Baby hiccups How to remove the hiccups to the newborn?

How do hiccups occur in the baby?

Hiccups are a rather annoying disorder, although unimportant. This is caused by irritation of the nerves that control the muscles involved in breathing. That is, the fault lies with the diaphragm (a dome-shaped muscle that is in the lower chest, where the hiccups begin).

Virtually the diaphragm works almost always well. It descends when the baby inhales to help fill the lungs but relaxes when it is exhaled so that the air leaves the lungs through the nose and mouth.

According to the Spanish Association of Primary Care Pediatrics (AEPAP) you will have to go to the pediatrician if the baby rejects the food, if the hiccup lasts more than three hours, if it causes weight loss, if it causes frequent vomiting or if it bothers the baby very much causing him to cry, become irritated, restless, suffer from an earache or even develop a fever.

Causes of baby hiccups

Short episodes of hiccups are quite common in healthy babies. In fact, they are not at all a symptom of any disease, nor are they dangerous or cause discomfort and, in addition, disappear spontaneously.

But why do hiccups occur? What happens is that sometimes the diagram can get irritated when descending very sharply. What’s going on? That air enters the throat suddenly. The onset begins there when the air that enters the throat of the small collides with the larynx causing the vocal cords to close suddenly and the hiccups take place.

Some popular beliefs claim that babies have hiccups when they are cold, but for some experts, hiccups are actually an involuntary and unexpected contraction of the diaphragm during inspiration. It involves the intercostal and neck respiratory muscles. The hiccups in babies could also be caused by:

• Indigestion
• Having eaten a lot and having a full stomach
• After a crying crisis
• If you have regurgitated
• Due to temperature changes

There are also some reasons why the diaphragm may become irritated, such as eating too fast. Many times the baby is so eager to eat that he swallows more air than food. Normally the hiccups last only a few minutes. However, others may extend and last even days or weeks. For this reason, it is important to know some tricks that can help you easily remove your baby.

Tricks to remove a baby’s hiccups

The best way to remove a baby’s hiccups is, without a doubt, to feed him properly, but never in a hurry. The baby must be completely relaxed while the mother is feeding him, and before he is too hungry.

You have to keep in mind, of course, that the less hungry you have the slower you will eat, which will cause you to swallow less air. What if the hiccup appears while the baby is eating? Do we leave or stop him? We stop to try to change the position and belching what you need and also to relax.

Ideally, it should be changed to another position, although preferably in a vertical position. To offer the baby food again, wait until the hiccups have been removed.

If the baby is breastfeeding, it will be necessary to ensure that the baby clings tightly to the nipple, and if he takes a bottle, the best thing we can do is check that the nipple of the bottle fits the size of the baby’s mouth and that, in addition, it is always full of liquid so that it does not swallow air.

It is also important to avoid sudden changes in temperature. Therefore, places with drafts must be avoided. Finally, keep in mind that just putting the baby to bed just after having finished feeding is not recommended at all, we will have to wait a while and, in addition, make sure that the baby has belched at least once so that it is comfortable and can sleep much better.

And remember, it does not carry any risk for the baby, but it is necessary to go to the pediatrician if this, as we said, lasts more than three hours.