can't burp sleeping baby

[begoniamama]

So my 7 week old is a great burper and spits up quite a bit - so at night after his first long stretch of sleep he wakes up very hungry, eats a lot and pretty much immediately falls asleep. when i put him on my shoulder or sit him up to burp him he doesn't wake up, and even if he does a momentarily he doesn't burp. the thing is when i put him back to sleep, he is up within one hour, fussy and can't go back to sleep. when that happens i pick him back up and sometimes he'll burp then, but the rest of morning until we all get up he is only sleeping about an hour at a time. 

question is: how can i burp my sleeping baby without waking him up, and any ideas to help him sleep soundly for the rest of the night? thanks everyone!

[PatioGardener]

Will he nurse again when he wakes up fussy after that hour sleep? (Just trying to get the whole picture and remember what my little one was like at 7 weeks!)

[begoniamama]

sometimes he will nurse, but not always a full feeding - and even when he does he doesn't always fall back asleep easily. is he just rested enough from his first long stretch of sleep maybe? to be honest i only think i've tried nursing him once or twice, i usually try to give him a paci or burp him hoping that he'll fall back asleep! yikes! he may just be hungry :)

[GoBecGo]

IME (not vast, but have nursed two 7-week olds) you can be fairly firm with them right after a feed and both of mine you could lie up against the shoulder and rub fairly vigorously up and down their backs until they burped without them waking - they can burp in their sleep.

Or you could try letting him have enough milk to stop him being starving (say 2 thirds of his usual time at the breast), unlatching and winding him, then putting him back on to finish the feed and drift back to sleep - the air is usually what was in their tummy before the feed as it's way harder for breastfed babies to swallow air as they nurse than it is for a bottlefed baby.  So if you burp him then you can still nurse him back to sleep and put him down still-asleep.

And another thing i should probably note is that you refer to his "first" long stretch of sleep, but i'm afraid neither of mine had more than 1 long stretch a night until they were much much older.  They fed, slept for 4-7 hours (eldest was never more than 4, youngest for some reason slept 6-8 hours a night from birth right up until we began solids, then she started waking!), then went back to feed-sleep1-2.5hours-wake-feed again for the rest of the day.

[PatioGardener]

Originally Posted by begoniamama 

sometimes he will nurse, but not always a full feeding - and even when he does he doesn't always fall back asleep easily. is he just rested enough from his first long stretch of sleep maybe? to be honest i only think i've tried nursing him once or twice, i usually try to give him a paci or burp him hoping that he'll fall back asleep! yikes! he may just be hungry :)

This is a possibility - why not try to offer the breast and see if that works. I can remember thinking "you can't possibly be hungry again!" at that age, but yup - he needed to nurse!

[Asiago]

The practice of burping a baby is not common in breastfeeding cultures.

In western culture the burping practice came about along with bottle feeding and gulping air.

I did not know this until a year into bf'g my first baby. Never the less some bf'g babies do need to burp after coming off of the breast but it is not common. Your baby may just need to feed again. At seven weeks it seems as soon as they stop feeding they are ready again for their next feed.

Good luck and congratulations on your new little one!

Quote:

You seldom see a baby being burped in non-Western, breastfeeding cultures. The belief that babies need burping after feedings, or help "bringing up the wind," originated with the spread of bottle-feeding. The faster flow of milk from bottle nipples forces babies to gulp air in between closely-spaced swallows. Breastfeeding infants have fewer problems with air in their tummies. They can control the flow of milk at the breast and so they suck with a slower rhythm that allows them to better coordinate breathing and swallowing. Also, breastfed babies tend to be fed in a more upright position and enjoy smaller, more frequent feedings – other conditions that lessen the swallowing of air. Yet, even breastfed babies need to be burped occasionally, especially if they are fast feeders and/or mother has a strong milk ejection reflex.

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/feeding-infants-toddlers/burping-baby

[begoniamama]

thanks for all the suggestions! i think my little one may be a burper, he fidgets until he gets a burp out and then calms down. but i did notice last night that he didn't burp, fell asleep fine for another two hours. the past couple days though, he has been slurping air when feeding as if he is breaking suction on the breast, and i can HEAR the air going into his belly. so now he is burping and spitting up even more. if it's not one thing, it's another! :)

[GuavaGirl]

That air sucking, breaking suction, him needing a good burp, and other sounds your hearing might be due to a forceful letdown/oversupply that can happen in the early weeks of breastfeeding.  Nursing with your baby situated in a more upright position might be something to try. This link may have some helpful info for you:

http://kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html

It should all even out as your baby grows and your breasts adjust to his needs. In the meantime, just offer the breast to see if he's hungry and rule that out first.  It sounds like you're doing a great job.  ...and you're right, if it's not one thing it's another!  :)

Let me know if that doesn't sound like it describes your situation.

[begoniamama]

i love the kelly mom site and have never seen the info on forceful letdown and YES that explains my situation perfectly. for some reason i thought by 7 weeks my milk would be more in line with baby but i guess that doesn't really happen until 12 weeks. there are certain positions when i notice him breaking suction and spitting up less - and when i am super engorged and he feeds, that's when he spits up and breaks suction the most. we'll keep working on it, thanks mamas!

[GuavaGirl]

Oh good!  It's always feels nice to get a little clarity when something is frustrating you.

When you're engorged you could try hand expressing a bit (into a cup and then freeze for later if you want) before a feed, just to take the edge off of that strong first let down.  ...but like I said, as he gets bigger, he may just gulp it right down.