What To Do When Baby Has Hiccups: 10 Things You Need to Know
Some babies always seem to have hiccups. My youngest was always hiccuping. Even now, at over a year old, he still gets them every time he laughs too hard. If your baby keeps getting hiccups or their hiccups last for a long time, it can be easy to worry.
The most important thing to know is this. If your child has hiccups, it will not cause them any harm. They will eventually go away on their own.
If you feel like you need to do something about your baby’s hiccups, there are a few things you can try. Here’s everything you need to know.
What Are Hiccups?
Hiccups are caused by an involuntary contraction of your diaphragm—the muscles at the bottom of your lungs. At the same time as your diaphragm contracts, your vocal cords close. The combination of these two actions is what makes the sound.
Hiccups are common in all mammal species, so even dogs and cats get hiccups. You might even have been aware of your baby having hiccups while they were still in the womb. Despite being so common, it’s still not clear why we get hiccups. There are many theories, though, including one that suggests newborns get hiccups more often because it helps with their brain development.
4 Remedies For Getting Rid Of Hiccups
Adults can find hiccups uncomfortable. While most babies don’t mind them at all, some can get upset by them. If this sounds like your baby, then here are a few things that you can try that may help.
1. Burping Your Baby
Sometimes babies get hiccups when their stomachs are too full. If this is due to swallowing air, you can relieve the pressure by burping them. A good first option is to sit them up on your shoulder and pat their back. Even if this doesn’t make them burp, many babies find it soothing, which can also help.
2. Give Your Baby A Dummy
The action of sucking on a dummy can help babies to relax. The motion also changes their breathing patterns. Both of these things have been shown to help with ending hiccups for some babies.
3. Give Them A Small Feed
For my son, what always worked was giving him a small feed. This probably worked in the same way as a pacifier does.
4. Wait It Out
The only foolproof way to stop hiccups is to wait for them to go away. The likelihood is that all of these other methods aren’t really doing much. They just appear to work because time passes while you’re trying them. If you just wait long enough, your baby’s hiccups will go away.
3 Remedies To Avoid (at All Costs!)
There are probably as many home remedies for hiccups as there are homes in the world. While many of these remedies are innocuous, there are some that you really shouldn’t try with babies or young children. Here are a few of the most common remedies that you shouldn’t try on a baby.
1. Scaring The Hiccups Away
Giving someone a scare is a common cure for hiccups. With a baby, they won’t understand what you’re doing or why. They’ll just get upset. They may even begin to associate having hiccups with being scared. This can cause problems in the future as well.
2. Drinking Water ‘The Wrong Way’
Many people try to drink water from the wrong side of a cup to cure their hiccups. This is not something you should try to get your baby to do. It could cause them to choke.
3. Pulling On Their Tongue
Again this is a common cure for hiccups in some places. I can assure you that trying this on a baby will do nothing other than upset them.
3 Tips for How To Prevent Baby Hiccups
It’s not uncommon for babies to get hiccups after a feed. If this keeps happening to your baby, there are a few things you can try.
1. Try To Slow Down Your Baby’s Feeds
If your baby eats particularly fast, this could be the cause of the problem. There are a few options for slowing down feeds, as long as your baby uses a bottle. Milk comes slower from the breast anyway, so it’s unlikely to be an issue if you’re breastfeeding.
For bottle-feeding, you can try changing the nipple on your bottle down to a slower flow. Alternatively, you could try an anti-colic style bottle or one that has a more natural shape. These changes can help your baby with reflux, burps, and hiccups.
2. Burp Your Baby During Feeds
If you’re already on a slow nipple, or you breastfeed, you can try taking a break in the middle of a feed to burp your baby. This break can stop you, baby, from overeating, as it gives them a chance to realise that they’re full. It will also stop as much air from collecting in their stomach, which can cause hiccups.
3. Feed When Your Baby Is Calm
When babies are agitated or excited, they tend to take big gulps and drink quickly. This combination can easily lead to hiccups, as they swallow extra air. To avoid this, it’s a good idea to try and feed your baby when they’re calm. This can mean offering them a feed before they get too hungry.
If you’re breastfeeding, finding the right time to feed can be reasonably easy, you just keep offering your baby a feed until you get your timing right. When you’re bottle-feeding, it can be a little harder, but just keep trying, and you’ll figure it out eventually.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do babies get hiccups?
The honest answer is that no one knows. It’s an area that scientists are still looking at. Since babies get hiccups more than adults, there are suggestions that it might have some developmental value.
Is it safe to lay a baby down with hiccups?
Babies can sleep through hiccups with no problems. There are no known risks to putting your baby down while they are hiccuping.
Are hiccups bad for newborns?
Hiccups are totally safe for newborns. They do tend to get them at a higher frequency than older children and babies. If your child is hiccuping for more extended periods (more than 30 minutes at a time), it might be worth talking to your doctor as it could be a sign of reflux.
