Hiccups in the newborn and in the baby is a very common problem, but what does it consist of and what are its causes? And above all, can it be avoided? We offer you useful tips to help you.
The hiccup is a natural response of the body of the newborn that can occur from the first hours of life, yet even being inside the womb the fetus can present hiccup.
It is usually more annoying for parents to see how their child suffers from the hiccups than for the baby itself, since the hiccups are not harmful and are not painful for the baby.
Hiccups are caused by the immaturity of the nervous system, which lacks adequate control during the first months of the baby’s life, causing irregular and sporadic contractions in the diaphragm.
Why is it produced?
When a baby has hiccups it can be for several reasons, the most common is the urge to eat, when a baby is very hungry, he usually swallows a lot of air when he ingests milk or in some cases the hiccups are also presented by sudden changes in temperature.
As we have mentioned, hiccups are not painful, but they are uncomfortable for the little ones, but we must accept that it occurs and disappears on its own.
The baby can react with crying if he has hiccups, since it is somewhat uncomfortable, so if your child has hiccups very often it is advisable that you take some measures to avoid its occurrence so frequent.
One of the guidelines they recommend so that hiccups do not appear is to feed the baby when he is not too hungry and is calm, since if the baby is too hungry he will eat and swallow more quickly not only the milk but also air.
There is no need to worry if the baby has hiccups, it is a natural phenomenon that disappears again when it appears.
How to remove the hiccups in the newborn?
As we indicated, we must first take into account that hiccups are a reflex that occurs in the nerve located in the diaphragm called the phrenic.
And it is precisely that the immaturity that the baby’s nervous system still has causes those irregular and sporadic contractions when it has swallowed air while feeding or due to a change in temperature.
It can appear even before the baby is born, so it is totally normal for your baby to have hiccups during the first 4 months of life, especially after eating, which is when they may have swallowed air.
Hiccups occur in 80% of newborns so mothers should not worry if the baby has hiccups very often, it is best to try to avoid it or prevent it before it appears with some techniques that we will mention below.
If your baby has hiccups every time you feed him or at some other time, you can try various techniques such as:
- Burp him every time you feed him, the air he swallows during feeding can cause hiccups.
- If the hiccup occurs without having fed it, try to warm it, as it may be that you have it too exposed to changes in temperature.
- Pat on the back or in circles after each feed
- Making him sneeze will cause the air that has been inside his belly to escape.
