Why do "sleep experts" ignore the need to burp babies at night?

Question

I have read many sleep books by "sleep trainers" or other "experts" and most of them suggest either crying it out or modified crying it out. Almost all of them instruct you not to pick your child up when they wake during the night if you are doing sleep training. Do these experts not know that babies can't burp themselves?? My 15 month old still wakes crying with burps in the night that he can't get out without help. He can now burp on his own, but I guess he's too tired? when he's sound asleep. Anyway, I just don't understand why the experts ignore this is their sleep training methods. If I had ever let my babies cry it out during they night, they would have spent many nights miserable needing to be burped. It makes me angry that experts ignore this.....especially in very young babies that have not learned how to burp on their own yet.

Answer 1

I totally agree.I hate the thought of a baby crying because it's uncomfortable.
People are always bleating on about leaving their babies to cry it out.
Well I for one,will not ever let my son cry it out.He had a mild case of colic[which was bad enough]and just needed to be burped a little at night when it was worse.thankfully that has now passed,but I still attend to him when he needs me and when he is settled he always drifts back off to sleep.Happy!

Answer 2

Well, for one thing I have had many doctors look at my son...he had severe reflux as a baby. And I kept asking if it was a question of burping and every doctor I saw told me that infants younger than 2-3months of age have trouble burping but after that a child is fully capable of burping themselves. The reason they have trouble burping is they are still learning how to eat. They eat too fast or too slow...causing burps to back up...but once a child has a good eating pattern down burping isn't a problem. The reason doctors don't mention burping in sleep problems is because by the time your child is old enough to sleep through the night (6months) burping problems no longer exist.

Answer 3

I agree with you on that. The experts seem to forget that there are other very obvious reasons a child may be crying. There's burping, as you said, dirty diapers, overheated, cold or maybe even hurting due to tight socks! I just do what works for me and I've been just fine.

Answer 4

I consider my 3 month daughter to sleep through the night. The Dr doesn't though cause she wakes every 3 hours, but it's just to eat and then she goes back to sleep. She just make alittle bit of a fuss. She doesn't move in her sleep but when she's awake she ends up on the other side of the crib.

Answer 5

To be honest, I'd feel goofy for burping my 15-month-old in the middle of the night. Typically, when my was crying in the middle of the night at that age, it was because they were had a nightmare or were teething.

We stopped burping our children when they were about 4 months.

Answer 6

agree 100% another reason small babies cry is because they havent been winded properly earlier in the day and by evening the wind has reached the bowel causing colicky pains much harder for a baby to get rid of this type of wind,once a baby starts getting mobile this problem soon goes

Answer 7

I wonder if these so-called experts ever spent a sleepless night with a fussy baby. I say do what you have to do to give your little one comfort.

Answer 8

And why do you need a "sleep expert"? Just do what comes naturally.....

Answer 9

ignore the "experts". you know what's best for your baby.

Answer 10

your baby needs to learn to burp on it's own sometime lady. stop being so dramatic and overprotective. letting your kid cry it out is good for it's lungs and makes the baby not so dependent on you.