Burping a Baby
All babies swallow air when they suck, whether nursed at the breast or on the bottle. The air collects as a bubble in the baby’s stomach, causing discomfort and sometimes pain. The baby stops nursing and begins to cry. Many physicians advise a pause about halfway through the feeding in order to burp the baby.
The amount of air a baby swallows depends on both the flow of milk from breast or bottle and on the baby’s sucking ability.
It is important that all air bubbles are expelled at the end of the feeding as well, or the baby will cry soon after being put to bed.
There are many different kinds of nipples available for baby bottles. Some are long, some short; some are made of hard rubber, some are soft. The nipples can have a small, medium, or large hole. Buying a selection allows a mother to find the one that is most comfortable and most effective in her baby’s mouth. The ability to suck also varies according to the baby’s age and whether he or she is hungry. A one-week-old baby who is slightly jaundiced and sleepy, for example, needs a medium-hole or large-hole nipple. A baby who is in this condition, sucking through a small hole, swallows a lot of air in an effort to get the milk, then falls asleep exhausted and uncomfortable. But if the hole is too large, the milk gushes through so fast that the baby may choke immediately or vomit afterward.
