Newborn babies can be intimidating; many of us look at them as tiny, delicate people and it can be a little worrisome having to do anything to them, even if it is helping them. However, the more you know about something the better.
What is wind?
Wind is caused by the air your baby gulps with every feed and all babies whether breastfed or bottle fed need to be burped after a feed. However, due to their ability to control milk flow and coordinate breathing and swallowing better breastfed babies will swallow less air. It is perfectly normal for your baby to posset or bring up wind when they burp so you might want to protect your clothes with a cloth.
Until what age?
As your baby grows, they will get better at feeding and suck in a lot less air. This will mean that you won’t need to wind them as much because there will be less air to get up, or they will be able to do it themselves. When they start to sit up by themselves or move around they may be able to relieve the air pressure themselves without your help, although they may still bring up milk.
How to burp correctly
There are two ways to burp baby: sitting on your knee or over your shoulder. Simply position your little one over your shoulder or hold them upright on your knee. Gently rub their little back until they burp. There will usually be a little white spit up after the burp. Gentle pressure on their stomach will help the process.
If you are sitting them upright on your knee, gently rest their chin in the space between your thumb and index finger. Lean them slightly forward and pat their back to move the air up.
For over the shoulder, have your baby up high so that their stomach is on your shoulder and rub their back up and own.
Winding usually occurs after a feed has been finished but if you see they showing any signs of distress during a feed you may need to help them burp.
However, they may not need to be burped after a feed so if they dose off after you have tried to wind them for a minute or two, they are fine.
