What wind actually is

The HSE defines it plainly: "Wind is air that your baby has swallowed when they were feeding, crying or yawning. Wind is common from the newborn stage to about 3 months, as your baby's digestive system matures."

Note what is in that list. Crying causes wind as well as being caused by it, which is why a baby who has been crying hard before a feed often needs more winding during it — and why leaving a newborn to cry makes wind worse rather than better. The HSE says exactly that: respond as quickly as you can to your baby crying, because "leaving a baby to cry will cause more air to be swallowed and will make their wind worse."

How to tell if your baby actually has wind

The HSE gives two signs, and they are usefully narrow: squirming or crying during a feed, and looking uncomfortable and in pain if laid down after feeds. That is the list.

Things that are not on it, and are usually attributed to wind without evidence: hiccups, farting, grunting, straining, general evening fussiness, and pulling their legs up. Newborns do all of those whether or not there is a bubble of air anywhere.

The HSE does connect the evening pattern to wind in one specific way: "Sometimes the wind builds up from the day's feeds. This is common when babies are unsettled during feeding time in the late afternoon or evening." And it adds a timeline for that unsettled period: "It usually begins around 2 to 4 weeks old and may last for 6 weeks."

How to wind a newborn

The HSE's core instruction is one sentence: "To wind your baby, hold them in an upright position against your shoulder. Massage their back."

Its longer list of what helps:

Skin-to-skin contact may relax your baby, and wind may break more easily.
Keep your baby upright after a feed, rather than laying them flat straight away.
Walk with your baby in your arms or in a sling, with a gentle bounce in your walk.
Try the "magic baby hold" — the HSE's own name for it. Hold your baby's back against your tummy, with their tummy resting on your crossed arms and their legs and arms falling gently either side.
Respond quickly to crying, with feeding, holding, rocking or singing.

Rub or pat — the guidance says massage, and there is no published evidence that patting works better than rubbing. What consistently helps is being upright and being moved gently.

If you are bottle feeding

The HSE's list is specific, and most of it is about preventing the air rather than removing it:

Wind your baby often during as well as after each feed.
Reduce the flow from the bottle, or try a different teat size.
Tilt the bottle so the teat and the neck of the bottle are constantly full of milk.
When your baby pauses, tilt the bottle down or take the teat out to let them rest.
Do not let your baby suck on the bottle once the feed is finished, or when only bubbles are left.
Let the bottle stand until air bubbles from shaking have settled.
Hold your baby more upright rather than lying them flat while they feed.

The AAP's feeding guidance points the same way, recommending burping during a feed as well as at the end — typically when you switch breasts, or partway through a bottle — and noting that breastfed babies often swallow less air than bottle-fed babies.

If you are breastfeeding

The HSE puts positioning first: make sure your baby is positioned and attached well, and ask your public health nurse or a lactation consultant to watch a feed if you need help. A baby who keeps losing the seal takes in more air with every gulp, so the fix is at the latch rather than at the shoulder. If your milk comes very fast, the HSE suggests hand expressing a small amount before the feed to slow the flow.

What if no burp comes

Nothing. That is the honest answer, and it is the one most parents are not given.

A burp is not a task to be completed. If your baby is settled, comfortable and not squirming, there is nothing trapped that needs releasing, and no health service publishes a required winding time. A few minutes upright after a feed is enough. If your baby falls asleep on you mid-feed and stays asleep when you put them down, they did not need winding.

The signs to act on are the ones the HSE lists: discomfort during the feed, or discomfort when laid down afterwards. If your baby is showing those, keep them upright longer and try again in a few minutes rather than persisting for twenty.

What not to use

No national health service recommends gripe water, colic drops or over-the-counter wind remedies for newborns, and the evidence base for them is weak. The HSE's advice on formula is also worth repeating here, because parents often change brands hoping to fix wind: discuss it with your public health nurse first, and avoid chopping and changing between brands or types, because frequent changes can make a baby more unsettled rather than less.

When wind is not the explanation

Persistent crying during and after feeds, arching, refusing feeds, or poor weight gain are not wind. The NHS's guidance on whether your baby is getting enough milk is the right first stop, and your midwife, health visitor or public health nurse can watch a feed, which is more useful than any description over the phone.

When to call

Call your local emergency number (999 in the UK and Ireland, 911 in the US and Canada, 000 in Australia, 111 in New Zealand) if your baby:

Vomits green or yellow-green, or vomits forcefully with every feed.
Has a temperature of 38C (100.4F) or above, or below 36C (96.8F).
Looks pale, ashen, mottled or blue, or is unresponsive or unrousable.
Has a weak, abnormally high-pitched or continuous cry.
Is grunting, breathing over 60 breaths a minute, or drawing their chest in under the ribs.
Has a bulging fontanelle, a seizure, or a rash that does not fade under a pressed glass.

Bilious vomiting and frequent forceful vomiting are on NICE's own red flag list for serious illness in young babies, in its postnatal care guideline NG194, and they are the two things most often mistaken for bad wind.

Speak to your midwife, health visitor, public health nurse or GP if: your baby is distressed during or after most feeds; is refusing feeds; is not gaining weight; is crying inconsolably for long stretches; or you are being kept up trying to wind a baby who never settles. A watched feed is the single most useful thing available to you.

What to let go of

The idea that every feed must end in an audible burp is not in any national guidance. Wind is common until around three months and then stops being a feature of your life. Until then: upright, gentle movement, a few minutes, and if your baby is comfortable, put them down.

Winding and Burping a Newborn