What causes hiccups in a newborn baby?
Following my recent videos on hiccups, I saw questions on why babies experience hiccups.
Like I said in the videos, hiccups even in babies happen when the diaphragm (the muscle between your chest and abdomen) contract repeatedly until it goes on its own.
Babies tend to hiccup when these five things happen (They don’t cause any harm to the baby):
1) When they overfeed or eat too quickly
2) When there is a extreme change in the temperature of the food they’re eating. E.g warm tea just after cold golden morn.
3) When food returns to the throat after partially digesting. It is called GER (Gastroesophagial reflux).
4) Swallowing air while breastfeeding
5) High energy play just after eating
So when you’re feeding a baby, and hiccups starts it’s best to take a break or feed them slowly. Watch the temperature changes in food you’re giving them.
I hear some put wet clothes or wool, thread…on the baby’s head when they hiccup. It doesn’t work and there is no research that supports that! If it stopped when you put a wool on the baby’s head, then it’s a coincidence.
Instead, gently pat their backs till it subsides.
Unless your baby is showing signs of pain while they hiccup, you don’t need to worry.
Pharmacist Edward
