Medical expert of the article
New publications
Hiccup after a newborn baby: how to stop?
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Hiccups in a newborn are a common problem that worries young parents. But this does not always indicate a disease, sometimes it is just a manifestation of a drop in body temperature. Therefore, you need to differentiate the state when you need to contact a doctor, and when you can manage on your own.
[1]
Causes of the hiccups in a newborn
The causes of the appearance of hiccups in a newborn depend on the time of appearance of this symptom and the presence of other manifestations. The most common reason is that the baby just froze. When the child's body temperature decreases, the muscles begin to contract to increase the amount of endogenous heat. In this case, the diaphragm also contracts, which leads to hiccough. This is the most common cause of hiccups.
It often happens that the cause of hiccups is excessive feeding. The baby's small stomach is designed to be fed often and in small portions. A newborn child for one feeding should eat about 50-70 grams of milk. But often parents can not understand when the child is already full. This leads to overfeeding of the baby and his stomach stretches. This irritates the diaphragmatic nerve and leads to a hiccup. Such a cause of hiccups in a newborn is not dangerous and does not require any special interventions.
Those cases when it is really worth worrying are the congenital defects of the diaphragm. This cause of hiccups in a newborn is not so frequent, but serious enough. The pathogenesis of the symptomatology in this case is that when the hernia of the diaphragm is formed, all internal organs can exit through the hernial gates. This leads to the fact that the diaphragm is clamped and its fibers contract. In a newborn, neural connections are not fully developed, so hiccups are a reaction to irritation of the diaphragm. Therefore, if the hiccup in the child is repeated often and there are other symptoms, then you need to think about the pathological causes of hiccups.
Another cause of hiccups can be the pathology of the central nervous system with a violation of the regulation of the act of normal breathing. Very often babies, who have hypoxic damages to the central nervous system, can not breathe on their own. This leads to a violation of innervation of all muscles of the chest and in the future after recovery may remain phenomena in which the function of the diaphragm is poorly regulated. This can cause hiccups in the child in the future, until it restores the normal operation of all muscles.
[2]
Risk factors
Risk factors for hiccup development are as follows:
- premature infant has a greater risk of lowering body temperature due to a lack of a thermoregulatory center;
- need for intubation after birth;
- improper feeding of the child;
- pathological course of pregnancy, which can lead to violations of the laying of organs, including the diaphragm;
- hypoxic-ischemic injury of the central nervous system;
- A low Apgar score and asphyxia in childbirth.
Symptoms of the hiccups in a newborn
Hiccups in a newborn after feeding are the most common. It occurs more often with improper feeding or overfeeding of the child. A baby's small stomach can at one time contain only a certain amount of milk or a mixture. Therefore, if a baby starts hiccuping during feeding, it is most likely that the feeding should be stopped. If the mother feeds the baby incorrectly or is in an uncomfortable position, then along with the milk the child can swallow the air. Often this happens if the child is fed with a mixture from the bottle and in the nipple a large opening that lets in a lot of air and breaks the feeding process. This is what can cause hiccups during feeding. It also signals that you need to stop feeding. Therefore, the connection of hiccups with the feeding of a child can only be if the feeding technique or excessive amount of nutrition is disrupted. Hiccups and regurgitation in a newborn can unequivocally speak about its overfeeding.
Hiccup immediately after feeding, which appears at a similar time and its episodes repeat, indicates a possible congenital or acquired pathology of the diaphragm, most often a hernia. When the baby's stomach is full, it presses against the diaphragm and internal organs come out through its supple places. Therefore, hiccup occurs immediately after feeding and is repeated very often. This hiccup lasts a while, and it does not decrease until the food is digested and the stomach volume does not decrease. Such a uniform, frequent and strong hiccup in a newborn after feeding, which does not give in to any corrective actions, should cause parents to fear in terms of congenital abnormalities in the child. But in this case, only the appearance of hiccups suggests that the pathology is not so serious. Most often, severe diaphragm defects are clinically manifested by breathing disorders from birth. Therefore, if there is just a hiccup and there are no other manifestations, then it is more likely that the pathology of the diaphragm is insignificant.
The hiccup of a newborn after regurgitation can also be one of the symptoms of the pathology of the diaphragm. Disruption of the feeding process, as indicated by regurgitation, leads to a disruption in the coordination of the muscles of the diaphragm. This is the root cause of hiccups, which arises when regurgitating a child. If the regurgitation of a large volume of the child and this is accompanied by a pronounced hiccup, you should think about incomplete atresia of the esophagus or the pathology of the development of the esophagus with the diaphragm. Therefore, it is very important how much the baby belches, and how much.
