holding the baby against the chest of the mother's body while sitting upright: While holding the newly born against your chest as you sit upright, the baby should have its chin resting on your shoulder. In this position, you should give the baby the support it needs using one of your hands as the other hand pats the baby’s back gently.
Placing the baby to sit up on the mother's lap or across her knees: Another way to do this would be to sit on a rocking chair and gently rock with the new born while you pat it. If the mother decides to grip her child as it sits up on her lap or across her own knees, then she ought to crud the chin of the baby in her hand’s palm while making sure that the heel of the her hand rests on the chest of the newly born one. The mother should rather be careful to hold the chin of the baby but not its throat. The pat of the other hand should be employed in patting the back of the baby gently. This would ensure that the chest of the baby as well as its head is well fully supported.
Let the baby lay on the mother's lap with its belly: In case the baby is being laid on the lap of the mother or the one carrying out the exercise, there is need to provide the head of the baby with necessary support while seeing to it that the head is in a higher position than the chest. In this position the mother can easily pat the back of the baby gently. Sometimes the baby might seem fussy as it is being fed, it is the responsibility of the mother to stop feeding it and start the burping exercise before proceeding with feeding. In case you are breastfeeding the baby, you ought to try to burp it every time you switch breasts. This would assist in doing away with the little air that enters their little stomach and create some space for some more food.
How to burp the young one with bottle feeding:
In case the mother is bottle feeding the young one, then she will have to burp every 2 to 3 ounces which is equivalent of 60 to 90 milliliters of milk. This process can be repeated after every five minutes during breastfeeding or after every ounce in cases where the baby seems to either spit a lot, gassy or has gastro esophageal reflux infections (GERI). The baby might not seem to have burped at times, this calls for change of position and another burp after a while, say five minutes, before continuing with the feeding exercise. After feeding, it is always advisable to carrying on with burping. For babies who have no more than six months, the most appropriate position would be to maintain the newly born in an upright position for about 15 minutes. In cases of spitting up or GERI, this exercise needs to be carried out for a longer duration. This should be done immediately after feeding in order to avoid the coming back of the milk. Sometimes the baby can still spit; this does not call for a cause of alarm.
The baby may wake up sometimes at night simply because of gas it might have swallowed while feeding. Burping on it the right way may send it to back to dream land. If you see the baby stop burping as it grows up, then you don’t have to worry since it is an indication that it has learned how to eat without grasping in a lot of air. Some babies experience the problem of having more than two hours of continued crying every day, usually referred to as colic. Such babies might have swollen some gas during this time and make then much more uncomfortable. Some mothers prefer to use antigas drops which have not been successful in treating the problem. Some other medications mothers have tried have proved to be quite dangerous, thus proofing burping the most appropriate approach.