How to get rid of hiccups in a newborn: simple ways

Why does a baby hiccup? What to do if a newborn has hiccups?

All babies hiccup from time to time. There is nothing unusual about this, and hiccups are not something to worry about. Typically, hiccups go away on their own within a few minutes, but there are simple ways to stop your baby's hiccups faster.

A newborn baby is the most helpless creature in the world. On his own, he can only follow the unconditioned reflexes inherent in him by nature. He can breathe, swallow, and involuntarily move his arms and legs. But what if nature tells your baby to hiccup? This is definitely not something his parents would teach him and it can hardly be called something useful.

What is hiccups?

Hiccups are an involuntary contraction of the diaphragm in order to rid the esophagus of excess air. This is a natural and beneficial process that helps infants better adapt to their environment.

Hiccups in an infant: what to do about it?

Hiccups occur very often in newborns. Many young mothers get very scared when their baby starts to hiccup and don’t know what to do about it. Why do hiccups occur? There is no clear answer to this question. In most cases, hiccups do not cause any particular inconvenience to the baby and do not cause any problems.

How does hiccups manifest?

Hiccups in an infant usually last no more than 15 minutes. This condition is not dangerous; it almost always goes away on its own, without specific actions on the part of the mother.

If hiccups continue for a long time, this is a reason to think about functional or organic disorders. It is necessary to consult a pediatrician if hiccups occur in a child very often and last more than 20 minutes each time. Such prolonged hiccups may indicate diseases of the digestive tract, pneumonia or spinal cord injury.

When to see a doctor

The phenomenon does not require medical treatment if it does not affect the newborn’s eating and sleeping. Some babies hiccup more than three times a day for up to an hour. This process requires special attention from parents and the attending physician.

The reason for the occurrence of the phenomenon in the state of health of the baby’s internal organs is to help the child; getting rid of the symptom on your own is pointless. In this case, you will need qualified help from a doctor. It is recommended to consult a doctor if your baby:

Frequent, prolonged reflex contraction of the diaphragm;
Nausea and vomiting after feeding;
Tearfulness, anxiety.

Frequent attacks combined with dissimilar symptoms look like signs of pneumonia, pathologies of the digestive system, and infectious diseases. If the symptoms do not disappear in the absence of provoking factors, the help of a doctor is required. The doctor will write out a referral for an ultrasound examination of the gastrointestinal tract. He will give a referral to a gastroenterologist or neurologist to identify the cause. A laboratory study of the child’s biological material and in-depth hardware diagnostics of the organs may be required.

The occurrence of hiccups in a child of the first year of life is a common occurrence. Most often, parents do not need to do anything - the attack goes away on its own after a few minutes. If the process drags on and worries the child, it is better to tell the observing pediatrician about the situation. If a disease is suspected, the doctor will prescribe examination and treatment for the baby.

Causes of hiccups in newborns

Hiccups in newborns are quite common . To understand why it occurs in a baby and whether you should worry 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 smoothly rises, when we exhale, it descends.

Hiccups are involuntary contractions of the diaphragm, a dome-shaped muscle in the lower chest that relaxes and contracts to help your baby breathe. A sudden contraction of the diaphragmatic muscle when it is irritated occurs as a reflex. At an early age, the diaphragm is very sensitive to various irritants, since the baby’s nervous system is not yet mature. Therefore, newborns have hiccups quite often; this is an absolutely normal process for an infant. Over time, this, of course, passes.

The diaphragm may contract in response to irritation, causing air to be inhaled more intensely than usual. The air “hits” the vocal cords, the glottis closes, and the characteristic “hic” sound is produced. The diaphragm can become irritated when a child eats too quickly or too much, or is excited or agitated.

Most often, hiccups in newborns occur after feeding . The stomach is located directly below the diaphragm, and when it stretches, irritation of the diaphragm can occur. This mainly happens 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 children on artificial feeding, hiccups are observed more often precisely due to the swallowing of a large amount of air during feeding. The stomach becomes very bloated. But similar problems can occur in breastfeeding children if the newborn is not latched to the breast correctly. Therefore, we ask mothers to pay attention to whether the baby hiccups often after breastfeeding; this may be an indicator of improper attachment.

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

Children begin to hiccup while still in their mother's tummy. If during pregnancy you periodically felt rapid rhythmic tremors in the uterus, most likely your baby was hiccupping at that moment. There is no need to worry about your baby's hiccups.

The main causes of hiccups:

The baby was very cold;
During feeding, the child swallowed air along with milk;
The child is very thirsty;
The baby was frightened by something, for example, a bright light or a loud sound;
The newborn may have overfed. Once food enters the stomach, it stretches it, causing the diaphragm to contract.

