Burping
Burping is one of the most artsy aspects of raising a little child. You can breastfeed with the help of your instinct, expert guidance and the internet. But burping is an art and it takes practice to master it. I have seen many aunts and parents boast of how amazing they are at making a baby burp. But here I am saying the glass is half full. It is nothing short of presumptuous and burping a baby is no rocket science or Renaissance art.
The anatomy
The baby's food pipe and stomach are as expected teenie tiny. It is no wonder that a small air bubble will consume alot of space in the tiny stomach and cause distress if not let out. Some babies are born burpers. It takes no more than just putting them up straight after a feed to make them burp. Such parents are often deluded into thinking they are baby burping experts. Before you hold on any such beliefs, remember to give more credit to the baby than yourself. Some parents, such as myself, have the most stoic non burpable babies ever. Infact my son was such a non burper that when he did burp once a year it surprised me immensely. Most babies fall into the average burper category and these are the parents who are often googling baby burping techniques.
Before you go online yet again to look for some trade trick, just put some thought into this. The air bubble needs to be displaced to the top. It is often explained on "medical" websites that the air passing through the intestine is painful, so burping is mandatory after each feed. Some "experts" even go out of the way and preach that baby should be made to unlatch mid feed to be burped and then refed again. There is nothing wrong in it per se but this kind of advice is just fodder for the over-protective-over-googling parents. Burping at every feed is not an absolute rule. But ‘attempting to burp the baby at every feed’ is.
Here are some pointers to relieve you
;1.; The baby needs to be burped. But don't lose your mind over it.
;2. Is your baby particularly prone to tummy aches? Or is it that your tummy which is hurting because your baby hasn't burped. Something to introspect on.
;3. Now that I have gotten your issues out of the way, let's focus on the baby. Use your palm and apply firm yet gentle force and pat the middle of your baby's back post feed. Ideal is to do it immediately post feed.
;4. If you don't get the coveted burp out of your child then wait 15 minutes before trying again.
;5. If your baby is particularly prone to spit up, then don't let the baby lie for at least 20 minutes post feed.
;6. If the baby has fallen asleep while feeding, it is not absolutely necessary to wake up the baby to burp him. Nighttime feeds are often burpless. And it is ok. Not worth disturbing the sleeping baby and the super sleepy mom to get a tiny air bubble out of your baby. More often than not that bubble is bothering the parent and not the baby.
;7. If your baby is resistant to letting out air then try the cycling method. Make the baby lie on his back and hold his feet and move them in a cycle pedalling motion. Do this for about 2 minutes. Likely to elicit some gas from either end.
;8. And if your child won't let go a burp, then you need to let it go!
Spit up.
Where burping stops, spit up begins. Some kids are particularly generous spitters. You breastfeed them your liquid gold and those thankless little munchkins are curdling it and throwing it back in your face. My son was not only a non burper but also a generous spitter. We used to joke that he has no traffic police in his food pipe and the traffic goes either way freely. Spitting up is rather effortless and consistent in some babies. Otherwise some amount of spit up is expected at some point in all babies.
Some pointers while dealing with spit up-
;1.; The consistency doesn't matter. If it's plain milk regurgitating back, then you are in luck as it isn't as stinky. If it's curd, then don't go reaching for your security blanket called Google. It just means that the milk went lower down into the stomach, got a little bit digested before finding its way back up.
;2. The quantity is way less than you think. Spit up may seem like a lot. Especially if you pump and your baby likes to dump. But just to get perspective and not cry too much over spilt milk, do this exercise. Take one teaspoon of water and spill it on your shirt. Later try spilling an ounce of water. You will find that tiny volume of fluid spreads to a large area. You can guesstimate the amount of spit up after this experiment on fluid volume spread!
;3. If it still looks like a cause of concern then be sure to get serial weight measurements each week. If the baby is putting on weight as expected, then the spit up should not bother you.
;4. If the baby looks dull and lethargic after a spit up, if it is out of the ordinary for the baby to spit up alot and if the baby looks dehydrated (signs of dehydration in next section) then seek prompt medical attention and don't wait it out.
;5. Babies are usually rather happy after spitting up. They smile, bring out some curd, lick their lips, make a funny face disapproving the acidic taste and smile again. These happy spitters should make for happy parents. It is advisable that you wear a bib rather than the baby. My husband and I used to stink of spit up for months on end after our first baby was born. Up until he outgrew the habit on getting a bit bigger.
Why does this happen:
The baby has a digestive system which is still undergoing development. The area where the food pipe meets the stomach is guarded by a muscle called the lower oesophageal sphincter (LES for short). The muscle is slightly loose and undeveloped. So it is sort of a free way traffic either way. Their tummies are tiny and even a little pressure or over feeding can send the contents back up. Another factor for this easy regurgitation is the fact they consume only milk. Since it is a fluid, it finds it way back up rather easily. #momstein
Pic courtesy: my son at 7 months of age after a meal :)