Talk to me about burping and wind

[michaeljacknnugg]

We were up until 1am last night with a very windy baby who could not settle. Poor love.

It's passing through now but of course now I am paranoid about getting a burp from him after every single feed - which doesn't seem to happen.

Do I need to keep going until he burps? Or after a peaceful feed like this last one, is it possible that he has nothing to pass?

[julia.north]

Its definitely possible that he has nothing to pass...

with mine, it varies greatly!
Sometimes he burps 3 times, sometimes not at all.

There is a certain look on his face when he needs to - maybe your baby has a similar one?

[4isstillnighttime]

I agree - sometimes there just isn't a burp! Esp at night feeds when they are calm and sleepy. I usually find that if you hold him sitting  upright and just gently rock him from side to side with one hand on his back you can feel the air gurgling if there is a big burp there.

[weaver]

I never had to burp either of mine, very possible there's nothing there.

The gentle upright sit is good, you can sort of hold his tummy in your hand and rub his back with the other as he slumps rather endearingly , or, perhaps why I never had to burp them on purpose, I carried them around a lot on my shoulder, or would just pop them up there for a few minutes after feeds for a snuggle. Never had to at night though.

[michaeljacknnugg]

He's fed a lot more calmly today - yesterday he was coming off the breast like it was all getting too much, and then starting again five minutes later. Fx for a better night.

Thanks for the tips! I have done the rocking thing, and the putting him on my shoulder to find that he has nothing there, but then an hour or so later he's woken in pain. A bit mysterious so far.

I think he had a big blockage somewhere as there were no dirty nappies overnight, and that is very unusual at this point. We are having so many dirty nappies it is untrue!

[weaver]

has he changed from meconium nappies to normal poo? 

[michaeljacknnugg]

Yes, right on schedule last week. Why?

[weaver]

Just wondering if that sort of change was going on with him.  Spectacular colours sometimes!

[michaeljacknnugg]

So, another night of not settling until 1am, and the midwife says it probably wind.

Will feeding lying down help? Do I need to try something like infacol? He really is very hard to get wind out of at times.

[Jodes112]

My dd was very hard to wind but woukd cry with trapped wind!
I used to lay her across my lap (me in sitting position, her on her belly, face on my leg) raise one knee slightly, and then just pat. Also holding under armpits lifting up & gently wiggling side to side, seemed to wiggle the trapped wind out.  Also gently patting the side of the back (around ribs) helped sometimes! Often i would be sat 20/30 minutes until i got some wind out. But if i didnt she would be super grumpy. She wad happy to sit & be winded (it sounds like i was putting her through hell 😂)

Do you wind part way through the feed or only at the end? I sometimes found winding every 2/3 oz would help too.
We tried infacol tbh i didnt think it helped any more than a thorough winding after feed.

[michaeljacknnugg]

I'm winding whenever I get the opportunity, really! He's coming off the breast struggling with the flow sometimes so I'm guessing that's the root of the issue and will hopefully improve with time.

I've changed position to lying down to see if that helps, and I've had him in the sling today.

[koe2moe]

Helen, the only way that I could wind DS was to very gently stroke the nape for a minute or so or until he burped.  Worth a try.  xx

[weaver]

Have you checked out links on over-active letdown? There may be things you can do before you get to the windy stage.

[michaeljacknnugg]

I think it's more to do with the flow once things get going than letdown - from what I observe he struggles later in the feed.

Just tried laid-back nursing to see if that helps. Should give him more control, you'd think.

[Scottishmummy]

My DS was like that. We had to give Infacol with every feed until he was 3 months, as well as all the prolonged upright burping, tummy stroking, pushing legs to tummy & bicycling them.

I felt bad giving medication to such a young baby but it really helped him & us & is safe for newborns & sold over the counter without prescription at most chemists. Something to consider if nothing else works xxx