Best Sleeping Position for Baby after Feeding

After feeding, the baby seems to be very sensitive as a full stomach may put them with reflux or vomiting complications. Usually, for an infant and newborn baby, it is said to be normal to vomit. But immediately after feeding the vomit occurs because of overfeeding or unsafe sleeping position.

When you have done breastfeeding your baby, it is a general rule to burp the baby after some moments. Burping means getting the gas out of the baby. Some babies are gassier generally, so they use to vomit after every feeding whereas others are fine if burps are not done at every feeding process. Gastroesophageal reflux is a common factor in a baby’s growth and development till 6 months. After this threshold, the baby can sit on its own. So, the GER problem reduces to a great level.

Another factor working behind the reflux of a baby is the sleeping position. After feeding, if the position triggers throwing up of the milk, that sleeping position should be avoided. So, we are here to discuss about best sleeping position for baby after feeding.

Sleeping position

The sleeping position is an important thing to let the baby settle down after feeding. Do not lay down your baby immediately after feeding. Help to burp after every feeding so that it does not feel gassy after feeding.

Let’s know about the sleeping positions that are good or bad for babies after they finished feeding-

Sleep on Back

Some people find that sleeping on the back triggers the vomiting tendency much more after feeding. But this is a myth. Sleeping on the back helps the baby prevent choking or vomiting or breathing problem. In fact, babies with gas problems can feel better in this position. Babies with gag reflexes also are comfortable sleeping on their backs. It helps them to relax and digest. But do not forget to burp the baby, whenever you feed.

Sleep on stomach

The most dangerous position of sleeping for a newborn or infant baby. There is nothing to think that whether the baby is full or not. Sleeping on the back is forbidden for babies in any situation. It is important to check the position of the baby after feeding. Lying on the stomach can trigger the gag reflex and the baby feels uncomfortable.

Sleep on side

This position is not that bad. But the fear is the possibility of changing the position to lie on the stomach. Babies of three-plus months may roll over to other position that is not good for their health. For babies who cannot flip their position, you must have a frequent look at them if they are sleeping on their side.

Reasons for Throwing up the Milk

Throwing up milk is a very simple phenomenon for an infant. Babies can throw up the milk in two ways, one is just spitting up, it is due to overfeeding, or with a burp. Another type is vomiting. A baby may vomit immediately after feeding or at any time. The reasons are below

During a burp

Sometimes baby spits up some milk during burp. There is nothing to think about it.

Milk allergy

Some of the babies have milk allergies in the initial stage. You never know some get the allergy from breastmilk while others face problems with formula milk. These babies vomit frequently. But this does not cause any major problems. They adjust to breastmilk or formula milk in the passage of time.

Overfeeding

Overfeeding is a cause too for vomiting. Babies cry and the new mom thinks every time that the baby is hungry. And a newborn baby does not know about the need for milk. They are overfed and thus they throw out the milk immediately.

Gag Reflex

You may notice that sometimes if unnatural things for babies go into their mouths they suddenly cough and throws out after a moment. It can be medicine or drops of milk. This sudden action is called the gag reflex. It may happen during sleeping too if some drops of milk remain inside the mouth.

Nasal congestion

Sometimes a baby has nasal congestion. During sleeping, the mucus goes up and down from the nose to the throat. This occurs a gagging feeling, the baby coughs like choking feelings and throws up. You can prevent it by putting the baby to sleep in a warm environment or having a saline drop before sleep.

Final Verdict

Every baby is unique. I know about some babies who cannot lie on their backs naturally after being born. They sleep on their sides. Perhaps these babies were in that position inside their mothers’ wombs. So, it takes time to adjust the sleeping position.  Till then they must be on the hard watch during sleeping and after feeding.

Have a happy mom’s life..