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Is It Ok To Put Baby To Sleep Without Burping? 5 Helpful Tips To Know

Is It Ok To Put Baby To Sleep Without Burping

Most of us have heard the saying about never waking a sleeping baby, but what about when your baby falls asleep after a bottle feeding or nursing and doesn’t burp? Is it ok to put baby to sleep without burping?

When babies fall asleep before they have been burped, it can be very tempting to put them in bed. However, you should always try to burp a sleeping baby because when babies burp, it prevents issues like gas bubbles and possible pain associated with gas buildup.

In this article, we’ll talk about how to go about burping positions, what to do when your baby has fallen asleep before you’ve had a chance to burp them, how to burp a sleeping baby, and why it’s crucial to burp both breastfed babies and bottle-fed babies.

Why do babies need to be burped?

Both breastfed, and bottle-fed babies need to be burped after they eat. Newborn babies are especially susceptible to having air bubbles, trapped gas, in their bellies after a feeding.

Babies tend to swallow air when they swallow breast milk or formula, and it’s your job to get as much air out of their little bellies as possible to prevent them from spitting up, having cramps, being in pain, or getting bloated and fussy.

Many babies go to sleep while feeding, especially newborns, who tend to sleep a lot anyway. Putting your baby in a flat position without burping them can cause spit up to occur, as well as gas pain.

The good news is that you can learn to burp a sleeping baby if you’d rather keep your baby asleep than wake them to burp.

Is it ok to put baby to sleep without burping?

Falling asleep during a feeding happens to most babies now and then. So you may wonder if baby burps are that important. 

They may look peaceful, need the sleep, and it may have been a very long day, and you don’t want to risk agitating them by waking them up to burp.

If you have an instance where your baby has fallen fast asleep and didn’t burp, you must go ahead and try anyway. This prevents the air bubbles that have built up in the baby’s tummy from being released, preventing gas pain, vomiting, spitting up, and promoting better sleep.

Is It Ok To Put Baby To Sleep Without Burping

How to burp a sleeping baby

Keeping your baby upright or shifting your baby upright after they are sleeping will help you to produce a burp. Keep your baby vertically straight up against your chest or shoulder. 

You may doubt that your child will stay asleep in this position, but newborns tend to be able to sleep through just about anything as long as you move them gently.

While your baby sleeps, massage or gently pat their back in this upright or even slightly upright position. These gentle pats will help to work the air trapped in their bellies upwards and out the mouth, helping your baby burp faster.

Essentially, you can burp a sleeping baby and get rid of that excess gas like an awake baby.

1. Cradle the chin

There are many burping positions that you can try. Still, the sitting position, a semi-upright position with a sleeping child, is an excellent beginner position that will allow most babies to stay asleep while you burp them.

Sit them up on your lap, facing away from you, and support them in this sitting position by holding up their upper body with one hand. Cradle your baby’s head under the chin with the same hand, and then massage or pat the back with the other hand.

2. Burp mid bottle

While it’s more a tip and less a burping position, it’s essential to try to burp your baby halfway through a bottle if you have a bottle-fed infant. Doing this means less air is trapped in the baby’s belly, and they will be able to finish the bottle without too much pain.

Babies grow quickly, and if you don’t stop midway through a bottle to burp them, you may find that baby doesn’t finish their bottle because they don’t have any room in their tummies with all that trapped air. This can lead to interrupted sleep because your little one may wake up hungry shortly after you put your baby down for bed.

3. Burp before you switch breasts

To encourage your baby to stay awake so that you can burp them and relieve gas that is building if your infant breastfeeds, try burping them when you switch breasts.

Breastfed babies can end up with gas if they don’t have a good latch or detach from the nipple because they are distracted. Swallowing air can happen when you breastfeed, despite anything to the contrary that you may have heard.

4. Sloth position

A sleeping baby can also be burped face-down across your arm, in a football or sloth on a branch sort of hold. Turn their head to the side to do this. Your baby’s legs should overhang your arm on either side.

Let your baby sleep in this position, but then massage or pat the back of your baby to try to produce a baby burp. With your baby lying in this position, it’s less likely that you’ll have a situation where the baby wakes up.

5. Across your lap

This position is a bit more complicated with older kids, but it’s excellent with young infants. 

With your legs together, let the baby lie across your lap. Support the chin with one hand, and pat their back with the other to release gas built up while feeding.

Is It Ok To Put Baby To Sleep Without Burping

Do breastfeeding babies need to be burped less?

You may have heard from peers or family members that if you nurse your baby by offering the breast, you don’t need to burp your baby as often. However, this is not exactly true. 

You should still try to burp your baby, regardless of your feeding method, during and after each feeding.

While it is true that the milk flow of breast milk is typically faster than that of a bottle, it doesn’t mean that there’s no need to burp your baby after feeding just because they got more milk faster.

Should I wake a colicky baby?

Healthy infants need to be burped, and so do infants with colic. 

Colic is diagnosed when a baby cries and fusses for unknown reasons for several hours, day after day. They are often gassy, fussy, and inconsolable, and it’s a celebratory affair when a baby with colic can fall asleep and stay that way.

Spit up and gas are trademark symptoms of colic, and even though you may just like to enjoy the beautiful silence that is so rare when your child has colic, you should put your baby to sleep without burping them.

Your fussy little infant may be able to fall asleep while eating, but if you don’t burp them, there is a good chance that you’re not going to be able to get them to calm down for some time when they have to deal with the gas buildup that occurs when they don’t burp. 

It’s simply not worth it to skip the burping.

Can gas drops help?

If your baby is gassy, you may have considered drops for gas rather than risking burping a sleeping baby. While the logic may seem sound, it’s not good for your baby and won’t affect burping as a need.

Burping a sleeping baby cannot be bypassed with over-the-counter drops marketed to stop gas in its tracks. Drops for gas are not a replacement for burping.

When do you stop burping a baby?

If your baby doesn’t burp, no matter what position you put them in, or if your baby doesn’t burp often even when awake, you can’t sit and thump on their backs for hours in the hopes that it’s going to happen.

If you have been trying to get a burp out of your baby asleep or awake after a feeding, and it’s just not happening, don’t give it more than five to ten minutes’ worth of effort. 

Going any longer than that will result in frustration for you and your baby.

Final thoughts on burping your baby

You should always try to burp your infant during and after a feeding, whether they fall asleep or not. 

The best way to go about it when they are sleeping is to lay them or position them so that their tummy rests on your chest, legs, or arm, to lend a bit of pressure while you pat their backs and rub.

You don’t have to try to burp them all night. A handful of minutes attempting to burp a sleeping baby will suffice. Don’t let yourself stress too much over it. 

If your baby wakes up and is fussy or in pain, you can calm them and burp them. You should just always try to get a burp if you can.

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