To understand why a baby hiccups, you need to understand what hiccups are. Between chest and abdominal cavity in the human body there is a separating muscle - the diaphragm, which is very mobile and sensitive in infants. When any irritant begins to act on the child's diaphragm, it begins to convulsively contract, due to which the vocal muscles involuntarily close and sounds characteristic of hiccups appear.
In most cases, hiccups after feeding appear for a while and very soon disappear on their own. From the point of view of physiology, such a phenomenon is quite normal for a child's body, and you should not worry about this.
But there are factors due to which the baby almost always hiccups after eating:
- The most common of these is the ingress of air into the digestive tract. The resulting portion of air during sucking fills the child's stomach with oxygen, which begins to put pressure on the diaphragm and cause it to contract. This kind of hiccups is harmless to the baby.
- A little less often, a child hiccups after overeating. Constant worries of mothers about whether the baby received enough milk during feeding, as a rule, have the exact opposite effect, the child eats more than he needs. Because of this, the walls of the stomach are stretched, which begins to put pressure on the diaphragm and provoke hiccups. To save the baby from this type of hiccups, it is enough to reduce the portion size. But if at artificial feeding it is very easy to do this, breastfeeding In order to prevent overeating, several factors must be taken into account. Why is it best to feed a baby on every demand, and not on a schedule? The fact is that enough time can pass between meals by the hour so that the baby has time to get really hungry. A small children's stomach cannot accommodate a large amount of milk, which the baby will begin to swallow with greed as soon as he is allowed access to the breast. The result is overeating, stomach distension and hiccups.
- Hiccups in infants after feeding may appear due to the accumulation of gas. In newborns in the first three months of life, the gastrointestinal tract system is very poorly developed. What can cause bloating intestinal colic and hiccups after feeding.
Other causes of hiccups
Not always the child hiccups due to feeding with milk, even if the diaphragm began to contract immediately after eating. This may just be a coincidence, but in fact, one of the following triggered the hiccups:
- An overabundance of emotions. A child's nervous system is not stable, which is why it's easy for babies to get aroused in a matter of seconds, for example, because of a fear of a stranger, a change of scenery, or every sharp, unexpected sound. Anxiety leads first to a spasm of the diaphragm, and then to its convulsive contractions.
- Hypothermia. Babies, due to an underdeveloped thermoregulation system in their body, are not able to maintain their body temperature, which is why they constantly freeze. To understand whether a child is overcooled or not, it is enough to touch his hands: cold - the baby is cold, warm - everything is in order.
Before you start getting rid of hiccups, you should figure out why it arose, but there are universal preventive measures preventing convulsive contraction of the diaphragm.
- Babies need to be fed at their first request in small portions.
- If there is a lot of flushing, express some liquid foremilk before feeding.
- Control your baby's latch on technique. It should completely capture the halo. When formula feeding, hold the bottle so that the nipple is completely filled with formula.
- Before feeding, try to calm the baby as much as possible.
- Try to prevent hypothermia of the baby, if it does happen, warm it up.
- If you are breastfeeding, try to follow a special diet that should not include foods that cause gas.
How to rid your baby of hiccups
If the child is already hiccuping, take him in your arms, firmly attach him with his tummy to you. He will feel your warmth and care, calm down, and you will notice how very soon his colic will pass, excess air will come out, and the hiccups will stop.
After the birth of a baby, parents have a lot of new worries and troubles. However, not all chores are joyful: babies, before reaching 1 year old, can bring a lot of experiences and create disturbing situations when parents do not know what to do. Hiccups in a peanut are, in principle, an alarming "bell", which may be a non-dangerous phenomenon, and may also confirm the presence of any pathological changes in the body.
How to get rid
The main thing that parents should understand is no panic. General rules when feeding:
- do not let the child eat too much;
- when feeding the child should be held almost vertically;
- give the baby some warm water to improve digestion.
Make sure that the number of hiccups in the baby is constantly decreasing. The release of air from the stomach is a normal process, but for the first months of the life of any person, in the future, attacks should decrease and practically disappear by the first year.
The baby hiccups in a cool room, do everything so that he is not cold. Wrap him in another blanket, take him in your arms and warm him with the warmth of your body. If the hiccups started on the street, where the atmospheric temperature is low, it is better to go home and not let the crumbs completely freeze.
In principle, if hiccups are not associated with any pathologies, then even a change in the position of the baby will help get rid of it.
