Very often, parents seek my treatment at the clinic, because their baby suffers from tummy
aches caused by gas that is somewhere trapped in the baby’s digestive tract.
But in many cases, the tummy aches could have easily been avoided if the baby would have
been properly burped.
So in this video, we are gonna share with you 3 ways of how to correctly burp a baby even
if your baby fell asleep while feeding them.
And then afterwards, we are also gonna share with you what you can do if the gas is NOT released
as a burp and if it makes its way into the digestive tract of the baby! Right!
I am Nathalie, a pregnancy and birth consultant and TCM therapist,
and I am Mathias, a researcher and science-geek.
And on this channel, we help you and your baby naturally and science-based!
So, let’s find out how to correctly burp a baby!
Recently, we were asked why it is so important to burp a baby!
Well, because babies are not able to burp themselves.
And this has to do with the fact that the esophageal sphincter muscles in a baby’s
throat are not fully developed yet.
In grown-ups, the muscles simply relax when we burp, to allow the gas to pass.
However, in babies, this does not yet work.
And so, either we help the baby burp or the gas makes its way into the digestive system
where it causes pressure and pain.
Right! But we won’t let that happen! Right!
So, here are 3 ways how to correctly burp a baby!
And please note: in our experience, not every baby can be burped in all 3 positions.
You have to experiment a bit in order to find out what works best for your baby!
So, the most common way is to burp a baby while holding baby over your shoulders and
then patting baby’s back.
So far, nothing new to you.
However, one thing that may be new to some parents is that a better way of releasing
the gas is not by patting the baby’s back.
But by gently rubbing the baby’s back instead.
And another thing that we often notice is that babies find it easier to burp if
baby’s head is straight, i.e. with baby’s chin resting on your shoulder, rather than
with the side of baby’s head lying on your shoulder.
And finally, one thing that could also help, is moving your baby’s knees up to baby’s
chest so that your baby’s legs are in the same frog-like position like they were, when
your baby was in your womb.
A big advantage of this position is that it is also suitable to burp a sleeping baby.
This can work particularly well if you are breastfeeding, but it can also work if you
are bottle feeding because all you need to do is move your baby all the way up and onto
your shoulder while supporting your baby’s head.
Some women also recommend burping a sleeping baby by holding your baby to your chest.
Yes, this can work too.
However, as already mentioned, in our experience, it is more effective to burp a baby if baby’s
head is straight which obviously is not possible in that position.
Right!
The second position that we want to show you is a sitting position.
In fact, that’s the only position that worked for our son, remember? Oh yes!
So, in order to do that, you need to sit your baby on your lap.
What’s important here is that you support your baby’s chin with one hand without putting
any pressure on the baby’s throat, okay?
So, ideally, your palm rests on your baby’s chest, while your fingers support your baby’s
chin.
Next, make sure that your baby leans slightly forward.
And then use your other hand to gently pat your baby’s back or rub your baby’s back
because again, in our experience, it is more effective.
And finally, one thing that can also help here is, when you move your baby’s body back
and forth or from one side to the other side.
Because sometimes, movement can help remove stubborn gas.
Yes!
This position can also work if your baby fell asleep by the way.
But it tends to work better if you are bottle feeding.
Because if you are, then all you need to do is move your baby into a more upright, sitting
position.
If you are breastfeeding on the other hand, you first need to turn your baby away from
your body and into an upright position.
It can work too.
However, some babies are gonna complain when you do that!
Yes!
And then finally, there is also a third position that could work.
And that’s a lying position.
So your baby would either be lying on your arm or across your lap.
When you want your baby to lie on your arm, you basically need to move your arm under
your baby’s tummy.
The baby’s head would then rest on the crook of your arm.
The advantage here is that you put pressure on baby’s stomach, but its not too much
pressure to make the baby throw up, right?
What’s important though is that you don’t put any pressure on your baby’s throat,
okay?
And then just pat or gently rub your baby’s back.
Alternatively, you can also let your baby lie across your lap.
