Burping helps remove swallowed air from a baby’s stomach. Once or twice during a feeding, hold your baby against your shoulder or face down across your lap. You may also hold your baby upright with your hands. Then gently pat or rub your baby’s back for a minute. Babies don’t always need to burp, so don’t insist.
Be careful feeding your baby that you aren’t accidentally causing the baby to swallow air. If nursing, make sure your baby is square against the breast and not at an angle. Same goes for bottle feeding: a bottle held in a baby’s mouth at an angle will cause them to sip air out of the corner of their mouth with each swallow. If lots of burping is needed, then they are swallowing too much air. So be watchful while feeding your baby to make sure they’re only swallowing what they should.
