A child of 4 years old hiccups all day. Hiccups in a child: reasons and how to quickly get rid of

Anyone can hiccup, both an adult and a child. But when it comes to baby hiccups, parents often get worried. Why does the baby hiccup?

How the hiccups mechanism starts

Hiccups result from contractions of the diaphragm as a result of irritation of the vagus nerve. These are involuntary movements, and it is impossible to influence the diaphragm by volitional effort. Rhythmic contractions of the diaphragm can occur when all muscles begin to make reflex small contractions to generate heat. If a person has eaten a larger amount of food than he is used to, or drank carbonated water, then the walls of the stomach begin to press on the diaphragm, and hiccups occur.

The mechanism can be triggered by nervous stress (fright, crying), strong laughter, exercise, become part of a hysterical attack, or develop as a result of strong mechanical compression of the diaphragm.

If hiccups bother a child for several days, or occurs regularly, consult a pediatrician.

Why does a newborn baby hiccup?

A newly born baby often hiccups after feeding. In this case, the diaphragm may not be irritated by the pressure of the stomach, but by the fact that food is thrown into the esophagus in the supine position. The esophagus passes through the opening of the diaphragm, and the vagus nerve passes here. In babies, the lower esophageal sphincter has not yet formed, and therefore easily passes food in both directions. When the baby is immediately placed after feeding, the milk flows back into the esophagus, and at the entrance to the diaphragm, it presses on the vagus nerve, expanding. If the baby also swallows air during feeding, then this mechanism is enhanced.

Hungry hiccups in children

It occurs as a result of stomach cramps and metabolic changes. When food enters the stomach, or even from a glass of water drunk, hungry hiccups pass. The dumping of gastric acid into the esophagus and heartburn also irritate the vagus nerve.

Hiccups are also common from eating dry water.

How to help a child with hiccups

Switching a child out of hiccups is often easy. The newborn just needs to be picked up in an upright position. If he hiccups after feeding, then the milk will return to the stomach, and the baby will relax in the mother's arms, and the hiccups will quickly pass. If the child hiccups from the cold, then in his arms he will warm up. Just don't be zealous and dress your baby warmer than necessary.

If your child has an older hiccup, it may be hungry or thirsty. Just offer him food, but don't insist if he refuses.

In children, hiccups often appear from overexcitation. Maybe he was just running and screaming / laughing loudly. In this case, you need to calm the child down, switch it over. Offer him to drink juice or water, with severe hiccups it is better to refrain from eating for now, otherwise there may be vomiting. Take the baby in your arms, put the older child on your lap, hug. Wiggle / twirl in your arms, but don't make you laugh again.

Get a relaxing massage. It's not that hard. The main thing is to switch the child's sensations, and impulses from other muscle groups will help the vagus nerve to reduce arousal.

Change the rhythm of the child's breathing: just offer to sing a song together. How it will turn out is not important, the main thing is that the child will begin to take deep breaths and smoother exhalations. Plus, his attention will switch to words and melody.

Natalia Trokhimets

Each mother has repeatedly noticed that her child often hiccups. This unpleasant phenomenon, accompanied by a characteristic stifled sound similar to "i-ik", raises many questions from parents.

Why do small children hiccup? Is this condition dangerous for his health and what does the appearance of hiccups indicate?

Unlike adults, children cannot cope with periodic attacks of hiccups on their own., therefore, in order to help their child, parents should be well informed about this phenomenon and know: what is hiccups, why it occurs, how to cope with it and what its occurrence testifies to.

Where do hiccups live?

This condition is quite common in children. Hiccups are caused by a nonspecific dysfunction of external respiration, which occurs as a result of jerky and convulsive contractions of the child's diaphragm and is manifested by intense, short respiratory movements.

From a medical point of view, hiccups are an unconscious and persistent powerful sigh, repeated many times with a sharp narrowing of the glottis. It is very easy to recognize hiccups in children, since in almost all cases it is accompanied by a characteristic sound, belching of air and a weak cry.

Children's hiccups are of two types

Episodic hiccups

This type of hiccups is often seen in daily life and appears without any serious reason. In order to get rid of this type of hiccups, you first need to determine the cause of its occurrence and eliminate it.

As a rule, attacks of episodic hiccups occur in children with severe hypothermia, with significant overeating, as well as with strong emotional and nervous excitability.

They are characterized by spontaneous disappearance, but if the attacks do not stop within half an hour, this is a signal that parents should intervene.