When you do, it’s best to move one of your hands under your baby’s chest and to let
your baby’s head rest on your forearm.
Both lying positions can also work really well if your baby fell asleep during the feeding,
particularly, if you are breastfeeding.
Because then, all you need to do is slowly turn your baby away from you at a 90 degrees
angle so that their tummy rests either on your forearm or your lap.
When you are bottle feeding, you have to turn your baby 180 degrees.
Some babies don’t like that.
But every baby is different, so you will have to try!
Okay, so, those were the 3 most effective techniques to burp a baby!
And please keep in mind that in all three cases, your baby may bring some milk up while burping.
Don’t be worried!
That’s totally normal.
Just make sure that you have a muslin square or a burp cloth ready.
That said, sometimes, babies just do not burp.
If it hasn’t happened to you so far, trust me, it’s gonna happen.
As a result, the gas will make its way into the digestive system.
So the question is: when that happens, what can you do to remove that gas.
Well, the answer is actually really simple.
Apply a baby massage treatment!
However, please don’t do this right after feeding your baby.
We have seen so many people on the internet proposing exactly that.
But it’s really not what you should be doing.
Just imagine that you just ate a proper meal.
And then somebody is massing your belly.
It will probably turn your whole stomach upside down.
And the same applies to your baby!
So please wait between 45 and 60 minutes before you give your baby a massage treatment.
Yes, what we propose here is a simple 5-step baby massage treatment which includes classic
baby massage techniques and acupressure.
And by the way: it’s the same treatment that we would also apply in case of baby constipation
because no matter if you want to relieve constipation or gas, in both cases, you want to move something
that is trapped in your baby’s digestive system.
So, let’s have a look at how to do that!
We start this baby massage treatment by stroking around her belly button in a clockwise direction.
The purpose of this step is to stimulate the baby's colon.
That is why it is so important that you do this in a clockwise direction because this
is how the digestive waste is moving in the colon!
Do this for about 10 seconds!
And by the way, you can apply firm pressure!
Just don't overdo it!
Simply use your parental intuition!
Next, we are going to stimulate an acupressure point. That point is linked to the large intestine!
It is commonly used to help a baby with pain and to help move digestive waste.
So, first either take your baby's left or right hand!
Find the fold between your baby's thumb and index finger!
The point you're looking for is located on the flashy webbing, slightly above the end
of the fold!
Gently press and massage the point with either your thumb or index finger for about 10 seconds!
Once you're done with one side, do exactly the same on the other side!
In this next step, we simply bend the baby's knees and gently push her little legs towards
her abdomen!
That way we help the baby's body release gas or trapped wind as we say in London!
Repeat this movement at least 5 times!
Gently grab your baby's ankles then push one leg towards his abdomen while bending his
knee!
Then straighten the leg while you repeat the exact same movement with his other leg!
Repeat this bicycle movement a few times in a slow and relaxed way!
Finally, we are going to stimulate another acupressure point.
It is related to the spleen and thus commonly used to help improve a baby’s digestion
and to maintain a healthy digestive system.
So, first of all, slide with your finger from your baby’s big toe along the side of the
foot until you feel a bony prominence!
Right after the bony prominence there is a little depression.
The point you are looking for is located in that depression.
Gently press and massage the point with either your thumb or index finger for about 10 seconds.
Once you are done with one side, do exactly the same on the other side.
Okay!
I think that wasn’t too difficult, right?
By the way, keep in mind that it may not be possible to release particularly stubborn
gas with one treatment only.
In severe cases, we do it even up to 6 times per day.
Yes!
And the other thing is: you might have to increase the duration of the circular movements
on your baby’s belly.
For example, at the clinic, I often do it up to 30 seconds.
It really depends on how stubborn that gas is that you are trying to release.
But if you don’t give up easily, then our massage treatment will always do the job!
Right!
However, we hope that you don’t even need to apply our massage treatment because
hopefully our burping techniques did the job for you!
And most importantly, we hope that it spares your baby from all the pain that gas normally
causes babies.
Right!
Have you found this video helpful?
If you have, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a like!
Yes!
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