Newborns getting hiccups

Your Baby Has Hiccups: What Should You Do?

Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors

What Causes Hiccups

Hiccuping is one of the first habits your child will develop. Hiccups are essential to your child’s brain and breathing development.

Babies — and adults, for that matter — have no control over their hiccuping. Hiccups are a reflex that happens when the diaphragm causes a prompt opening and closing of the vocal cords. They usually happen when eating, drinking, or dealing with stressful events.

Hiccups are common in babies. Most newborns hiccup quite often, which can be a sign that your baby is healthy and developing well.

What to Do When Your Baby Has Hiccups

Babies are not usually bothered by their hiccups and can even eat and sleep when they have them. Usually, a bout of hiccups will go away on its own within 5–10 minutes, making treatment unnecessary.

If you're concerned about your baby's hiccups, there are some strategies that might help them stop sooner or prevent them altogether:

Burp your baby during feeding. Babies may start hiccuping during feeding because they have excess gas that's irritating their stomach. Propping them upright and gently tapping their backs can help.

Slow down feeding. If you notice that your baby always hiccups during feeding, you may be feeding them too quickly. Slowing down could lower the chances that your baby will get the hiccups.

Only feed when your baby is calm. Try to feed your baby before they get hungry and start crying. If your baby is upset during feeding, the milk or formula may not go down smoothly, which can irritate their esophagus.

Hold your baby upright after feeding. An upright position helps ensure that your baby's digestion goes smoothly.

Make sure the nipple in your bottle is completely full of milk when you feed. If you feed with a bottle, reduce the air in the nipple before you feed your baby. The extra air can make hiccuping worse.

Get the right nipple size for your baby. If you bottle-feed, make sure your nipple flow is not too fast or too slow for your baby. The right flow can depend on how old your baby is, so you might have to change your bottle nipples every few months.

Get a good latch. If you're breastfeeding, make sure your baby gets a proper latch over the whole nipple.

You may need to see a doctor if your baby hasn't stopped hiccuping for an extremely long period of time or if they look uncomfortable while hiccuping.

Be careful when using home remedies for hiccups. Many websites might tell you to use remedies that are appropriate for adults but not for babies. Your baby's esophagus and stomach are delicate, so be sure the remedies you're using are safe.

Hiccups are normal and usually don't hurt your baby. In younger babies, hiccups are usually a sign that they need to be seated upright during or after feeding, that feeding needs to be slower for them, or that they need more time before or after feeding to relax. If your baby has a long hiccuping bout, this is no cause for alarm. Seek medical help if your baby looks like they're in pain or if they haven't stopped hiccuping for many hours.

Here’s What to Do When Your Baby Has the Hiccups – Cleveland Clinic

Your brand new baby has a serious case of hiccups. And while they’re a little bit adorable, you’re also wondering if there’s any cause for concern.

“Baby hiccups are very common, and they aren’t normally a problem,” says pediatrician Kylie Liermann, DO. “In fact, they usually bother parents more than the baby.”

To calm your new parent nerves a little, Dr. Liermann explains what causes baby hiccups and how to get rid of them so you (and baby) can breathe easier.

Why do babies get hiccups?

Hiccups are most likely caused by irritation to the diaphragm, the muscle at the base of the lungs. Sometimes, that muscle starts to spasm or cramp. That causes the vocal cords to clamp shut, creating that distinctive “hic!” sound you know and dread.

Developing babies can get hiccups even before they’re born, and many pregnant people have felt the telltale flutters in their bellies.

Hiccups are especially common in newborns and infants. “We don’t know exactly why, but hiccups may be caused by increased gas in the stomach,” Dr. Liermann says. “If babies overfeed or gulp air during eating, that could cause the stomach to expand and rub against the diaphragm, generating those hiccups.”

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Hiccups and gastroesophageal reflux

Usually, hiccups don’t bother babies. But sometimes, hiccups are a sign of gastroesophageal reflux (GERD). Reflux causes stomach acid to back up into the baby’s esophagus.

If your baby has GERD, hiccups won’t be the only symptom, Dr. Liermann says. Infants with reflux also have signs such as:

Coughing.
Spitting up.
Irritability and crying.
Arching the back, especially during or after a feeding.

If you notice these signs, talk to your doctor about whether your baby might have reflux and how to manage it.

How to stop baby hiccups

If your baby doesn’t have reflux symptoms, don’t stress over hiccups, Dr. Liermann says. But if those little “hics!” are bothering you, there are some things you can try.

Change feeding positions

Try feeding your little one in a more upright position, Dr. Liermann suggests. Propping your baby up on a pillow so they aren’t lying flat may help them take in less air at mealtimes.

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Burp more frequently

“Burping usually helps with hiccups,” Dr. Liermann says. Burp your baby during feeding to prevent hiccups from striking. Try taking a burp break after 2 or 3 ounces.

If you’re nursing, burp your baby before you switch sides. If your nugget already has hiccups, you can try to relieve them with some gentle pats on the back.

Reach for the binky

Pacifiers can sometimes stop hiccups in their tracks. “The sucking motion can help relax the diaphragm,” Dr. Liermann explains.

Give gripe water

Gripe water is an over-the-counter blend of herbs marketed as a treatment for colic and tummy troubles. Some parents find it helps with hiccups, too.

But above all, says Dr. Liermann: Don’t fret. “Hiccups stop on their own and don’t cause discomfort to babies. So don’t feel you need to treat them,” she says.

Hiccups in newborns

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Hiccups in newborns

Hiccups is a physiological process in which there is a convulsive contraction of the diaphragm, which is a muscular barrier between the abdominal and chest cavities. During hiccuping, the glottis is closed, which leads to the appearance of a characteristic sound and movement. In newborns, the diaphragm contraction mechanism is very excitable, and therefore children in the first months of life are often prone to hiccups.