Prolonged hiccups

If the child is worried about regularly occurring (hiccups every day) and prolonged attacks of hiccups, then most likely this condition is a consequence of the progression in the child's body of any pathology.

This type of hiccups cannot be dealt with on your own, since only the appropriate specialist - a pediatrician - can determine its cause and prescribe treatment.

It is interesting! The longest bout of hiccups was officially recorded in the American Charles Osborne and lasted for 68 years. Despite the fact that Charles's hiccups did not respond to treatment, it did not prevent the man from leading a full life: finding a prestigious job, getting married and having children.

Now, let's talk about why your child often hiccups and what a competent parent should do.

Why does the child hiccup and how to help him?

Unfortunately, it is impossible to name the only correct and effective way to combat hiccups, since the choice of a method to eliminate this phenomenon will depend on its cause, as well as the age of the child. Among the main reasons for frequent hiccups in a child, the following factors can be distinguished:

Too rapid absorption of food and liquids, accompanied by swallowing of air

If the baby swallows a lot of air when feeding, then he begins to put pressure on the diaphragm and provoke attacks of hiccups, which is more typical for newborn babies, who often swallow air during breastfeeding.

Most often this happens if the baby eats too greedily and quickly, or, conversely, there is too large a hole in the mother's nipple, and the baby does not have time to swallow the breast milk coming through it.

In this case, in order to help the baby get rid of the hiccups, you need to raise him to an upright position and wait until all the excess air comes out with a burp, and then give the baby some warm water.

If at the same time the child vomited - do not worry, most likely, he swallowed a lot of air while feeding.

Binge eating

To stop the hiccups, give the child warm water and ask him to hold his breath for about 25 seconds.

Prolonged abstinence from drinking or eating

Frequent hiccups in children can also occur with prolonged abstinence from food and drink. In order to eliminate it, you need to feed the child and give him warm tea or milk.

Hypothermia

If the appearance of hiccups is associated with hypothermia of the child, then first of all you need to warm him up: change into warm clothes, give him warm milk with honey or tea to drink. It is best to wrap the baby in a warm blanket for a while.

Severe nervous shock, stress and fear

Emotional excitement, strong feelings, fears most often cause hiccups.

In order to eliminate hiccups in this case, you need to calm the baby., to figure out what is the reason for his feelings and fears.

If your child has hiccups all day and cannot calm down, try to distract him with a new, interesting activity. Carried away by something new and interesting, the kid himself will not notice how he stops hiccuping. If attacks of hiccups are regularly repeated against the background of stress, consult a psychologist.

The child hiccups when he laughs, because the sharp breaths pinch the vagus nerve. It, in turn, signals the diaphragm to contract and release it. Therefore, the main goal is to release and relax the vagus nerve.

Here are some ways to stop a baby's hiccups. The kid can do the following:

• drink some water, swallowing will make the diaphragm return to its normal state
• stand up and stretch straight while taking deep breaths in and out
• take in your mouth and chew a teaspoon of sugar, do not drink water (a method recently invented by British scientists)

Various pathological processes

What to do if the child hiccups constantly and cannot stop? Constant hiccups in most cases is a manifestation of some pathological process in the child's body. If you are unable to cope with it on your own or it reappears after a while, consult a doctor.

After all, attacks of hiccups can be signs:

Before you go to the doctor, observe the child, pay attention to when he hiccups, what accompanies these attacks, etc. This information will help the doctor quickly diagnose and prescribe treatment.

And if you are still pregnant and yours, then you should not be afraid. This is completely normal. We have considered all the causes of hiccups of children in the womb in a separate article.

Bloating is common in newborns. we described the main reasons and actions of parents to alleviate the condition of the baby.

How to save a child from repeated attacks of hiccups?

To avoid recurring hiccups in your child, pay attention to the duration of the hiccups, the timing of the onset, and the circumstances under which it occurs.

Remember that your baby may start to hiccup when hypothermia occurs, so try to dress him warmly at all times. If, when walking in the fresh air, the baby begins to hiccup, then most likely he is cold and you need to return home.

If your child is prone to emotional distress, then suddenly starting hiccups in him is a kind of reaction to stress.

In order to avoid a repetition of such attacks, communicate with your child more often, take an interest in his mood, try to find out why this or that circumstance causes such a strong emotional reaction in him.

If your baby has fears that he does not want to tell you about, take him to a psychologist. The sooner you start monitoring your child's psychological health, the more negative effects of stress you can avoid.

