Why won't this baby burp?! (LONG)

[lisaE]

OK, it is IMPOSSIBLE to burp Connor, especially at night. And, he is SO gassy. He goes down really nicely at night, sleeps for about 4 hours, then starts grunting and whimpering. He strains for a while and then gets so frustrated and in pain that he starts to cry. I take him to the rocking chair and rock him upright, then put him on his back on my lap with his head on my knees. I bicycle his legs until he gets some air out. We get out as much as we can before he starts to cry and root. I believe that he's hungry too, but he could be nursing for comfort at that point, who knows. Once I nurse him, the real fun begins.

I pat his back, rub up and down and in circles on his back, bounce him a little like Dr. Karp says, sit him up with his chin in my hands and pat and rub his back, lean him over and back upright, lay him across my lap and pat and rub his back, massage his belly like Dr. Sears says, pat and stroke his belly, all the while putting him back up over my shoulder in between all of this. Doing that helps to keep him awake but I also think that switching positions will move the air around in there. Gas drops are also in play. I spend about an hour every night doing all this. He is extremely sleepy, and just wants to sleep while I try all this. Finally I give up and put him back to bed, and the straining and crying starts all over again in about an hour. We go through the same routine, air comes out, back to sleep and awake again in an hour or two before it all starts again.

I know that breastfed babies don't burp as much, and it wouldn't be such a big deal if he weren't in pain. He is 12 weeks on Monday, and I hear that 12 weeks is the magical time when this kind of thing gets easier. Other than this, he is a wonderful baby. This is my only complaint. I feel like I am going nuts at night.

Thanks for listening and any advice that might help me stay sane!

[AngelaS]

My pediatrician had a baby that was hard to burp too. If the standard techniques didn't work, she'd lay him across her lap, face up. Then she'd slowly tilt him so his feet were higher than his head by a few inches. Then she'd slowly tilt him the other way so that his head was higher and lift him to her shoulder and resume patting.

[millerpjm]

DS was hard to burp also....one thing my sitter discovered was to hold him facing out, one hand between his legs to hold him and the other hand on his chest/tummy and lean him outward and walk around. The other thing that helped gassy DS was Mylicon - it works wonders! Hope this helps.

Jen

Proud mama to Thomas 2/3/03

[josephmama]

We used mylicon drops before a feeding (generic is much cheaper), burped before and during and after feeding, and for really stubborn burps tried a minute or two of tummy time- usually brought up the burp. DS was and is still pretty gassy- he grew out of a lot of it but I think he's just one of those babies! When he was really little there were times I spent close to 45 minutes trying to get a burp out. So it gets better, but good luck in the meantime!

[firstbaby]

I usually will try the sitting on my knee / chin in my hand burping method first. Then with DS chest against mine and patting his back. Finally if I still haven't gotten a burp, I'll hold him so that he's facing me and I very gently let him rest his head/neck very slightly back and then try the chest to chest burping again. (Does that description make sense?) For some reason, he'll almost always burp from that.

[cric]

Your psts sounds exactly like my DS - he's 6 weeks and I also have trouble burping him. The gas that starts 4 hours from when we put him down must be horrible. I hate to watch him struggle and I haven't yet figured out what to do. Gas drops don't help him at all. I will still give them sometimes just hoping that they will.

Hope we both find that one solution!

[JenCA]

I understand how you feel. My DD was a horribly gassy newborn who was hard to burp. We tried every method of burping you can imagine--often to no avail. Everyone's given you some great, practical burping advice. What I'll offer to you is that when your DS's tummy matures a bit, the gas problems will disappear like magic. I know that's of little comfort now, when you're up with him all night, but hang in there. It WILL get easier! :)