You can tell that your baby has finished nursing from one breast when he has stopped suckling, fallen asleep, or drifted off the breast. If he’s not asleep, he should seem calm and relaxed. Once he’s finished, you can try to burp him to expel any air he has swallowed. Breastfed babies usually swallow less air than bottle-fed infants, so he may not need to burp. Burping may ease any feeling of fullness and may wake him up a bit so that you can offer him the other breast.
Almost all babies hiccup from time to time—a phenomenon that will usually bother you more than your infant but that may distress him if he is in the middle of a feeding. As your milk supply increases, your baby may also spit up milk from time to time. This normal behavior is no cause for concern, but spit-ups and hiccups can be minimized by keeping your nursing sessions quiet and calm and changing your baby’s position to help him relax.
If you choose to burp your baby after he finishes nursing on one side, hold him vertically against your body with his head over your shoulder. Place a clean cloth under his head to catch any spit-up and then gently pat or rub his back. If you prefer, you can perform this movement while sitting him on your lap and supporting his head with one hand or laying him across your knees on his stomach. If he hasn’t burped after a few minutes, you can put him down to sleep on his back or offer him the other breast.
