Are Hiccups Normal?

Hi Crissy,
Hiccups are sometimes a sign of overstimulation. Some children are more sensitive to sensory input than others. There is a brushing technique to reduce this sensitivity. If you want to contact me, I will explain more. I am a former early childhood specialist.
Victoria

My son is 4 and he has had hiccups since I was pregnant with him. He gets them ALL the time!! As a baby we would give him Milicon drops (per his ped-dr). We had to be carefull with my little boy becuase he has reflux pretty bad, and if the hiccups became too hard, or if he had them for too long, he would vomit some, or have really bad heart burn. But other than that, they are just fine. Our pedi said that it is sometimes it can be a sign of a growth spurt.

I think as long as she is still eating, drinking and sleeping well, then she should be fine. I would only be concerned if any of that changes, or if she begins to vomit with them. (though the latter is rare, it could be a sign of reflux issues which are not a big deal at all.)

Good luck! Hope this puts your mind at ease!

My baby girl gets them all the time too. I think a lot of babies do. We give her gripe water. It's all natural. Made from Ginger and fennel. Can get it at target. There are 2 brands. Both have worked for us. We use the less expensive kind now.

could mean she is getting too much air when she drinks.

The hiccups are okay, except that they are no fun. They are not harmful unless you have them all day and it interferes with your sleep. Get a jar of claussen dill pickles, everytime she gets the hiccups let her have one, it makes the hiccups go away instantly!

Hi C.,
Yes, hiccups are very normal. My son had them very often when he was younger (he just turned 2 last month) and it would drive me batty b/c it would keep him from being able to sleep sometimes.

With the permission of our pediatrician, we would give him a dropperful of Gripe Water, which is a natural anti-hiccup/gas/colic liquid found at Babies 'R' Us, among other places.

It worked AMAZINGLY well! By the time he was done taking the liquid from the dropper, the hiccups were GONE---almost INSTANTLY!!! The key was to have him take the dropperful very slowly, making multiple swallows (or go ahead and add a dropperful...the actual dosage for a 20-month old is more than a single dropperful, but the hiccups go away so instantly, you may be able to conserve, like we did).

If it happens to be a meal or snack time, then give her her sippy cup or bottle instead of using the Gripe Water. We found that if our son gulped down a liquid---again, multiple swallows---that would make them go away, too. I guess it disrupts the rhythm of the hiccups?!

Anyway, there are a couple of things to try! I hope they work for you...and GOOD LUCK!!

D.

Absolutely, and she probably had them a lot while you were pregnant with her if I had my guess. They say that they hiccup more when they're tired (especially if a lot of people have been around and handling them).

hiccups are pretty normal, it just means there is air in her lungs and it's trying to get out... I really wouldn't worry about it, talk to her doctor on your next visit...

Hiccups are very normal. It is more common in newborns and reduces as they age. By the time the baby is one your old, it completely vanishes. If it does continue, watch the frequency. Recurrent hicccups might need medical attention.
Advantages of Hiccups in infants:
Lung expansion which is very vital at this age.
Signal that baby needs some water to grink.
Babies that control their tendencies to crying often are faced with hiccups.
It is Ok for a baby to cry. It is a way to express his or her emotions good for the lungs too.
On the other hand, hiccups might be a sign that drops of fluids are in the wrong side of lungs. Seek medical attention immediately. You might notice that a baby with frequent hiccups had had long minutes of crying, most babies would go into sleep after this episode. It is very normal. Do not panic.

From what I've always known about hiccups is your just swallowing air. So she may be not breathing very well thru her nose which causes her to breathe more from her mouth and if she is eating or drinking and she swallows air then she'll get hiccups. Has her nose been stuffy lately? My trick for getting rid of them has always been to take small sips of water, as many as I can, without taking a breath. As to not swallow any air with it. Mine are always gone with one drink of doing that! That may not be so easy for a 20 month old but it might be worth a try cuz its free!!