One of those things that I thought would come easy but took a little time to perfect was burping the baby. We always just think,”toss them over your shoulder after a meal and they’ll give up a little air.” Not always so.

First of all you need to burp baby sometimes in the middle and then after feedings to help them expel the air that they intake during meals and that will be uncomfortable gas if you don’t.

Do your best to avoid them taking in the air while feeding but you can’t eliminate it all so here are some tips for helping baby have a good burp.

• Whether breastfeeding or bottle feeding work for baby to have a good latch so that air is not coming into their mouths along with their meal. There are bottles shaped just like mommy to help with this if you’re bottle feeding .

• Hold baby up in a more seated position while bottle feeding so that their head is higher than their stomach.

• For the baby using a bottle burp in the middle of the meal also. Bottle fed babies tend to take in more air when feeding.

• When it comes time to burp first place your burp cloth over your shoulder and then lay baby gently across your upper chest with their head and the upper part of their chest over your shoulder. Pat or lightly rub their back.

• I’ve taken care of a few babies in my time and I found that for babies that seemed hard to burp the lap position worked the best.  I would prop baby up in a sitting position on my lap supporting the head and the chest give a light rub on the middle of the back. Don’t be too forceful you know your baby did just eat and you may bring up more than gas if your rub too hard.

Burping a baby is just one of those things you become quite adept at after a few tries. Learn which burp position works best for your baby and