Getting a Burp

Updated on August 13, 2009
K.L. asks from Monterey Park, CA
15 answers

I have a 4 week old who is breastfed. I have a very difficult time getting her to burp. Does anyone have any good techniques to elicit a burp? I find that she is getting up after about 1/2 hour after feeding with a big burp or she ends up spitting up a lot. Thanks a lot in advance.

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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

She's just a newborn so their digestive system is not yet fully developed and even getting gas out can be hard.

At the hospital, the nurses would hold the baby, (their front side against your front side or to your chest), and rub/massage their backs going upward.
Or, gently massaging their tummy in circular motions as you held them or as baby is lying down.

And, keep your baby upright after feedings for about 1/2 hour if possible... so they don't choke on their spit up and possibly aspirate.

My daughter, had gas problems... and rarely farted or burped. And it would cause her gas pains and crying. We gave her infant gas drops which helped a lot. The gas would get trapped in her and cause pain.

If anything, ask your Pediatrician.

All the best,
Susan

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R.J.

answers from San Diego on

We had to do what I nicknamed "marathon burping". I would usually have to have my son over my shoulder, patting him for a BARE MINIMUM of 15 minutes...but it was usually more along the lines of half an hour. He was a big eater, so that may have contributed to how long we had to burp him for. He'd get maybe one or two teensy burps in the beginning, but if i kept going, he'd eventually have that big one.

On the upside, out of the very few parents I know who had marathon burper babies, none of them had colic or gas issues.

Doesn't last long though...a few months before he could burp himself.

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S.F.

answers from Santa Barbara on

Hi K.,
a nurse taught me this method and it worked amazingly well with both boys and did not cause them to spit up at all- just big, dry belches! Sit your little one on your lap, put your right thumb and index finger like a U under her chin with the rest of your palm on her chest. With your left hand, hold her back with thumb and fore-finger supporting the neck. Then, start moving her whole torso very slowly in a clockwise (or counter clockwise) position as if you are drawing a circle. I think I never had to do it for more than one minute before getting a great burp.
I hope this helps you. Congratulations on your little girl!
S.

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M.F.

answers from Reno on

this is a link to a picture of the method we used to burp our babies they all had burping issues

http://geoparent.com/milestones/wp-content/uploads/2008/0...

we did have to marathon burp until we tried this. it looks like you are choking the baby but you are not i promise. our oldest had to be bounced while being burped on our knee.

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V.V.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hey K.,
Congratulations on your precious new one. :) Nursed babies do not burp as much as bottle fed babies as a general rule, however, with any baby that small I burp them in a couple of positions right after they eat. First I hold them in an upright position on my lap, like they were sitting, and burp them while holding their head. Then I also stand up and put them on my sholder to burp. Then I lay them on an incline for about 10 to 15 minutes. Then I get them up and burp them again. Sometimes it takes several minutes for the air to make it's way up. Even if they have already fallen asleep I still pick them up to burp them. They will go right back to sleep at this age, and they will sleep better because they don't have as much air to cause them problems. I hope this helps you. I have a new granddaughter who is 4 weeks as well. Enjoy your family, and blessings to all of you,
V.

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L.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

my son would always spit up everything you gave him if you burped him right afterwards by patting his back. We finally realized that the best strategy with him was to sit him up for about 30 minutes after eating either in our laps or positioned in the boppy. If he needed to burp, he would eventually. Sometimes he wouldn't. This way the food stayed down and he was more satisfied.

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D.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hello K.,
My children both would not over the shoulder burp like some children. I had to sit them up (in a sitting position, hold their little chin and head with my left hand, then run my thumb and first finger up and down their spine. Because babies are so ticklish this makes them sit up or move in a way that would promote a burp. I don't know why but this works. My sister in law gave me the advice. Try it and see.
~~D.

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B.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

A nurse taught me this trick with my daughter: with the flat of your hand, rub her back in small, vigorous circles, then pat maybe ten times, then repeat. You want to rub low on the back. I used it with both of mine and the baby in my daycare. You still have to be patient, but it works every time!

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C.A.

answers from Los Angeles on

patience. some times i'd rub the back from butt up to shoulders-trying to press it out. but, I think you just keep patting the back-while baby is upright on your shoulder. I forgot how much I hated waiting for that burp. there was always something I needed to do.

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E.N.

answers from San Diego on

Both of my babies were difficult to burp. We found the best way was to get their abdomen to "stretch" a little bit (as our pediatrician told us, when adults burp, you usually sit up straight and arch your back a little to stretch your abdomen). We would sit them on our knee with one hand supporting at the chest/under the armpits and gently rub the baby's back in one motion from the lower back up, or gently pat starting from the lower back and moving up the back. Try to get your baby to stretch and straighten her back with your support while you do this. This always did the trick for us, even if it took a little time. Also, at such a young age, we found it best to burp at least 2 or 3 times during a feeding.

Hope this helps!

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T.B.

answers from Sacramento on

Hi K.,
We had a hard time getting our son to burp, early on, too. We would lay him across our lap so that his tummy was over one leg/knee, chest over the other and hold him up gently by his chin while patting his back. Sometimes if I couldn't get a burp out that way or over my shoulder, I would just lay him on his tummy on the floor to play (sometimes gently rubbing/patting his back) for a time and he usually burped on his own this way.
It'll get better soon enough, though!

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C.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

Try placing your baby on your knee/leg, place your hand on the babies tummy and pat on the back with the other hand. Always works for me and I had the same troubles!-www.weelicious.com

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J.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

Sometimes I could get a burp out of my little girl by sitting her on my knee and patting her back like others have said but also moving my knee up and down (like a horse ride) just a little. Also, something else that worked for us sometimes that is a bit strange is we would pat her bottom. We would pat it from under her bottom upwards. Good luck.

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M.M.

answers from San Luis Obispo on

If you have Netflix, rent the Baby Whisperer dvd - she shows a terrific method of burping there. It basically is holding your hand in the shape of a "c", putting around the childs waist and moving it upwards (gently but firmly). I'm probably not explaining it right, though. I always burped right after feeding and this was the only way I was ever able to burp my son! Good luck!

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M.D.

answers from Los Angeles on

hey there,
the burping thing really caused me a lot of anxiety. I started with what the doctor recommended, Mylekon(I think that's how it's spelt. I changed when I read that certain batches had been recalled. I had my greatest success with Cocyntal. It's made by Borillion, and it's a homeopathic remedy. I got it in Whole Foods, and we all started sleeping much better as a result.

Good luck.
M

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