Young babies naturally fuss and get cranky when they swallow air during feedings. Although this occurs in both breastfed and bottle-fed infants, it's seen more often with the bottle. When it happens, it may be helpful to stop the feeding rather than letting your infant fuss and nurse at the same time. This continued fussing will cause her to swallow even more air, which will only increase her discomfort and may make her spit up.
A much better strategy is to burp her frequently, even if she shows no discomfort. The pause and change of position alone will slow her gulping and reduce the amount of air she takes in.
This advice, or some version of it, is the advice most of us would probably give if asked about burping. But it's not the only advice out there. Michael Cohen's "The New Baby Basics" is much lighter than the AAP's manual and takes a decidedly lassiez-faire approach to parenting. Cohen's simple, alphabetized format makes it a wonderful guide for middle-of-the-night reassurance about a host of common issues. The book is, in essence, a comprehensive list of things not to worry about. Cohen's entry for burping, for example, begins with the assertion that burping is "not all that important." Cohen explains:Burping happens when the stomach releases air that was swallowed while feeding or crying. Newborns don't often burp, since they eat slowly and sleep most of the day, allowing little chance for air to enter the stomach. Bottle-fed babies tend to ingest more air, because artificial nipples aren't as easy to seal a little mouth around. Therefore, as a good rule of thumb, if there's no air, there's no burp. So don't go pounding on Lucy's back for hours in search of audible results. And if she drifts off after a meal, you might as well let her sleep; even if you don't tap, the air will still make its way up, if less dramatically.
While the AAP advises parents to burp their babies even if their babies seem comfortable, Cohen advises parents to leave them alone.
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