Summary of the article

• Hiccups are always an unpleasant phenomenon for a child, which prevents him from fully communicating with other children, brings discomfort.
• The baby cannot cope with this scourge on his own, so your main task, as parents, is to help him in this.
• To do this, ask him to drink some water in small sips, take a few breaths and hold his breath for about 20 seconds.
• Another way to stop your child's hiccups is to cool the earlobe, compress and massage the middle phalanx of the little finger, and distract the child with a new and exciting activity.

Now you know how to remove hiccups from a child and why a child can hiccup very often.

Video about hiccups

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Olga Prokhorchenko 03.24.2015 1288

It is not worth ringing bells if your child sometimes hiccups, for example after eating. However, prolonged hiccups in a child can be a dangerous wake-up call.

We offer you to understand the causes of hiccups and how to "eliminate" it at home.

Causes of hiccups

Medicine defines hiccups as an unconscious and unsteady powerful sigh that is repeated many times with a sharp narrowing of the glottis.

You have probably experienced this condition often when you were breastfeeding your baby and he was swallowing air while sucking. To eliminate unnecessary air, nature has come up with a special reflex - hiccups. Also, the baby may hiccup due to the fact that he is cold or very frightened of strangers.

Now let's look at the causes of hiccups in older children:

1. Eating food in a hurry, during which the child captures a large amount of air.
2. Binge eating.
3. Extreme stress.
4. Pathologies in the body, for example, inflammatory processes; diseases of the gastrointestinal tract; infections, etc.

Hiccups are of two types: episodic and long... The first type can occasionally bother a child. But the second type - hiccups torment the child almost every day - is a possible symptom of a serious illness. You should immediately go with the child to the doctor so that the specialist excludes the presence of a number of diseases, including oncology.

How to get rid of hiccups quickly?

There are three reliable remedies in the arsenal of fighting hiccups:

• Water - a glass of water will help stop an attack of hiccups in a child; it is important that he drank it in small sips slowly.
• Holding your breath - the child should take a deep breath, then several swallowing movements. You can still stick out your tongue.
• Breathing into a paper bag - the child should take air into the lungs, and then make several exhalations into a paper bag.

But what if they don't help, and the hiccups continue? You can turn to traditional medicine:

1. Massage your child's middle phalanx of the little finger and ask him to exhale several times at this time.

2. Give your child a soothing herbal tea if the hiccups are caused by fear or stress. The following herbs are great:

• valerian;
• motherwort;
• mint;
• chamomile.

3. With prolonged hiccups, daily use in the morning on an empty stomach of a glass of clean water with a few drops of lemon juice will help relieve the condition.

4. During a sudden onset of hiccups, let your child nibble on a piece of refined sugar, crackers, or offer to suck on a slice of lemon.

5. Massage your earlobes.

6. Press down on the diaphragm area.

If your child's hiccups continue, ask them to do simple exercises, squat, or jump. Keep him company in this physical education minute.

By the way, if the child has not experienced hiccups before, and suddenly this reflex "overtook" him, you should explain to him the reasons for the hiccups, and also suggest how to deal with it. After a while, the child will learn to stop the hiccups on their own.

The muscles of the diaphragm contract - thus hiccups are formed.

Exists a few reasonsthat can cause hiccups. However, the full picture of the mechanism of the occurrence of hiccups is not entirely clear even to scientists.

Some scientists arguethat the vagus nerve is excited and thereby presses on the diaphragm. Others saythat this is how the respiratory organs are trained.

Causes

Causes the appearance of hiccups in babies is extremely simple.

One of the common causes of hiccups in babies is air penetration into the stomach... When overfeeding, the vagus nerve is compressed, since the baby's stomach walls can easily stretch.

When, if the newborn did not burp in time, then this air can penetrate further along the digestive tract and thereby cause colic in the future.

When breastfeeding, the mother should monitor the presence of milk, if the baby does not have time to swallow the mother's milk, then air also enters with him.

When feeding with an adapted formula it is necessary to monitor the size of the opening at the nipple and hold the bottle correctly. Nowadays, many bottles are produced with special nipples that are not able to pass air.

After every feeding you need to hold the baby with a column in order to regurgitate the accumulated air and allow the child to catch his breath.

Emotional condition the baby can also provoke hiccups. With a loud sound or light, or any other unusual external influence on the baby, the diaphragm will begin to contract. Therefore, they say that hiccup with fright.

In such cases, you need to create a safe, familiar environment for your child, reassure and distract.