During feeding
To get rid of unpleasant symptoms, first of all, you should stop feeding. Lift the baby vertically and hold it to you. Most likely, he swallowed air or overdid it too much, that is, he was greedy.
After the child burps, he will immediately feel better, and the hiccups will pass. In no case do not hold the baby horizontally, if his diaphragm contracts too much, then the food that is in the stomach presses on it, and the hiccups can last almost indefinitely.
If the baby is already more than 6 months old, you can give some water and a weak decoction of chamomile.
Our ancestors also knew how to help a child with hiccups - with a small amount of sugar. If the child is old enough, then sugar can be put under the tongue. When the baby is not yet able to digest solid food, then you can dip the nipple in sweet syrup and give it to the baby. Sugar relaxes the diaphragm.
Another way to stop hiccups in a newborn is massage. The child must be seated and with light circular motions rub the back from the waist to the shoulders. The same can be done by laying the crumbs on the tummy. The main thing is to massage as gently as possible, without making any effort.
If the cause of hiccups in a newborn has a nervous basis, then it must be distracted by a toy, touch, massage. You can observe which toy you like best and use it with each spasmodic compression of the diaphragm.
If the child constantly hiccups, then dill water can help.
There is an opinion that dill normalizes work gastrointestinal tract, although there is no scientific and medical evidence for this theory. However, reviews of dill water are excellent. Naturally, if you use dill for a baby, it is better to first consult with a pediatrician.
In a dream
If a baby has hiccups in a dream, then there are many reasons for this condition: from problems with the digestive tract to hypothermia. Naturally, parents are concerned about the question of what to do with hiccups in a newborn, especially if he is sleeping.
If there are no more alarming symptoms, then the baby should not be woken up. You should check your hands - if they are cold, see if milk flows out of your mouth. If there are these factors, then you need to eliminate them immediately.
Description
Hiccups in a newborn occur in 100% of cases. The reason for this is the contraction of the diaphragm during chest spasms. The main thing is that most often this condition is in no way connected with the presence of the disease.
The contraction of the diaphragm can be short-term or torment the baby for about 1 hour. The reaction is possible not only to internal stimuli, but also to external ones.
The reasons
Hiccups in infants are associated with a sharp overlap of the airways, convulsions appear, repeating with a certain frequency. In children, hiccups are more common than in adults, and most likely, hiccups in newborn babies have physiological causes.
Binge eating
If the mother does not control the amount eaten by the child, then it is possible that an excessive amount of milk or mixture will press on the diaphragm, and then the baby begins to hiccup. Pediatricians always recommend feeding the baby no more than every 1.5-2 hours, but if the baby eats for more than 20 minutes, then the process must be interrupted.
The main thing is not to overdo it and not to take too long breaks between meals. As a rule, after six months everything is getting better, the number of attacks is reduced. If the hiccups are still pestering, then surely the baby eats too quickly, or the parents add a lot of dry foods to the diet.
extra air
If the baby hiccups, it is possible that in the process of swallowing food, he captures too much air, which accumulates in the stomach and after a while moves up and out. In this case, the mother should follow some rules:
- learn how to properly apply to the chest, hold the baby almost vertically and try to capture the entire halo of the nipple with his mouth;
- the selection of a feeding bottle should be individual and careful, the same requirements for the nipple, ideally, when the bottle is turned over, a few drops per second should flow out of the nipple;
- after feeding the baby, it is necessary to hold it in an upright position for at least 5 minutes, then the extra air bubbles from the stomach will come out naturally.
Excess accumulation of gases
In a newborn, hiccups may appear due to an excess of gases that accumulate in the upper intestines. Flatulence in a baby is most often the result of non-compliance with a nursing mother's diet, that is, the use of non-recommended foods, corn, legumes, carbonated drinks, whole milk and fresh fruits. In cases where bloating and flatulence is observed in crumbs after the mixture, it is better to consult a pediatrician.
hypothermia
Oddly enough, but lowering the ambient temperature can cause hiccups in newborns. If it is too cold, then the vagus nerve, which passes near the thoracic peritoneum, is irritated, resulting in a spasm of the diaphragm. The baby can freeze in housing where it is not too warm, or on a walk. The easiest way is to dress the baby warmer, take him in your arms and warm him with your warmth.
Stress
Naturally, children do not suffer from depression, but it is quite easy to scare them. It can be loud sounds of a vacuum cleaner, a sudden turn on of a bright light, or a sudden change in the usual environment. If a newborn often hiccups from such factors, simply eliminate the irritating factors, take him in your arms, sing a song and calm him down.
