Corkey Harvey, MS, RN, IBCLC, discusses the best ways to get your baby to burp. Many parents may do this differently, which is completely fine. How you decide to burp your baby, whether it’s with gentle rocking or light pats on the back, depends on the baby, so it’s important to have a good understanding of their needs. The upright position with some rubbing and light patting can help, or you might want to try something else. Just be sure not to pat your baby’s back too hard, and keep in mind that they love rhythmic patterns.

Transcript:

One of the big questions parents ask us is how to burp the baby, when to burp the baby, should I burp the baby? And, interestingly not all babies need to burp. It's gonna take you a little while to get to know your own baby's needs. But at first you're gonna try. Some babies spit up, some babies don't, some spit up a lot, and it's not really an issue. If your baby spits up and they're growing well, and seemingly happy, we call those babies happy spitters. So, when they bring up air they might bring up milk. Sometimes it looks like a ton, but really it's only a small amount each time. But the best way to burp a baby might be different for you than it was for me. This was my favorite way: I just put my finger under their arm, and my hands around the chin, and lean them forward on the heel of my hand. I can rub their back, I can pat their back. But I don't want to hit them hard. Babies really like rhythmic patting, so that might feel good to them. If your baby's a big spitter, this position might be a little too much for them. It might cause them to spit more. So you might want to try a different position. I'm going to bring her right up in front, and being in an upright position has actually been shown to help babies burp. So upright. And babies will often just burp themselves, and you don't need to do much. So I'm just patting the back, rubbing her back a little bit. And notice, I hold her little head with my chin and just keep it right up here. Another way is to bring that baby right up over the top of your shoulder. So I tuck her little hips in, put my thumb right under her armpit, and just rock her. I can bounce and rock with her up there. That's an easy way to get a burp because it's putting some pressure on that tummy. Some people just cross their legs and lay that baby right across their lap. But again, that's not an upright position. But it might work just fine for your baby.