Infant Burping

Hi MM,

I am a NICU nurse as well as postpartum nurse and mom to four daughters. I often help set up new mothers at home after preemies and mulitiples as well, help at them at home adjusting to life with a new baby or babies.

I can feel your frustration and it is VERY normal! Being a first time mom, I am sure your fears and worries are enormous at times. But, no fear, YOU can do this! You are in charge and a great mom already - so knowing what to do is half the battle.

I love your term "milk coma", that is SO true sometimes. But, that is where you have to take charge. You said he is 3 weeks old, so this is very common. It is important that he eat every three to four hours...and contrary to the old term "never wake a sleeping baby", you MUST! Newborns just want to sleep, that is all they know. YOU have to teach them (yes, I said 'teach' them). Once they get a little older and it is time they should be sleeping through the night (around 8-12 weeks) but as of now, you should be waking him every 3-4 hours to eat (unless he is a low birth weight preemie, then sometimes every 1-2 hours)

When it is time to eat, He will be 'dreamy', but you can just keep softly talking to him, change his diapers, rub his feet, etc. to keep him awake during feeding. He will be 'gungho' at first, probably sucking down the first ounce but probably start his 'milk coma' as you said after that, because sucking can make him tired...and since he has 'snacked' a little, he will want to go back to sleep. You just have to keep urging him, wiggle the nipple back and forth in his mouth and keep coaxing him. I am assuming he is eating around 3 to 4 ounces right now. I try would burp after the 2nd ounce. Sometimes babies are easy burpers after a few seconds or minutes, others are a little harder to coax. If after 5 minutes or so, try another 1/2 ounce and then try again. But, keep burping, or like you said, the vomiting will occur.

There are many ways to burp. 1)Hold him upright on your knee, he will be in a sitting position with your left hand on his stomach and neck/face to keep his head up. Pat him firmly on him back, starting from top to bottom, working your way down and working that burp up. And, yes, sometimes you feel like you are beating him, but firmly is the answer. 2)Some babies like the 2nd method (and most grandmothers) is the 'over-the-shoulder' method. Or, 3) You can place him on his tummy on your lap and firmly pat him that way, putting pressure on his tummy will force the burp that way. Try them all and find which one works for you and your little one. The first method really works the best for the 'milk coma' ones, as it makes them wake up a bit and keeps them moving more to wake them up. And, yes, it may take a little while at first, and sometimes a 30 to 45 minute feeding happens, but it won't last long, I promise.

Night time feedings are the hardest it seems. But, the best method is the "in and out" method. Get 'in', get the job done and then get 'out'! ;-) Keep it dark quiet. After he wakes (or you wake him) change his diaper first, this will wake him up a bit so he'll be eager to eat. No talking or anything but get straight to work. If he starts to fall asleep after that first ounce, gently move the nipple in his mouth, rub his feet and keep on to urge him to get to that 2nd ounce. Burp, then finish the bottle. Burp again and put right to bed.

I promise, 'this too shall pass' and he will be 4 weeks old, then 5 and then 6 and each week will bring new joys and a few new challenges. But, YOU CAN DO IT!

My son was the same way, very hard to burp. We were told by our pediatrician that we could give him a small dose (instructions on label) of gas relief medication with his bottle. We just put the drop in his bottle of milk, and if he didn't burp, it would settle his stomach. We used it for about 2 months after we brought him home and it worked great!

My kids were babies a long time ago now, but I think we used to lay them on our laps on a towel and pat them on the back. We also used the over the shoulder method, but the lap seemed to work when the other position didn't.

You didn't say if you are nursing or not which can make a difference. I'm no expert and not too far past that point either, but have you tried to give him some Mylicon before feeding? That may help and if you are in fact nursing, make sure you are burping in between sides. I know with my daughter, she didn't always burp since I nurse and there's less gas than in bottles. Just a though. Good luck :)

I'm guessing you've already tried this one, but we had a lot of luck with the sitting up method from Happiest Baby on the Block. Kind of holding the baby sitting up with your hand on his face (not pretty, but kind of cute), and patting his back. She often slept through it and still burped. Good luck!

Hi M M congratulations on the new baby. When my girls were small what worked for me was to set them on my knee one hand on their back & support the head & neck as well & with the other hand on their chest, rodk them back & forth slowly almost like they were doing set ups. It only takes 3 or 4 times them they either burped on their own or just a few pats on the back & it worked great.
My daughter is now a massage therapist & she rubs her babies tummy in a a circle going from the babies left to the right firm but gently this is great for gas going up or down. Hope it helps.

