Hiccups

[Wishing84]

Our little one is 9 days old and gets terrible hiccups. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with this? Thanks

 

[caseysmummy11]

I find giving lily a drink of either milk or water helps as the sucking seems to stop them or putting her on my chest and cuddling her also works. My mum always says hiccups is a sign a babies thriving not sure how true that it though I know they hate hiccups! Xxx

 

[bigbee]

We get a lot of hiccups too... I just hold him upright in the hope they go away! as caseysmummy pointed out, you can give the baby some milk if they don't stop after a while.

 

[Niknaknoo]

A bit of a suck seems to help my boy, he had them the other night at 4am and was drifting off to sleep then hiccups woke him up a few times! Back on the boob for a while and they disappeared. X

 

[Wishing84]

Thanks ladies. Will give that a go x

 

[Orion]

I thought the advice these days was not to give babies water until they're on food rather than breastmilk/formula - it can be dangerous.

 

[cossie13]

Alex gets hiccups all the time! And honestly nothing seems to work for him, we just have to wait for them to go away on their own!

Orion, our HV told us to give him cooled boiled water in between feeds as it may not be hunger as apparently formula fed babies are more prone to being thirsty and getting dehydrated than breast fed babies

 

[lisastevo]

My little boy still gets hiccups a lot at 6 months. You
Just have to ride it out. My boy isn't bothered by them at all. After having him I was on the ward and he was getting them after every feed and I called for the midwife and she said to me "you're not going to ask me how to get rid of hiccups are you?" I said yes and she just said that baby's get them and it worries parents more than them. He used to get them all the time in my belly, it was annoying!!

 

[Orion]

On my antenatal course the mw said not to give extra water as over hydrating baby can be harmful, and if you make the bottles correctly they get all the liquid they need. Also, you're filling their tummy with liquid that has no nutritional value which can cause them not to drink as much formula and can cause weight loss. I haven't looked into it, that's just what I've been told. First time mum so I'm just relying on what the mw said.

 

[caseysmummy11]

I've always been told to give cooled boiled water between feeds as bottle fed babies need it. I find if I don't give it lily gets really consipated. I only give her a little at a time she has an ounce maybe then won't take anymore. I would ask your hv orion. I may ask mine too as I'm just going on what my last hv said when my son went onto bottles xxx

 

[Orion]

NHS says that babies may require a little extra water only in hot weather.

What to Expect says not to give water, as did my midwife.

Confusing. I don't think it's meant to be used as a daily thing. Just if its sweltering hot or they're ill and they're at a higher risk of dehydrating.

 

[caseysmummy11]

It's all very conflicting advice at times. You would think it would be standard. Oo actually I have a birth to 5 book the hv gave be when my son was born I'll see what that says too. If that says not to give extra water aswell i won't bother as don't want her to loose any weight from it. Won't see my hv til 10th now xxx

 

[Orion]

Totally agree. Not sure how mums are meant to know what to do when the 'expert' health professionals can't even get their advice straight.

One thing they all seem to agree on though is that hiccups don't hurt baby. Although it'd be good to reduce them, baby probably won't be upset by them.

 

[caseysmummy11]

Lily gets frustrated with them after a little while as she struggles to get off to sleep with them. Exactly from the 2 different health visitors I've had the advice has been so different. I'm not sure which to follow at times! Xxx