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Moms listen to the slightest change in the breathing of their babies, and even an attack of hiccups can provoke real panic.
Children are like creatures from another planet. Their tiny bodies have more bones than an adult, they have a beating fontanel, and their kneecaps are still missing. They even have a special hiccup! And here’s what you need to know about her.
1. Begins before birth
Intrauterine hiccups – it happens. In most cases, the expectant mother does not notice this, only sometimes you can feel frequent weak tremors in the stomach. Intrauterine hiccups have nothing to do with the food a woman eats. This is just a sign that the child is developing normally.
2. Adult remedies for hiccups will not help
How do we try to cope with an attack of hiccups? We drink a glass of water in one gulp, hands clasped behind our backs, hold our breath as much as possible. With children, all these methods, for obvious reasons, will not work: it is impossible to make a baby hold his breath, and it is stupid, and giving water to babies is not just not recommended, but even dangerous.
3. It can happen while eating
Hiccups generally overwhelm infants more often than adults. This is because they are not yet very good at controlling breathing. This often happens after or during a meal. Perhaps the baby is gasping for air in the process. Another reason: the child ate too fast or ate too much.
4. You can’t feed a hiccuping baby
The kid may choke. If you notice that he has begun to hiccup, try holding the baby in a column – he will regurgitate excess air, and you can continue the process. Try to change the position – perhaps the baby is not very comfortable, the diaphragm is compressed, and therefore he begins to hiccup. In any case, try to take a short break from feeding.
5. Changing the regime helps with hiccups
If changing the position during feeding does not help, you can try other ways to save the baby from the misfortune. In case the baby hiccups due to the fact that he eats too much, you can try to feed him not as long as usual, but more often.
6. Don’t try to experiment
Among the popular ways to stop infant hiccups, you will not find anything. Here and advice to cover the baby’s face with a damp cloth, and conspiracies, and fear. If conspiracies are at least harmless, other methods are simply not safe. The only thing that can help calm your baby is to gently rock him or give him a massage. The baby’s body will relax and the spasms will recede.
7. Temperature matters
Many mothers know that children often pee when they are cold: the body gets rid of excess fluid that needs to be heated, but there is not enough heat anyway. So, temperature also affects hiccups. But not the environment, but food. If the baby ate something cold, and then too warm, he may begin to hiccup. As well as due to the inappropriate temperature of the mixture, milk or porridge.
8. Hiccups are normal
For adults, hiccups can be uncomfortable, sometimes even the stomach begins to ache. But for newborn babies, hiccupping is completely normal. Therefore, push aside the panic and just wait out this moment. By the way, it would be nice to record it on video – it will be funny.
9. But there are nuances
If you are still worried, it is not a sin to ask the pediatrician again. And you should be on your guard if the child does not just hiccup, but also spits up profusely, and during feeding he strains too much, arching his back.