What worked best for my kids was to raise and lower them from a horizontal (lying) to a vertical (sitting) position a few times. It seemed to wiggle the burps out. Good luck!

I'm sure you have several responses but I thought that I would let you know that my first baby was exactly the same as yours! After some advice and trial and error, I found that messaging from the bottom of the ribs up (almost like you're slowly tickling him) will work. After a couple of times my son would squirm and out came a burp! I did this with my other 4 children as well and it worked like a charm.

Don't get discouraged---good luck and God Bless!
K. Morris

I had the same problem with my daughter. Sometime I bounced with her and sometimes I layed her over my lap and burped her. Now she's 6 months and does them on her own!

are you waiting until the very end to burp? i would stop him in the middle of his bottle to burp & then at the end. if you already stop at the middle then i would stop before he is quite done so that he doesn't just go to sleep right after. i used to lay them on my lap (back down) & put my hand under their chin to support head & then roll them up to sitting to squeeze it out of them. i hope you figure out what works best with him!

I'm not sure if anyone has said this or not ... I got this tip from "The Happiest Baby on the Block" book and DVD.
Lean baby forward w/his chin in palm of your hand (just like that typical burping position) but use other hand to lift him from his bottom -- bounce him with your hands moving him up and down in the air. Or something that's involves less energy on your part -- just have him lean into your hand and bounce him on your lap by bouncing your leg up and down. This always works for us. My daughter had stuck burps all the time! But the bouncing is the only thing that helped wiggle it out.

She's almost 3 months now and the burping is so much easier now. It doesn't take us forever anymore - less than 2 mins. now - sometimes it's immediate.

I would suggest over the shoulder, on your lap and sitting with their tummy/chin in palm of your hand. All of these methods worked really well for my kids. I REALLY would try not to bounce him. This will possibly make him vomit, especially if he has any reflux at all. Best to keep him more still. It also worked well when I would pat from lower back up to top and/or rub from bottom of back to top to kind of work the bubbles out. Good luck! It will become much easier before you know it!!

My son had trouble burping and we had to burp him every half an ounce in the beginning and then every ounce once he was able to hold his head up and started eating more. He would also burp better if we layed him on on our laps stomach down and rubbed his back or if we sat him up and supported his head and chest leaning him slighty forward and patted his back. Hope it gets better for you.

Here are the tricks I used with my 2. Have it quiet so you can hear what's happening, I finally caught on that my daughter was swallowing her burps back down! Anyway, let him lay still on his right side for a few minutes. This puts his stomach elevated, so when the air starts to collect it goes up. Then you have to find the release position. Most of the time straight up works ok, my kids must have twisty stomachs or something. I hold them in a sitting position and gradually tip them back and forward, and side to side, as if they are leaning. At some point they will burp. Remember the position they are in when they burp and start there next time. Pretty son you'll find the position that allows those bubbles to slip out. Don't worry, in a few months this will be history, just hang in there!

Yep, you are right, he probably is in a "milk coma" We always called it a "food buzz". Try feeding less before trying to burp, then maybe it will be easier. Also, sometimes it does take them forever to burp, and sometimes you put them down and they throw up. It just happens. Try to get the burp out, but don't wait 45 minutes. You can also try putting him on a slight incline (like in a baby seat or put a small wedge under his mattress) so that when you lay him down, he's not all the way down. Have you tried burping him over your lap? That's another one to try...lay him across your legs and pat his back.

The good news is that it gets better and it won't last forever!

My son is one month today and we are dealing with the same thing. So far I have to just keep trying but it seems to be getting a little better each day. I hope you find something that works for you and congrats on your new little one.

1 word: Cocyntal! ;)

Try holding him as vertical as possible during feeding. That way, air doesn't build up as much. My daughter had terrible gas/projectile vomiting, until I found that I could position her so that her little bottom was WAY below her shoulders when she nursed. THen, she rarely even needed to burp. SHe was a VERY agressive nurser, and took in a lot of air. Sounded like a little piglet...

Also, most of your replies suggested patting him. Mine never did so well with patting. I had to "tickle" the burps to the top. I ran my fingers up and down their back on either side of their spine, and massaged their lower back when I got back to the bottom. Up-Down-massage This helped them stay awake, and didn't seem to shake the coke-bottle so badly either. :-)