Thirst can also cause hiccups. When the mouth is dry or the digestive tube is dry, the baby may be prone to hiccups. You just need to give the baby some water to drink.

With hypothermia hiccups may appear. As a rule, this can be when the baby is dressed lighter than usual, or the window is opened.

Fortunately, children of conscientious parents rarely freeze. And it is enough for the child to put on warm socks and hug him, the hiccups will pass.

Should Hiccups Be Treated in Newborns?

If you know the cause of hiccups and you can easily get rid of it, then you have no reason to see a doctor.

But, if the baby hiccups for a long time, while the child is agitated, often spits up, a cough joins, then you need to see a doctor.

If necessary a pediatrician or neurologist will refer you for examination and prescribe treatment.

Prevention methods

With simple prevention methods, hiccups will go away quickly.

For example, when breastfeeding a baby, it is necessary to control how the baby takes the breast and how much milk he receives.

When bottle feeding with formula watch the hole in the nipple and hold the bottle correctly. Also, after each feeding, you need to hold the baby with a column.

Keep your home comfortable, baby's day regimen.

The temperature at home should be optimal for the child, when walking, you need to objectively dress the baby so as not to overheat and overcool.

If prevention does not help, do I need to see a doctor?

For additional symptoms possible diseases such as worms... They are usually common in older children, less often in infants.

Also, frequent hiccups for no apparent reason possible in case of disorders in the brain and spinal cord... Here, a neuropathologist will prescribe an ultrasound of the brain to the baby and then prescribe treatment.

In case of diseases of the pancreas, digestive system or liver can also join hiccups. In this case, the gastroenterologist should provide assistance.

Prolonged hiccups can cause pneumonia or viral infections... With the inflammatory process, the diaphragm is irritated and contraction begins, thereby causing hiccups.

If the child has recently had an acute respiratory illness, it is possible hiccups are a direct cause of any inflammation in the body.

If the listed reasons for worrying are not present, then after 10 minutes, the hiccups will go away on their own or with the help of parents.

But, if your baby has additional anxiety symptomsthen this is a signal for the implementation of the corresponding measures, which are listed above.

In any case, for a little man, even such a simple problem as hiccups can turn into a stressful situation, and young parents should remember this.

How to get rid of hiccups? Housekeeping program

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Hiccups in children occur quite often. In most cases, it manifests itself only sporadically, from time to time, but in some cases an unpleasant symptom accompanies the child for a long time and regularly, regardless of the external conditions and lifestyle - here we can talk about a serious pathology.

How to correctly determine the cause of hiccups, what effective measures exist to combat it, and how serious the consequences can be? You will read about this and much more in our article.

Causes of hiccups in children 3-7 years old

The list of typical causes of hiccups in children usually includes:

• Hypothermia... Often on the street you can meet a child who is not dressed for the weather - too lightly, especially in the autumn-winter period. Similarly, with the wrong microclimate at home and temperatures below sanitary standards, hiccups may appear;
• Poorly balanced diet... Too abundant, fatty and unhealthy food, eaten dry, carbonated drinks in large quantities, often cause hiccups;
• Nervous excitement... In too emotional children, moreover, mobile ones, the symptom can manifest itself with peaks of physical and mental activity.

The most common causes of debilitating pathological hiccups in a child that occur without visible external signs:

Physiologically, the reasons for the formation of short and episodic hiccups in a child can be identified independently, carefully, subjecting a thorough study to the child's diet, his clothes, adherence to temperature recommendations at home and on the street, as well as daily rhythms of life.

Pathological factors can only be detected by comprehensive medical diagnostics in a specialized institution.

After contacting a pediatrician, a specialist will study your complaints, conduct an initial examination of the child and a differential study, and then, if necessary, send him for tests and instrumental examination. Typical activities on this spectrum to search for a disease or syndrome include:

• Tests of blood, urine and feces, scrapings, if necessary - biopsy;
• Ultrasound, CT and MRI;
• Endoscopic examination, X-ray, immunogram and other methods if a specific pathology is suspected.

How to get rid of hiccups in a child

If the cause of the hiccups is a pathological factor, then your pediatrician prescribes the appropriate individual treatment based on the diagnosis, the current state of the child's body, taking into account the presence of other diseases, including chronic ones. A short-term seizure associated with a physiological manifestation can be corrected by yourself.

The hiccups themselves occur when the diaphragm spasms or contracts, and it affects the larynx and vocal cords. Below are the most famous ways to get rid of hiccups, depending on the age of children.