Binge eating

One of the main causes of hiccups in a newborn baby. It often happens that a child has eaten too heavily , causing the food to stretch the walls of the stomach and put pressure on the diaphragm, causing it to contract involuntarily.

Irritation

Hiccups can be caused by external factors: a loud sound or an unexpected sudden movement . This can either frighten the baby or amuse him and cause laughter; in both cases, hiccups are almost inevitable.

Temperature change

Cold is also a common cause of hiccups in an infant.

Air in the intestines

Sometimes when breastfeeding, a baby accidentally swallows air , which can also cause hiccups.

Prevention

To prevent hiccups from bothering your newborn frequently, it is important to follow the rules. It is contraindicated to frighten an infant; the child should be dressed according to the weather, avoiding hypothermia and overheating.

If the baby is breastfed, the mother should know what is allowed and what is not allowed to eat. You should not eat foods that can cause gas. Fatty foods and raw vegetables, carbonated drinks are not recommended.

Feeding your baby should take place in a calm environment. It is better to remove external stimuli in the form of bright light or loud sound. In infants, hiccups occur due to improper latching of the chest. The baby takes the breast incorrectly - air comes in with the milk, which puts pressure on the diaphragm.

A baby drinking formula from a bottle may experience hiccups due to the large flow of food through the large hole in the nipple.

It is contraindicated to overfeed a child; excess food stretches the small stomach. The organ puts pressure on the diaphragm.

Fasting a newborn is also prohibited. Doctors advise feeding the baby on demand. A hungry baby greedily consumes food, swallowing air along the way.

When feeding through a bottle, you need to hold it at an angle so that the air remains at the top. It is recommended to use a special anti-colic bottle for feeding newborns.

How to get rid of hiccups

Do not panic. No one has ever died from hiccups; it is a natural, important and necessary process for the body.

Make sure that the baby does not swallow air when feeding;
If a child hiccups after feeding, do not place him on his back for 15 minutes, but hold him upright;
If a child hiccups from the cold, wrap him up warmly;
Offer breast or some warm water.

If your baby starts to hiccup while feeding, stop, let him burp, or change your feeding position. Overall, try to help him relax.

Hiccups usually go away on their own, but if your baby is still hiccupping after 5-10 minutes, continue feeding him. As a rule, this helps. The baby does not experience much discomfort from hiccups. However, try to calm him down: play with him a little, rock him and check if his diaper is dry.

What to do for hiccups in newborns

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 him in a column for at least 15 minutes so that the excess air can escape. If overeating is a problem, you also need to hold the baby after column feeding, so the food bolus will move faster. For bloating, which is also a very common problem in newborns and can cause hiccups, since overinflated intestinal loops put pressure on the diaphragm, first of all, massage of the tummy, heat on the tummy, the use of a gas tube, and simethicone-based products help. Dill water is a non-evidence-based medicine; I do not recommend using it, since its effectiveness is questionable. The same can be said about a pacifier with syrup. If the objective cause of hiccups cannot be found, the mother should offer the baby the breast or some water if the baby is bottle-fed.

How to help a child with hiccups?

If your baby hiccups most often during feedings, try to start feeding your baby before he gets too hungry and fussy. This usually helps prevent hiccups during feedings.

Your pediatrician can also advise you on what to do to prevent your baby from getting hiccups.

Even though hiccups are not dangerous in most cases, a mother wants to help her baby by eliminating hiccups. There are several methods that you can try to determine the cause of hiccups.

1. Since hiccups most often occur as a result of swallowing air during feeding , you need to hold the baby close to you and, holding him in an upright position, walk around the room with him a little. This position usually quickly allows the child to get rid of the swallowed air, and the hiccups will stop.

If the child is bottle-fed, you should pay attention to the pacifier and bottle. Often when feeding through a bottle, the formula flows very quickly, and the newborn swallows the mixture along with air, trying not to choke. Currently, manufacturers, for example, the AVENT company, produce feeding bottles with specially shaped nipples with special petals. When feeding from such a bottle, air does not enter the baby's tummy, remaining in the bottle.

If the baby is breastfed, the mother should pay attention to how the baby takes the breast. Try changing your baby's position when feeding and you may forget about hiccups.

When hiccups do not go away for a long time and occur frequently, you can try giving your baby a bottle of water or applying it to the breast again. The liquid will help get rid of hiccups.

2. If a child hiccups, the mother should make sure that the child is not cold . First you need to feel the newborn's hands; if they are cold to the touch, you should warm the child, cover him, and take him in your arms.