Causes of hiccups in newborns: hypothermia, overeating, swallowing large amounts of air during feeding, or the rapid absorption of food.

As a rule, hiccups most often occur due to mistakes in feeding the baby. In the process of overeating, a large amount of food absorbed stretches the stomach walls, which leads to a contraction of the diaphragm and hiccups.

Prolonged hiccups that do not subside can be a dangerous signal. This condition often occurs with pneumonia, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, injuries of the spinal cord and chest. Sometimes the cause of hiccups can be helminthiasis and infectious pathologies.

A very common cause of hiccups is hypothermia. This is a kind of signal from the child's body for parents about the problem that has arisen.

Sometimes hiccups can occur in case of emotional shock, stress or fear. Loud music, bright lights, screams and other “noisy” manifestations of the life of those around the baby can be to blame for everything.

Symptoms of hiccups in newborns. As a rule, bouts of hiccups last about 10-15 minutes and do not cause much discomfort to the baby (at the same time, he behaves quite calmly). But sometimes this condition can be longer, as a result of which the access of oxygen is difficult and it becomes difficult for the child to breathe. In this case, urgent consultation with a specialist is required.

First of all, parents need to know - if the baby has hiccups regularly for two weeks and does not subside for a long time, it must be shown to the pediatrician to exclude the occurrence of various pathologies.

To rid the child of hiccups, first of all, it is necessary to remove the provoking factor. It must be warmed in case of hypothermia, watered in case of thirst and calmed in case of excitement. Also, in the process of feeding, the baby's head must be placed so that he cannot swallow air with food.

To eliminate hiccups, a baby can drop a drop of lemon juice or chamomile infusion under the tongue. If the hiccups do not go away, the child should be allowed to drink water, and then attach it to the chest.

How to properly feed a newborn: some useful tips.

The main rule is that the child should be fed only when he is really hungry. during this period, the baby should be calm. In the process of feeding, you need to make sure that the newborn does not swallow too quickly. With very active sucking, it needs to be removed from the chest for some insignificant time and held in a “column” so that all the excess air that has accumulated in the stomach comes out. For children who are bottle-fed, it is necessary to monitor the hole in the nipple. It shouldn't be very big. After feeding the baby, you need to hold it in an upright position with your tummy towards you.

If a child’s hiccups appear due to stress, he must be protected in every possible way from emotional shocks.

That's all the simple tips with which you can defeat hiccups in newborns and thereby eliminate the worries of their parents. After all, the greatest happiness is a healthy baby.

Causes of hiccups in newborns

Hiccups in newborns are quite common. To understand why it occurs in a baby and whether it is worth worrying about his health, let's remember what hiccups are. Between the human chest and the abdominal cavity there is a special respiratory muscle - the diaphragm. When we inhale, it gently rises, when we exhale, it falls.

— Hiccups are a sudden contraction of the diaphragmatic muscle when it is irritated, it happens reflexively, — Valeria Shchelkunova explains . - At an early age, the diaphragm is very sensitive to various stimuli, since the baby's nervous system is not yet mature. Therefore, in newborns, hiccups are quite common, this is an absolutely normal process for an infant. Over time, this, of course, passes.

Most often, hiccups in newborns occur after feeding. Directly below the diaphragm is the stomach, and when it is stretched, irritation of the diaphragm can occur. This is mainly due to overeating, or swallowing a large amount of air while sucking on the breast or bottle.

- If we compare breastfeeding and artificial feeding, then in artificially fed children, hiccups are observed more often just because of swallowing a large amount of air during feeding, - says Valeria Shchelkunova . - The stomach is very distended. But similar problems can occur in breastfeeding babies if the newborn is not properly attached to the breast. Therefore, we ask mothers to pay attention to whether the baby often hiccups after breastfeeding, this may be an indicator of improper attachment.

Also, frequent hiccups, according to the expert, may occur due to bloating, pathology of the gastrointestinal tract or nervous system. In addition, strong emotions, such as fear or joy, as well as a sudden change in temperature, can cause hiccups in a newborn.

What to do with hiccups in newborns

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First you need to understand the cause of hiccups. If the newborn has swallowed a lot of air, you need to help him burp.

- It is worth taking the child in your arms and holding it in a column for at least 15 minutes, so that the excess air leaves, advises Valeria Shchelkunova . - If the problem is with overeating, you also need to hold the baby after feeding with a column, so the food bolus will move faster. With bloating, which is also a very common problem in newborns and can cause hiccups, since overinflated intestinal loops press on the diaphragm, tummy massage, warmth on the tummy, the use of a gas vent tube, simethicone-based products help first of all. Dill water belongs to the means of non-evidence-based medicine, I do not recommend using them, since their effectiveness is doubtful. The same can be said about the pacifier with syrup. If an objective cause of hiccups cannot be found, the mother should offer the baby a breast or some water if the baby is bottle-fed.

Prevention of hiccups in newborns

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As we have already noted, the main causes of hiccups in newborns after feeding are overeating and swallowing large amounts of air.

“That's why it's important not to overeat,” says Valeria Shchelkunova . - If the child is breastfed, then this is feeding on demand, but you need to understand that not every concern of the child is necessarily a desire to eat. If the child is bottle-fed, then you must strictly observe the prescribed norm in food. Make sure the newborn is properly attached to the breast. After feeding, be sure to hold the baby in a column.

To prevent increased gas formation and facilitate the discharge of gases in the baby, lay it on the tummy more often, do a tummy massage. Try to avoid unnecessary stress and anxiety.