Discussion: Burping is entirely a cultu...

Burping is entirely a cultural thing. It didn't actually do anything digestively.

Sometimes it helps avoid spit-ups. Depends how much you want to clean up after them.

I have felt since the beginning that it does very little, so is that true? Interesting. I can see why holding him upright a bit after eating might help digestion, but the burps usually come without prompting if they are going to come.

Yeah - the muscle-thing that stops stuff coming back up out of the stomach isn’t very strong in tiny babies, so the air and/or milk will just come back up anyway. Having them upright is probably useful but the patting, etc, is entirely a cultural practice.

The sphincter thingie? Yup.

It really is a wonder human babies ever made it to adulthood in ye olden days. But I have stopped burping and have noticed no difference. He seems to be getting better at it in general, either that or he's just handling my letdown a bit better.

“ really is a wonder human babies ever made it to adulthood in ye olden days.” yeah...I’ve gotten really curious about anthropology related to birth, infancy, motherhood since having a kid. I don’t get how our species has made It.

It really makes no sense does it?! She says as she watches Rob on the baby monitor pushing up his legs so he can fart successfully. A baby deer would laugh us out of house and home!

Anthropology of Childhood is a great book. It's cross-cultural parenting. My favourite picture is the kid from PNG with a giant machete

Its because babies / children are way, way tougher and smarter than we give them credit for. What we have is a lot of adult fuss and nonsense about nothing.

I found a lot of comfort in the theory that babies have evolved to survive having first-time parents!

Pushing up his legs? Can't you just pull his finger? That always worked for my grandad...

Ooh! Thanks for the book recommendation! Started reading it last night.