At a glance
Babies can take in too much air when they feed or cry
Burping a newborn helps prevent trapped wind
Muslin cloths work well to catch or clean up any milk baby brings up
Be patient and pat or rub gently until baby is fully winded
Whether breastfeeding or bottle feeding, your newborn will often take in air as they suck. Winding a newborn helps bring the air up and keep the milk down and should help prevent painful trapped wind. The best time for burping your baby is halfway through a feed or at the very end.
How to wind a newborn
There are two go-to positions for winding baby. The first is holding them over your shoulder, with one hand under baby's bottom and the other hand supporting their head.
The second is with baby sitting on your lap, one hand supporting their back and the other under their chin to support their head. Here are some tips to help you get the hang of it:
- Baby might bring up some milk when you wind them. This is known as 'posseting'. Plan ahead with a cloth draped over your shoulder, ready to protect your clothes and mop up any mess. As long as your baby is content and putting on weight, spitting-up is nothing to worry about.
- Once you’ve positioned your baby, rub or gently pat their back until they burp. Be patient ¬¬– it may take a while. You may find a certain method of patting or rubbing works best for your little burper.
- Once baby has been winded, they may want more milk now they have more room in their tummy. But don't force them to take more milk than they want – their body language will usually let you know when they’ve had enough.
- If you're bottle feeding, try to limit the amount of air baby takes in by tilting the bottle to keep the teat full of milk.
- Speak to your midwife, GP, health visitor or public health nurse if baby brings up milk after every feed or if they appear to be in pain or vomiting quite forcefully.
Responsive feeding – when to wind a baby
Babies only have small tummies, which can soon get full. Burping them while feeding prevents the build-up of uncomfortable trapped wind. Your baby has a built-in appetite regulator which means they know when they’re full up. When this happens, they’ll give you the message via a series of physical and verbal cues.
Spotting these cues takes a little practice so we've put together a series of videos showing the most common cues to look out for.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: We believe that breastfeeding is the ideal nutritional start for babies and we fully support the World Health Organization’s recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life followed by the introduction of adequate nutritious complementary foods along with continued breastfeeding up to two years of age. We also recognise that breastfeeding is not always an option for parents. We recommend that you speak to your healthcare professional about how to feed your baby and seek advice on when to introduce complementary feeding. If you choose not to breastfeed, please remember that such a decision can be difficult to reverse and has social and financial implications. Introducing partial bottle-feeding will reduce the supply of breast milk. Infant formula should always be prepared, used and stored as instructed on the label in order to avoid risks to a baby’s health.