It often happens that a hiccup in a newborn appears after sleep. When a child has been sleeping for a long time, especially at night, his body temperature can be reduced due to hypoglycemia. A hungry newborn can reduce body temperature simply because he has not been fed for a long time. Therefore, a decrease in temperature causes muscle contraction and hiccups. In this case, the child just needs to be fed.
As for premature babies, they have very labile body temperature and are prone to hypoglycemia. Therefore, hiccups in a premature newborn child are most likely due to hypothermia or malnutrition. After some time, the body of the premature will grow stronger and hiccups must pass.
[5],
Complications and consequences
The consequences of hiccups, as a rule, are insignificant and if you improve the regime and technique of feeding the baby, provide him with comfortable conditions, then all the symptoms quickly pass.
Complications of hiccups can only be if it is caused by a hernia of the diaphragm. In this case, with a massive outlet of organs from the chest cavity, there may be an obstruction of the intestine.
Diagnostics of the hiccups in a newborn
Diagnosis of hiccups in a newborn child is not difficult. Mom complains about the occurrence of this symptom in a child and the only thing that needs to be clarified is the conditions for the appearance of hiccups. It is very important whether the hiccup is associated with feeding or it occurs during sleep. All these symptoms and their precise details help to establish a preliminary diagnosis and even find the cause.
Differential diagnosis
Additional diagnostic methods are not required only if there is a suspicion of a more serious pathology. In this case, differential diagnosis should be made between random hiccup and diaphragm pathology, which can cause similar symptoms. In this case, the general condition of the child is very important and there are no other manifestations. If there are episodes of dyspnea or cyanosis in the chin or nasolabial triangle, then other diseases should be ruled out. In this case, you can use ultrasound diagnosis or, if necessary, radiography. These methods allow to determine the presence of hernias, free air and localization of the pathological process with respect to the diaphragm.
Who to contact?
Treatment of the hiccups in a newborn
Means from hiccups of newborns are limited to non-medicamentous methods that mom makes to a child. Drugs that could stop hiccough, to date, almost does not exist. Alternative methods in newborns are also limited. Therefore, it is important to follow certain rules that can improve the baby's condition.
What to do with a hiccup in a newborn? First of all, mother should find out the possible reason for this and exclude it. Most often, such a cause is overeating or lowering of body temperature. Therefore, the first thing that mom must do is to make sure that the child is not cold. To do this, it is enough for your mother to touch her forehead and baby's arms and make sure that they are warm.
If hiccups occur during feeding or immediately after it, if it is accompanied by regurgitation, then most likely, the regime or technique of feeding is disturbed. How, then, to stop a hiccup in a newborn? If this occurs during feeding, you must first stop feeding the baby. Then you need to make sure that it is in a comfortable position and the air does not hit it along with the milk. For this you need to remember some rules of proper application to the chest. The child and mother should be in a comfortable position. The baby should cover the entire areola, not just the nipple. It is very important to feed your baby often, so that he does not eat very much at once with the swallowed air.
If the hiccup is combined with regurgitation of the child immediately after feeding, then you need to reduce the amount of food at a time. Overfeeding a child also has a very bad effect on the digestion of food. Therefore, it is necessary to feed the child more often, but in smaller portions. How to keep a newborn with a hiccup? It is best to abuse a hiccup in a hand at an angle of 45 degrees. This relieves diaphragm stress and reduces the pressure of the chest cavity.
Treatment of pathologies of the diaphragm in case of confirmation of this diagnosis is carried out by the surgeon. If the defect is large, then a surgical correction is performed. In case there are no special symptoms and the defect is insignificant, then resort to expectant tactics.
Forecast
The prognosis is favorable, if the hiccup is caused by functional reasons. If it is a question of congenital malformations or hernia of the diaphragm, then the prognosis depends on the magnitude of the defect and the degree of changes, but with a timely correction, the prognosis for life is favorable.
Hiccups in a newborn can be caused by different reasons, but the main thing that a mother should remember is that for such a child just needs the right care. If the hiccup is the only symptom that worries Mom, then it is more a functional disorder. If there are any other manifestations or the general condition of the child is broken, then you need to see a doctor.