# Falling asleep at the breast...what about burping?



## Cassafrass (May 14, 2003)

Okay, new mom to 8 week old here! My dd and I frequently fall asleep in bad when nursing and my husband insists she MUST be burped after feeding. It doesn't really seem like she is uncomfortable, I mean she sleeps very well. I am curious to find out what others do. Thanks


----------



## late-night nan (Jan 28, 2003)

I'm so glad you posted this, as we have been wondering the same thing. But in our case our ds was fine in the first weeks, but lately he often sounds frustrated when he wakes up--grunting, snuffling and generally uncomfortable. So for night feedings I tend to cradle-hold for the first half, then cuddle him upright and wait for a burp, then do a side-lying till we both fall asleep. I'm concerned that he seems uncomfortable upon waking because I worry that his sleep is not restorative enough. Only once have I woken up when he was laughing and playing in bed beside me, and it was one of the most precious moments of parenting so far. Hoping we can resolve the burping issue so that I can see this again.


----------



## Momtwice (Nov 21, 2001)

What is DH basing this on? Is he saying this because your baby tends to wake up screaming with a bloated tummy? Or is he saying this because he has some preconceived notion that babies "must" be burped? Maybe he is basing it on a formula fed relative. Bottle babies get all that extra air in their tummies, and breastfed babies need to be burped less, on the whole.

I can't imagine waking up a HAPPY baby that fell asleep nursing!

One simple trick that sometime helps with gassiness is to offer more frequent, smaller feedings.


----------



## dotcommama (Dec 30, 2001)

Hi there -

I'm currently bfing my third son. My first two never needed to be burped after feedings and they were fine - this new little guy does.

I would say if your ds drifts off to sleep during a feeding and is not appearing gassy or uncomfortable then explain to dh that all babies don't need to be burped after feedings.

If he is gassy then I would agree with late-night nan. I've been doing something similiar with my new little guy. I feed him on one side for a bit maybe 5-10 minutes, then I pick him up and burp him and then I lay next to him and offer him the same breast. That way the milk coming out of the breast isn't as forceful and he therefore gets let's air in and does not need to be burped again.


----------



## mamaduck (Mar 6, 2002)

I think it depends on the child... Does he get uncomfortable later when you don't?

Can you dh take charge of waking up to burp the baby?

I used to take my babies (asleep) and kind of sling them up over my side on their tummies, and burp them like that -- and then slide them back down into bed beside me. Goodness forbid I SIT UP!


----------



## CyndyRR327 (Jun 18, 2003)

BF babies get much less air when eating then formula fed babies so there is less need to burp them.

I use to burp Zane after each feeding except night time because he would fall asleep then too. Also, during the day, if he didn't burp after a a few minutes I didn't worry about it (remember, less air means less burping)


----------



## BusyMommy (Nov 20, 2001)

My first son never burped that I can recall. He'd nurse to sleep every night/nap and had no problems.
2nd son I wanted to get used to falling asleep w/o nursing so yes, I would burp him sometimes unless he was really drowsy.

I THINK the worst that could happen is he'd burp up a little milk.


----------

