How Long to Keep Baby Upright After Feeding at Night?

After feeding, keeping your baby upright position is pretty much a normal practice. It helps digestion by enabling trapped air bubbles to rise and leave the body and by giving gravity some time to let the contents of the stomach flow through the digestive tract.

Additionally, it allows you to burp them, which lessens spitting up. After each feeding, make an effort to keep your baby upright or burping position for at least 20-30 minutes.

In other circumstances, such as when your infant has GERD, spits up frequently, or swallows a lot of excess air when eating, you may need to keep them upright for extended periods (up to an hour in some cases).

This article’s goal is to summarize why and how long babies should be kept upright after feeding, as well as certain safety measures that need to be taken.

Reasons my baby needs to be held upright after feeding

The lower esophageal sphincter, a muscle located between the stomach and esophagus serves as a barrier in adults and older children to prevent stomach contents from ascending via the esophagus again.

When you swallow, it opens up to let food and liquids into your stomach, and when you belch, it opens up to let trapped air and other gastric contents out. This muscle does not yet have the strength and tone necessary to always function effectively in babies younger than 2 years old.

As a result, the muscle may suddenly relax and open up, resulting in a baby with reflux. This kind of acid reflux and spitting up is common in infants and typically goes away when they turn one.

If your baby spits up immediately following a feeding, it will typically be white or cream. If the milk has been sitting in their stomach for some time and has been partially digested, it may also seem slightly reddish and curdled.

Gravity helps your baby’s digestion when they are upright. As a result, their stomach feels less full and they produce less spit-up when you do put them down for a nap or a diaper change. It also helps milk move through the stomach and into the small intestine.

Additionally, because they are standing up straight, any air they may have swallowed during feeding time rises above the rest of their stomach’s contents, making it simpler for gas to escape when you burp them.

How long after feeding should my baby remain upright at night feeding?

All first-time parents of newborn babies have this particular query. How long after feeding should they keep their infants upright? Although it was previously stated that the infant shouldn’t be put to sleep for half an hour after a feeding, they should be maintained upright for 10 to 15 minutes to reduce the likelihood that they may spit up right away.

Baby will spit up, and that is inevitable. The reason for this is that until they are closer to a year old, the muscles in their esophagus are not developed enough to close properly. Because of this, babies spit up much less frequently, and after a year, they stop.

If the infant has GERD or frequently spits up, you should keep them upright for even longer than 15 minutes. Spitting up is one of the reasons you should postpone putting your baby sleep during that time. In addition, if your baby is placed to sleep too soon after feeding, it may experience gas discomfort.

As a result, burp your baby after a feeding, and after a significant burp, allow the baby to remain upright for 10 to 15 minutes (unless there are digestive concerns, in which case it will need to be longer), after which you can put your baby to bed.

What happens if my baby continues to spit up despite being kept upright?

After feeding, it is advised to keep a baby upright to prevent gastroesophageal reflux and spitting up. Even with standing up straight and frequent burping, most babies’ spitting up 1-2 tablespoons after each feeding is a common aspect of infancy and is very impossible to remove.

Spitting up only becomes an issue if your infant exhibits any of the symptoms below:

• Having trouble gaining weight
• forcing oneself to vomit or spit up
• Constipation
• having less wet diapers than normal or dehydration
• reduced appetite
• spitting up blood or anything similar to coffee grounds
• choking or other breathing difficulties

If you see any of these symptoms, bring your kid to the health care provider. Treatment options include feeding smaller, more frequent meals, using a feed thickening to make breast milk supply or formula viscous, or taking an acid-blocking medication like a proton pump inhibitor for a brief period.

When is my baby old enough to stop being held upright after feeding?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a single, perfect response to this query. The good news is that as your baby’s digestive system develops, it will eventually outgrow spitting up. Most babies outgrow spitting up by the age of 12 months.

Finding what works best for your baby may need trial and error, just like many other facets of parenthood. Babies that do not spit up often may only need to be held for the duration of a burp. Babies that spit up more frequently or experience reflux concerns may require more time spent upright following a feeding.

Around 4-6 months of age, when babies often have better control of their lower esophageal sphincter, you can normally cease burping babies as well. Try shortening the time you spend keeping your baby upright or seated position after feeding if you discover that they are spitting up less or even no longer at all.

Some myths and truths about reducing spit up.

Pediatricians often wrongly recommend using infant formulas instead of breastfeeding because they think it is heavier than breast milk. However, the heaviness only means it will take longer for the baby to digest it, not that it will cause fewer returns. Adding rice or oats to the bottle won’t help prevent spitting up either.

To help reduce spit ups in your child, here are some tips:

• Avoiding overeating.
• Burping your baby may help prevent spitting up. If your baby has trapped air in his/her stomach, burping him/her may help release the air.
• Don’t exercise right away after eating.
• If you’re bottle feeding your child, choose a slow flow nipple. This helps your child to recognize when he/she is full before becoming overly full.

Faqs:

Can you put a baby to sleep straight after feeding?

Your child may go directly to sleep after feeding. When possible, place your child down to sleep sleepy but awake. This could help them wake up where they would be sleeping. Your child will be awake for 1 hour to two hours between sleep.

What if baby doesn’t burp and falls asleep?

Don’t worry too much if your baby doesn’t burp right away after he feeds. He’ll probably pass the gas from the other side soon enough.

Why do babies lift their legs up while sleeping?

Babies pass the wind pretty much all day long. Sometimes just changing position, like pulling their knees up towards their chests, helps them fart more comfortably.

Why do babies smile in their sleep?

During light sleep, there is a lot of neural activation going on in their brains, and their bodies often react to this by moving, twitching and making lots of sounds and facial expressions including smiling.

Why put towel in your shoulders when burping a baby?

If you’re going to burpy your child, place a towel or burpy cloth underneath their chin or over your shoulders, depending on which way they’re burped. You may want to rock them gently in a rocker while burping so that they can breathe better.

Why do babies get hiccups?

Hiccuping babies often have their hiccoughs triggered by overfeeding, eating too fast, or swallowing a lot of gas. Any of these things can cause the belly to expand, which then presses against the diaphragmatic muscle, causing it to contract and hiccup.

What is the proper way to burp a baby?

Sit your baby on his/her parent’s laps facing forward. Support the child’s head and neck with one arm. Place the other arm around the child’s waist. Gently rub or pat the child’s spine.

Final thoughts

Although spitting up is unpleasant, it does get better with time. Your baby can start gradually transitioning to being put down sooner after feedings if they have learned to sit up on their own and have improved control over their muscles.

It’s recommended to consult your pediatrician if you’re unclear whether your infant turns into reflux baby. They’ll be able to provide you with guidance that’s specifically relevant to your baby’s circumstances.