Some of the above methods for getting rid of hiccups in children may not work right away - if the result is negative, then try alternative options.

• Children about 1 year old - switch the baby's attention to distracted activities, try to calm him down. Give some warm drink, preferably plain water;
• Child 2-5 years old... At this age, you can try to carry out special breathing exercises. Together with the child, inhale and exhale 3-4 times as deeply as possible, then hold the breath on the next inhalation and hold it for 20 seconds. Repeat the procedure 4-5 times and with a high degree of probability the diaphragm will straighten out, and the hiccups will disappear;

• 1 year and older... Give your child 1 spoonful of sugar or a slice of lemon - a very sweet or sour product can kill hiccups;
• 2 years and older... Let the baby hold his nose with his left palm, raise his head a little and drink ordinary water at room temperature from a cup, preferably in small sips, slowly and measuredly. After 1-2 treatments, the symptom usually disappears.

Causes of hiccups in newborns

Physiological hiccups in a newborn baby or infant usually occur for 3 main reasons:

• Body hypothermia... Thermoregulation in the youngest children who have recently been born is still extremely unstable, therefore, the slightest fluctuations in ambient temperature, both outdoors and indoors, can lead to hypothermia. One of the manifestations of this process is hiccups;
• Swallowing air... In the process of breastfeeding or with the help of a bottle with a nipple, the baby can swallow air with food - it enters the stomach and begins to press on the diaphragm, causing an unpleasant symptom;
• Strong crying... Long and intense crying can lead to hiccups.

How to eliminate the causes?

• Pay close attention to the ambient temperature, dress your baby exclusively for the weather and 1 layer of clothing more than for adults. Maintain a constant temperature regime at home with appropriate humidity - the best option would be 18 degrees Celsius;
• Try to feed your baby on time, avoiding severe starvation, so that he suckles in moderation. When feeding from a bottle, do not widen the opening at the nipple so that the liquid flow is minimal - this will protect against overeating, improve the sucking reflex and prevent a large amount of air from entering the baby's stomach;

• Do not leave the child crying a lot - long-term negative emotions not only cause hiccups, but also provoke infant stresses, respiratory failure and other unpleasant, sometimes even dangerous symptoms.

Causes of hiccups in a baby in the womb

Hiccups in a child in the womb are not so common in medical practice, however, it is periodically diagnosed by medical specialists based on complaints from patients during pregnancy.

General manifestations of hiccups in an unborn baby are usually rather weak and appear in the form of light rhythmic jerks, which are less active than the classic movement, but can accompany the baby for a long period of time, up to 3-4 hours.

As a rule, the symptom does not cause inconvenience to the expectant mother, unless of course it occurs during the day - a restless night's rest with a number of the fair sex, supplemented by such a manifestation, can wake up a woman.

Modern medicine has not yet identified the exact cause of hiccups in unborn children. Researchers offer several theories, one way or another explaining the phenomenon from a physiological or pathological point of view:

• Lung and diaphragm training... It is assumed that the future baby from the 2nd trimeter of pregnancy at the reflex level prepares the lungs and the diaphragm for future work in an atmospheric environment. Such training of primary breathing skills is completely harmless and physiologically justified;
• Swallowing amniotic fluid... Some researchers believe that attacks of hiccups in an unborn child occur after involuntary swallowing of a large amount of amniotic fluid and their expulsion from the still unstraightened lungs. In this case, no specific therapy is required;
• Fetal hypoxia... The most pessimistic theory assumes oxygen starvation of the fetus due to a number of pathologies and a response to this in the form of hiccups. If such a diagnosis can be detected by modern instrumental methods, then the only option for getting rid of the problem is complex, individual treatment for health reasons.

If attacks of hiccups in a future baby appear very often, several times a day for a week, it is worth informing your gynecologist about this - if necessary, the pregnant woman will be sent for a comprehensive diagnosis.

The cause of the symptom is physiological? No special action is required. Try to restore your peace of mind, slowly and gently stroke your belly and try to talk affectionately with the unborn child, sing a lullaby to him.

A hiccup attack manifests itself at night and interferes with sleep? Try to change your sleeping position, roll over to the other side. Before a night's rest, do not eat fatty, salty, sweet foods, go to bed on time, preferably before 22 pm. If possible, carry out relaxation procedures in the evening (a leisurely walk, massage, warm shower, aromatherapy, listening to quiet calm music).