Lack of liquid
It is possible that the baby does not have enough water, he is tormented by thirst, which appears due to the drying of the mucous membrane in the oral cavity.
impure air
If the baby hiccups, then it is possible that there are irritants in the air. The respiratory system of babies is much more sensitive than that of adults, any pollution, fumes or too intense aroma can cause not only cough, but also hiccups.
hypertonicity
With physiological hypertonicity, which usually lasts 3 months from the moment of birth, all muscles are constantly tense, even when the child is calm. Any stimulus causes even more intense tension, including spasmodic contraction of the diaphragm. Hiccups can begin even in the process of changing clothes.
Usually, mothers do not know what to do if the child hiccups, and simply wrap the baby up. In fact, short-term hypothermia is even useful, since the baby's body at such moments adapts to the environment.
Laugh
Quite often the child after laughter begins to hiccup. This is due to the fact that sharp sighs compress the vagus nerve, which “signals” the diaphragm to start contracting.
The main goal of parents in such a situation is to free the newborn child from spasm and relax the vagus nerve. The baby can be laid horizontally and pulled a little or given water.
Helminths
If there are helminthic invasions in the body of a newborn child, then the body may react to their presence with hiccups. In this case, the compression of the diaphragm can last more than 10 minutes and several times a day.
Pathological factors
Hiccups in infants may be a harbinger of diseases that have already begun to develop. If a child, along with spasms of the diaphragm, has constant regurgitation, the baby is fussy, nervous and whimpering, he is periodically tormented by coughing, hyperthermia are bad signs.
Such symptoms are characteristic of many pathological changes, it is possible that the baby has:
- inflammatory process in the lungs;
- a tumor develops in the brain or lungs;
- infectious diseases: from measles to toxoplasmosis;
- gastroesophageal reflux;
- diaphragm is damaged.
As a rule, if there are suspicions why newborns often hiccup, and it seems that it is problems with the gastrointestinal tract, then in addition to spasm of the diaphragm, other symptoms are possible:
- vomiting, almost a fountain;
- pain in the region of the stomach;
- bloating;
- profuse discharge of gases;
- constipation or, conversely, diarrhea;
- the baby may refuse food.
But only a doctor can refute or confirm suspicions and only after a series of examinations, so if you have such symptoms, you should immediately contact your pediatrician.
A child can also hiccup because of an allergy. As a rule, the main irritants are proteins, which can be in milk or mixtures, causing an inflammatory process in the esophagus, causing the diaphragm to spasm.
No matter how scary it may sound, but hiccups may be evidence that the baby develops more terrible pathologies than stomach problems. Hiccups can be of central genesis, that is, appear against the background of a lesion of the central nervous system and be a confirmation of a perinatal lesion or a symptom of an anomaly in the development of the spinal cord or brain.
Peripheral hiccups occur if the phrenic nerve and branches are involved in the pathological process. This condition can be observed against the background of congenital tumors or with aortic aneurysm.
Reflected hiccups can confirm the diagnosis - diaphragmatic hernia. Against the background of complications after viral infections this form of hiccups is also possible.
There are many more reasons why a child hiccups, it is possible that he has a chest injury, or a damaged spinal cord, birth trauma.
What to do if hiccups appear in newborns and are presumably a consequence of the development of the disease? Naturally, urgently consult a doctor. In this case, there can be no talk of any self-treatment.
Prevention
Under any circumstances, it is better to prevent an unpleasant condition than to deal with it later, and not think about what to do if the child hiccups.
If the baby often hiccups, then most likely it is necessary to change the style of feeding. No need to try to fill the child's stomach as much as possible at one meal. A large amount of food is sure to irritate the stomach and diaphragm.
Be sure when feeding, whether breastfeeding or bottle feeding, the baby should be at an angle of 35-45 degrees. This position of the body will allow food to go directly into the esophagus and avoid bouts of hiccups in the baby. When the baby is already able to sit, at first hold his back while eating so that less air enters the stomach.
Wash the nipple and bottle thoroughly after feeding to prevent food debris from accumulating there, which will cause the baby to swallow a lot of air during subsequent feedings.
Never let your baby fall asleep with a bottle in his mouth. Unlike breasts, food comes out of a filled bottle all the time, and milk comes out of the breast only when sucking. This is not only the reason why the child often hiccups, but also a threat to life, since the baby can choke.