3. Eliminate all irritating factors that may disturb the child: loud sound, bright light. The child needs to be calmed down, picked up, talked to, sung a song, carried around the room. This will calm the baby and the hiccups will go away.

Sometimes a child gets scared of strangers and begins to hiccup. In this case, it is better to limit the circle of visits to the baby until he grows up and adapts to those around him.

4. Don't overfeed your baby . Regular overfeeding entails a chronic stage of hiccups. Excessive regurgitation of the baby indicates overeating. It is better to feed the baby more often, but not enough.

Hiccups, which often occur in children in the first year of life, quickly pass and later parents no longer remember them. The older the child gets, the more perfect his digestive tract becomes, and hiccups will bother him less and less. You can’t try to stop hiccups using grandma’s methods, for example, forget about the way to scare the child. This can only provoke a new attack and negatively affect the child’s psychological state.

Ways to eliminate attacks

Reflex contraction of the diaphragm is not a disease, in most cases it is not even a sign of pathology, and there is no need to treat the phenomenon. But if the attack frightens the baby and interferes with sleep, the parent is obliged to help get rid of the hiccups by removing the provoking factor. Ways to quickly eliminate the phenomenon, depending on the causes:

If the baby hiccups because he is cold, you need to check the diapers. Wet bed linen should be changed, the baby should be changed and wrapped in a blanket. It’s easy to check whether a child is cold by touching the baby’s neck and limbs. A cold neck indicates that the temperature is uncomfortable for the child. You need to dress the baby in warm clothes and take him in your arms.
A baby may hiccup if he has eaten too much or swallowed air during feeding. It is possible to rid the baby of excess air by holding him in an upright position for several minutes. Excess air and food will come out - the child will feel better.
The child is thirsty and hungry. It is easy to quickly help the baby by offering the breast or a teaspoon of warm water. Artificer to apply the mixture.
If the baby has colic, place a warm diaper on the tummy or stroke the tummy in a clockwise circular motion.
A baby hiccups if it is scared. It is recommended to remove irritants and muffle sound sources. It is better not to allow crowds of people in the house where the baby lives, at least at first.
When bathing in warm water covering the baby's tummy and chest, the symptom quickly disappears.

You can eliminate this unpleasant phenomenon by placing the child on his stomach and lightly massaging his back. It is recommended to go for a walk with your baby.

With reflux disease of the stomach, the newborn has protein intolerance. The child has no appetite, belching and hiccups occur. It is worth removing cow's milk protein from the diet and including an anti-reflux mixture. After feeding, the baby should not be carried in a column; it should be placed on its back, with its head slightly raised. The condition is fraught with diseases of the abdominal organs and central nervous system.

Use of herbal remedies

Chamomile helps relieve diaphragm spasms. It is easy to make a decoction in several ways:

Buy filter bags at the pharmacy. Brew one sachet with 200 ml of boiling water and leave for half an hour.
Brew the chamomile mixture, strain and let cool.

It is enough to drop a few drops of the decoction under the baby’s tongue, and the reflex will disappear.

Dill water helps eliminate colic and bloating in the stomach. Dill seeds need to be brewed with boiling water and left for half an hour. Strain and give the baby a teaspoon three times a day. Fennel tea in filter bags is effective.

Prevention of hiccups in newborns

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

Therefore, it is important to avoid overeating. If the child is breastfed, then this is feeding on demand, but you need to understand that not every child’s anxiety is necessarily a desire to eat. If the child is bottle-fed, then the required food intake must be strictly observed. Make sure your newborn is properly attached to the breast. After feeding, be sure to hold your baby upright.

To prevent increased gas formation and facilitate the passage of gases in your baby, place him on his tummy more often and massage his tummy. Try to avoid unnecessary stress and anxiety.

Types of attacks

Parents often feel very anxious about the sudden onset of the reflex. Doctors are sure that there is no reason to worry, hiccups are a natural phenomenon and absolutely harmless. In rare cases, indicates a serious pathology. Hiccup attacks are divided into two types: episodic and continuous.

Episodic

The type is characterized by sudden occurrence. Hiccups appear unexpectedly, for no apparent reason, and quickly disappear. Lasts no more than 15 minutes. The attacks are safe and can be easily eliminated independently or using traditional methods.

Long lasting

Attacks occur regularly over a long period. May be accompanied by symptoms: headache, tearfulness, nausea, vomiting after feeding. If you have symptoms, you should consult a doctor to determine the cause. Such hiccups may indicate serious health problems in the baby.