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Great question to which I'd like to know the answer too. My MIL has implied to me that I don't burp him enough and that he is fussy as a result of my inadequate burping skills. Of course, I don't think that half the noises he makes that she calls burps are really burps, so go figure. LOL!

Well, you can never really burp too much. If you are thumping away for 10 or 15 min you should be ok. Also, all babies are different in their preferred style of being burped. If you are concerned about the amount of spit-up make sure the baby is as upright as possible. Too, if your baby doesn't seem to have any gas or tummy type pains, you must be doing well enough. Some babies have such sensitive digestive tracts that any gas moving through at all will cause pain. So, to answer your question, do the best you can and don't stress about it. Any gas coming out is good, and excess gas can be a sign of a lactose intolerant baby. Nothing life threatening as far as I know. Also, in-laws are not usually a good source of info unless they are around your age and have good intentions. If they hurt your feelings, demean your parenting skills or you don't have a good relationship, don't listen to them!!

i say that if you burp her for like 5 mins and she hasn't burped than she probably isn't, but doing it longer certainly isn't gonna hurt anything. i've found that when i'm b___stfeeding isabelle and she takes a particularly big sounding gulp she probably swallowed some air. if you're baby starts being really irritable while sucking then try burping asap, or else she'll spit up. i usually a__sume that when Isabelle (my 11 week old) spits up she's forced the air in her belly up and i don't worry about burping her, but you could try for a few mins just in case. oh and i've read that some babies are just more prone to spitting up, especially when they're little.

I think it really depends on your baby. I find if my son doesn't burp after 5 mins. he's not going to, or he might do it on his own a little later. He doens't burp after every feeding, and since it doesn't seem to bother him I don't worry about it.

thanks, i agree with erin, my baby is kind of the same way, if she doesn't do it in 5 or 10 min. she won't or she'll also do it on her own later, or she will spit up a little. it is my mother who is driving me nuts, and if she doesn't burp, every time she even whimpers, she tells me: see, now she has a tummy ache..... aghhhhhhgghhhh, she is DRIVING ME NUTS. but at least the posts on this site are helping me keep my sanity. :)

I agree it's different with every baby. I'll admit to being bad - I never burp my daughter. I never need to - she breaks latch to belch and then will either re-latch or start playing with her hands or my shirt. If she doesn't need to belch, she doesn't, and if she does, she does it on her own.

At what age do they generally stop needing to burped?

I have no idea, Christy - I haven't burped Renity since she was about 8 weeks old. It might be different for bottlefed babies, though.

c- My MIL is the same way. She has stated that Ben is in terrible pain because he isn't burped enough and that he grimaces in his sleep because of it. I pointed out to her that he also smiles and laughs in his sleep, so what does that mean? It gets annoying sometimes, I must say.

i know, my mil was visiting and between her and my mother, the two of them drove me nuts... i know they mean well but geez!!! i didn't burp her enough, i'm patting her too hard when i do try and burp her, i am not supporting her neck enough, she's too cold, she's too hot, she's hungry, she had enough to eat...need i go on? i guess one day we'll all be here to drive our kids nuts, right?