Do not rush to invite guests to the house to show your newborn. Toddlers are very shy and, with a large crowd of people, they get nervous and begin to hiccup. If, nevertheless, relatives came, then it is better to hug the baby to yourself until he calms down and stops being afraid of the people around him.
Contraindications
Regardless of the reasons why infant often hiccups, never scare him. This method is suitable for adults, and a loud clap of your hands will not only scare the baby, but can also harm the still very thin eardrums.
You should not use sour sweets when getting rid of hiccups, even if the little one has already grown to 1 year. Most often, sweets have a powdery consistency, dyes and preservatives, which can adversely affect the child's digestive tract.
In no case do not hit the baby hard on the back, the skeleton and bones in early age are still soft and easily damaged.
When to See a Doctor
Most often, hiccups in a baby are a temporary phenomenon that should not cause concern. If the contraction of the diaphragm occurs several times a day and does not last long, while the behavior of the crumbs is still cheerful, then there is no need to worry. If the condition lasts an abnormally long time, the child is nervous and fussy, and hiccup attacks are repeated often, then this is a reason for an urgent appeal to a medical institution.
It is possible to assume that a child has gastroesophageal reflux not only by frequent hiccups, but also by constant regurgitation with a small amount of water. The peanut can arch its back, get annoyed by the usual things, often cry.
When a newborn hiccups and this interferes with sleep and feeding, it is better to consult a doctor, perhaps the baby develops some kind of disease that is best cured on early stage. The whistling sound during hiccups is also an alarming "bell".
You should contact a specialist if the parents have taken all measures to eliminate the causes of spasmodic contraction of the diaphragm, but they did not give the desired effect. You may need to consult a neurologist to rule out problems with the brain and spinal cord.
Parents of babies at first are in euphoria. But at the same time, they tend to panic for a variety of reasons, especially if the child is the first. Even such banal, at first glance, things as hiccups can cause anxiety. Although, as a rule, this is a normal reaction of a small organism to irritants.
Hiccups in babies and its causes
Hiccups are involuntary contractions of the diaphragm, and the characteristic sound is due to the lack of airflow combined with the closure of the glottis. Babies begin to hiccup even in the womb - this is how the diaphragm trains before the baby is born. In the first months of life, the work of the nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract of the crumbs has not yet been debugged. Therefore, he suffers from colic, unstable stools and hiccups.
Hiccups in a newborn can be caused by various reasons. The main ones are related to the fact that the baby:
- swallowed air while eating;
- overate;
- wants to drink;
- frozen;
- experiencing stress, fear.
In most cases, the matter is in the organization of feeding.
Why does a baby hiccup after feeding
1. The most common reason - swallowing air while eating. And the type of feeding does not affect it. Of course, a small amount of air always enters the stomach when a child eats. But normally it is so small that it does not cause discomfort.
Another thing is if there is a lot of air. Then he presses on the sphincter in the opening of the diaphragm, and it begins to contract.
The baby swallows a lot of air due to improperly organized feeding. Mom needs to review the whole process and eliminate factors that can provoke hiccups. How can I do that? Constantly monitor the process:
- The child must properly grasp the breast, and the mother must watch how he eats. Does a baby have not only a nipple in his mouth, but also a large part of the areola? So, everything is in order, the grip is just as it should be. The little one should not suck too fast, otherwise a lot of air will inevitably enter the stomach.
- If the baby is in a hurry, there may be 2 reasons for this: either he is very hungry, or milk flows out at a high speed. In order for the child to eat slowly, you need to feed him on time, without making large gaps between meals.
- When it comes to the flow of milk, again, you need to keep track of the time: by a certain hour, the mother produces the portion necessary for feeding. If the breast is not emptied when it should be, the flow of milk will be strong.
- For bottle feeding, the force of the flow can be changed by selecting the appropriate nipple. The hole should be small, and the liquid should flow out in droplets, not a stream. As a rule, manufacturers indicate the flow strength on the package.
- In the case of artificial feeding, it is recommended to take 2-3 breaks for feeding in order to hold the baby in a “column”, helping him to release air. You can also purchase a bottle with a special valve that reduces the amount of air swallowed to a minimum.
- To eliminate the causes of hiccups, it is useful to carry the child in an upright position after each meal for 5-10 minutes, regardless of the type of feeding. It will also prevent regurgitation and intestinal colic.
