How to Stop a Newborn from Hiccuping: 8 Easy Tips
Your sweet newborn starts hiccuping out of seemingly nowhere - oh no!
Rest assured, hiccuping does not typically hurt babies. The hiccuping is usually caused from too much gas sitting in their stomach. The gas can expand their stomach, causing it to put pressure on their diaphragm and encourages spasming (hiccuping).
While it doesn’t hurt them, it can cause them distress, especially if they do not stop immediately. Fortunately, there are things you can do to help stop your newborn from hiccupping. In this article, we will outline eight ways to cure newborn baby hiccups:
Feeding the baby in an upright position
Burping the baby after every feeding
Giving the baby a pacifier
Using gripe water
Reassuring the baby
Rubbing the baby’s back
Check the bottle
Feed the baby less food, more frequently
Now that we’ve identified the 8 ways of how to stop hiccups for newborn, let’s dive in to learn more about each one!
1. Feed the Baby in an Upright Position
Because newborns can’t get around on their own yet, they have difficulty getting rid of gas in their stomach by themselves. Sitting your baby in an upright position will help avoid gas lingering in their stomach with no way out.
If you’re unsure how to keep your baby in an upright position, try using a pillow to prop them up during feeding time! Doing this should allow them to take in less air as they eat.
2. Burp the Baby After Every Feeding
As we stated previously, it is so easy for air to get trapped in newborns stomachs! As their stomachs fill with air, the stomach can begin pushing on the diaphragm, which causes spasms (hiccuping).
Take frequent breaks to burp the baby to remove unnecessary gas. This will reduce the buildup of air and make it less likely for hiccups to happen! Some other helpful tips to reduce gas during feeding time include:
Feeding the baby before they are too hungry
Maintaining an upright position for at least half an hour after feeding
Checking to see that the baby's entire mouth is covering the bottle
3. Offer the Baby a Pacifier
You may be wondering, “How does a pacifier help hiccups?” Great question!
Offering the baby a pacifier is a great way to stop hiccups fast. The sucking motion while using the pacifier can help relax the baby's diaphragm, which stops the spasms. If an upright position and burping doesn’t stop the hiccups, the pacifier is the next best solution!
Read More: How to Keep a Pacifier in a Baby’s Mouth
4. Using Gripe Water
If you’ve already tried a few other techniques but the baby is still hiccuping, it might be time to give gripe water a try!
Gripe water is a natural mixture of herbs and water that is popularly used to treat colic and gas. The herbs usually found in gripe water are ginger, fennel, chamomile, and cinnamon. Because of the natural ingredients, using gripe water is usually considered low risk. There are various brands that can be found online to try out!
5. Keep the Baby Calm
When a baby has hiccups, they can easily become stressed or excited by the sudden spasming of their body. Keeping them calm during this time is important as you are offering reassurance that everything will be okay! You can help keep the baby calm by:
Talking and singing to them
Rocking them
Use calming noises (humming, white noise machines)
6. Rub the Baby’s Back
Giving the baby a relaxing back rub is a great way to not only comfort the baby, but to possibly stop the hiccuping.
Rubbing the baby’s back can help soothe them, which can in turn stop the spasms in their diaphragm that is causing the hiccups. Even if it doesn’t work, your baby will love a back rub - who doesn’t?!
7. Check the Bottle
Many times, the bottle is the one to blame for the baby’s hiccups! If the baby is drinking from the bottle and there is some air towards the nipple, this can cause the baby to suck in the air along with milk.
Before and during the feeding, ensure that the nipple is completely full of milk for a comfortable and easy feeding!
8. Feed the Baby Less and More Frequently
Babies often a begin to cry because they are hungry and we want to make sure they are well-fed. It can be easy to make a large bottle to ensure that they are full, but this can cause discomfort, and of course, hiccuping!
When the baby eats too much at once, the stomach can put pressure on their diaphragm to stimulate hiccups. By feeding them smaller amounts more frequently, this reduces not only the amount of milk in their stomach at one time, but also the possibility of sucking in excess air.
Keep a Record of Hiccups with Baby Connect
Hiccuping, while not harmful to newborns, can be stressful. Finding out how to stop them as a parent is important to keep your baby comfortable and calm.
This list describes some of the best ways to stop your newborn from hiccuping, but every way may not work for you! Each baby is different, and they may tolerate some solutions better than others. Trying each one out to see what works best for you and your baby is important to build a strong and trusting relationship!
Recognizing patterns can be helpful in finding out why certain things happen, such as your baby hiccuping. Keeping track of all of your baby's details can help you decipher why they are experiencing discomfort, such as hiccuping or constipation. Instead of keeping a large notebook full of all these details, relying on an app designed for this reason will help keep you informed about your baby!
Baby Connect lets you keep track of every single piece of information related to your baby. . Pediatrician appointments, poop frequency, how many times they sneezed in one day? You name it, you track it, all from one app that works on any device. Try Baby Connect out, and you may just discover what is causing those annoying hiccups!