- You may need to change your feeding position. It makes sense to try feeding from different positions using large and small pillows. So, experimentally, it will be possible to find out which position is most comfortable for both, and in which baby swallows less air.
- Also, in order to avoid swallowing excess air, you do not need to give the baby a breast or a bottle when he cries (an exception is if hunger is the cause of crying).
2. If the baby often hiccups and spit up, this may indicate overeating. This problem is typical for children on artificial feeding, it is extremely rare with natural feeding. Overeating is not always permanent, it is often due to a specific situation. The main reasons are severe hunger and stress.
Actions to get rid of hiccups in this case depend on the type of feeding. With artificial nutrition, the main thing is compliance with the regime, with breastfeeding, on the contrary, feeding on demand.
Why should it be like this? It's just that even the best infant formula only vaguely resembles in composition breast milk. The mixture is always more high-calorie, it is harder to digest and takes longer to digest. Therefore, artificial nutrition should be given strictly by the clock. This will save the child from overeating, and, as a result, from spitting up and hiccups. And the load on the digestive organs, subject to the recommended portions, will not be excessive.
The amount of food for each feeding is calculated individually depending on body weight, age and rate of weight gain. As the portion grows, the pediatrician adjusts.
With breasts, the situation is quite different. From birth, they feed on mother's milk, which is ideal for them and satisfies all the needs of the body. They can initially control the amount of milk they need to satiate themselves.
A baby can ask his mother for breasts not only because he is hungry. He may also be bored, scared, or just thirsty. But in this case, he sucks quite a bit - exactly as much as is needed to satisfy the need that has arisen. Therefore, you can not breastfeed on a schedule, this is fraught with a high risk that the child will be malnourished. And after long breaks, the baby in a hurry eats more than required, then hiccups or regurgitation may appear.
3. You need to choose for the baby correct posture after feeding. As we have already found out, a small amount of air enters the esophagus during feeding, one way or another. To avoid hiccups, you need to carry the baby in an upright position for about 10 minutes. And in a crib for a newborn, it is useful to raise the mattress at the head so that its inclination is 30 degrees. You can put a folded bedspread or a large towel under the mattress.
How to help your baby get rid of hiccups faster
What if the parents did everything right, but the baby still hiccups?
The first thing to do is to provide the child with an upright position again. So the hiccups will pass faster. If it does not help, offer the baby a drink. Suitable boiled water or breast milk. When a child refuses to drink, and the hiccups never go away, it's not scary. In a matter of minutes, it will become less pronounced and will pass in 10-20 minutes without outside help.
Other methods for hiccups after feeding will be ineffective. Especially you should not frighten the child - this will not work and may aggravate the situation.
Hiccups in newborns (especially after feeding) are a physiological condition. It can be provoked not only by causes from the outside, but also by the immaturity of the functional systems of the body. Therefore, in children under one year old, this phenomenon is observed very often, and this should not be frightened. With age, it will bother less and less.
All the excitement about the appearance of a new family member is behind us, everyday life filled with worries and anxieties begins. Often the hiccups and spitting up of the baby can serve as a cause of concern. Is this really a noteworthy reason, how to eliminate the likelihood of this phenomenon as much as possible, how to act if this happens - we will consider the answers to these questions in the article.
One of the first reasons for concern is the problems associated with the baby's digestion, in particular, hiccups and regurgitation. They are the body's reaction to some mistakes of the parents, such as:
- non-compliance with the correct thermal regime (hypothermia);
- insufficiently clear dosage of food (overfeeding);
- not the ability to create an optimal balance between wakefulness and rest (overexcitation);
- untimely noticed irritants.
A short hiccup will not cause any harm to the health of your little one. But if you notice that the newborn begins to hiccup after each feeding, or this process stretches for long time, is an occasion to immediately communicate with the pediatrician.
Newborn spitting up and hiccups after feeding
As an explanation for the fact that a newborn can constantly hiccup after eating, two main reasons are considered:
- The child moved. Excessive food leads to an increase in the stomach, and it presses on the diaphragm. This causes her contraction and hiccups.
- The baby gasped for air. This happens when there is an intense milk flow or an improper latch on the breast.
If the baby is on breastfeeding, most often he adapts and already “regulates” himself required amount food and how it is consumed. But the "artificial" gets food without much effort, so he can just "enough too much." So it turns out that after feeding the mixture, the newborn hiccups more often. To prevent this from becoming the norm, you should carefully select the nipple.
Regurgitation is a type of vomiting that occurs without much discomfort.
The cause of regurgitation may be:
- immediately following feeding, a sharp change in the position of the baby's body,
- tight swaddling,
- baby inhibition.
In addition, newborns often spit up after feedings for the same reason they hiccup: gasping for air and overeating.
If the baby has frequent regurgitation and at the same time he is not gaining weight well, it is necessary to show him to the pediatrician.
Although the newborn does not make any special efforts to spit up, nevertheless, it is an impetus for contraction of the diaphragm, which means that after it the baby begins to hiccup. In order to understand how much after feeding the newborn burps and hiccups, count the number of his urination per day. If you count twelve or more times, you can be calm: the baby is not hungry after feeding and simply frees the stomach from excess food.
Why does a newborn hiccup after feeding
After eating, almost all newborns hiccup. Some doctors believe that the reason for this is still an unstable connection between the diaphragm and the brain. There is also such a judgment that hiccups appear in a baby if a large amount of food has entered the stomach. A full stomach puts pressure on the diaphragm, causing it to contract.
The cause of physiological hiccups can also be flatulence. If you notice that the newborn hiccups after each feeding, carefully observe how he eats. When breastfeeding, pay special attention to the following:
- Is the baby holding the nipple correctly?
- does it fit snugly into his mouth,
- whether air enters with milk.
If your baby is formula fed, pay attention to the size of the nipple opening. Perhaps it is too large, and the baby receives a large amount of food for a short time, which can also provoke hiccups. If the newborn begins to hiccup before feeding, this may indicate that he is hungry or thirsty. Or maybe he was just cold or overexcited.
What to do if the newborn hiccups after feeding
If you are convinced that the child is not cold and not overheated and everything is in order regarding nervous excitement, but the newborn still hiccups after the next meal, try the following:
- give your baby water to drink
- take him in your arms
- give his body a vertical position,
- press the baby's tummy to you and in this position vilify for a while.
If even such simple manipulations do not help, and every time after feeding the newborn hiccups for a long time, do not leave this unattended and do not let it take its course. Contact your pediatrician to prevent the development of a possible bowel disease or pneumonia.
Hiccups in infants often worries young parents, although most often it is only a very harmless reaction of the child's body to external and internal stimuli.
Not everyone knows that children begin to hiccup even in the womb - this is how the baby's diaphragm prepares for new living conditions. After the birth, the digestive and nervous systems of the child are still imperfect, the baby hardly adapts, therefore, for a long time (up to one or even up to two months) he is tormented by colic, gases, hiccups and loose stools. Many mothers do not know how to deal with the problem, how to stop hiccups in babies.
The mechanism of occurrence of hiccups in infants
During the first months of life, hiccups in babies occur as a result of the fact that they still have a rather weak diaphragmatic muscle, which begins to contract even due to the slightest irritants. In excitable babies, it can even appear due to a sudden movement, bright light or sound. Its mechanism is quite simple: the diaphragm begins to involuntarily contract reflexively, while the lungs take a sharp breath, which is accompanied by a well-known sound. In fact, hiccups for a child do not pose any serious danger. However, the very fact of involuntary shuddering can frighten the baby - he worries and cries, often cannot sleep and eat normally, which leads to additional whims. What causes this condition? How to stop hiccups in a newborn?
The main causes of hiccups in newborns
Before telling how to stop hiccups in a child, it is important to know its causes. The main ones are the following:
- the child is cold;
- the little one is thirsty;
- the baby swallowed air during feeding;
- the baby has experienced a sharp emotional stress - a bright light, a loud sharp sound, etc .;
- a small child overeats, as a result of which the still fragile children's stomach is stretched, the diaphragm is reduced in size, and the newborn begins to hiccup intensively.
An attack of hiccups in newborns on average lasts for about 10-15 minutes. However, if the baby has frequent and longer hiccups, then the cause may be serious disorders in his body. In some cases, prolonged hiccups in newborns indicate diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, pneumonia, and spinal cord injury. Therefore, if a child has prolonged frequent hiccups lasting more than 20 minutes, he should be shown to the doctor.
Air in the digestive system
As a rule, the reason for this is the peculiarities of the digestive system of newborn babies. The walls of the stomach and digestive tract are still thin, easily stretched, and often, when bloated or overeating, they press down on the vagus nerve.
But the most common cause of hiccups in small babies is considered to be air entering the stomach when they are not breastfed properly. In this case, the contraction of the diaphragm is a purely physiological reaction of the body, helping to burp it. If this does not happen, then regurgitation or colic is possible if the gas enters the intestines.
How to stop hiccups in a newborn after feeding?
To avoid mistakes when feeding, we suggest considering a few tips:
- The baby should not overeat, because the walls of his intestines are still very thin to withstand heavy loads.
- Feed your newborn at a 45 degree angle.
- If, with the rapid flow of milk, the child does not have time to swallow it, in a hurry, along with food, he also swallows air, which then comes out with hiccups. To eliminate this problem, before feeding again, the baby must be allowed to catch his breath.
- If the baby is bottle-fed, it is important to monitor the hole in the nipple, since a poor-quality nipple can cause this phenomenon. Special bottles are sold that prevent air from entering.
- After feeding the baby, you need to hold it upright for a while so that the milk goes down the esophagus without difficulty. For a baby, such support from parents is very important until his digestive system is strengthened.
How to stop hiccups in a newborn baby with emotional shock?
Newborn babies are very impressionable. Babies often begin to hiccup when frightened (with a loud sound, unexpected touch, or abrupt shutdown, etc.). Any emotional shock can cause a contraction of the diaphragm. There are kids for whom even going to visit is stressful. How to stop hiccups in this case? First of all, remove the irritant. Then you need to calm him down and help him cope with the shock, hug him and let the baby know that he is not in any danger. Such simple measures will be quite enough for the problem caused by increased excitability to pass.
Thirst
Another reason could be thirst. As a rule, drying of the mucous membrane of the mouth and digestive tube often provokes hiccups.
How to stop hiccups? Often it is enough just to give the baby water to drink.
hypothermia
One of the most common causes of hiccups is hypothermia. If the baby is dressed not quite according to the weather, or it is cool in the room where he is, the air conditioner is turned on, the window is open, etc., the baby freezes, his muscles begin to contract, which, of course, is natural.
To find out, it is enough to touch the child by the elbow and knee folds or the cervical region. How to stop hiccups, the cause of which is really hypothermia? To save the baby from this problem, it is enough to warm it up and continue not to make such a mistake.
Periodic hiccups in babies are completely normal and most often stop quickly without causing any particular concern. However, there are situations when hiccups are a harbinger of diseases.
Hiccups in diseases
If hiccups in babies become systematic, have no apparent cause, and debilitate the child, this should not be taken lightly.
It is necessary to contact the attending physician and examine the baby if:
- The duration of the attacks is more than an hour (the norm is 15-20 minutes).
- Attacks occur several times a day and for no apparent reason.
- If the child cries, worries, does not sleep well.
In this case, only specialists can establish the true cause of hiccups. The doctor, when visiting the hospital, is likely to prescribe an examination for the presence of helminthic invasions. As medical practice shows, it is worms that cause hiccups in children.
How to stop hiccups in this case? Take a deworming course and all symptoms will go away. Most often, helminths are found in older children; in newborn babies, this is a very rare occurrence.
Also, the cause of hiccups can be disorders in the spinal cord or brain. This happens if pregnancy and childbirth are accompanied by any complications, hypoxia. Here is the problem of central origin. To find out the cause, it is necessary to take an x-ray and undergo an ultrasound (ultrasound examination). How to stop hiccups baby in this case? Contact a neurologist who will prescribe treatment.
Hiccups can occur with problems of the liver, pancreas and digestive system. In this case, consultation with a gastroenterologist is necessary.
Persistent hiccups are sometimes caused by pneumonia. These can be viral or bacterial infections. The inflammatory process irritates the diaphragm and causes it to contract. Such moments should be especially treated carefully if the baby has recently suffered acute respiratory infections.
Despite the fact that such events are quite rare in newborns, you need to know about them in order to come to the rescue in time if necessary.
Conclusion
As a rule, hiccups as such do not require treatment, and the doctor, when referring to him, most likely will not prescribe any medicines. However, if the child's body signals a problem, it must be identified and eliminated as soon as possible.
When evaluating a child's condition, it is very important to take into account his age. The development of babies in the first year of life occurs at a tremendous speed. Accordingly, phenomena that are considered normal for a one-month-old baby may be a pathology for a one-year-old child. If a newborn baby hiccups after eating, this is most likely nothing to worry about. When an older child begins to hiccup constantly after eating, there is something to think about.
