Parents are waiting for the baby to be borna real miracle. Although why how? The appearance of a new life is a real miracle. And when the baby is born, it immediately becomes the object of close attention of parents and numerous relatives. Every movement, every breath of the baby is monitored. And sometimes parents notice with horror that the newborn hiccups. A terrible panic immediately begins - hiccups frighten parents very much, they are ready to "raise everyone and everything on their ears" with the question "What to do?" However, is this panic always justified? After all, as a rule, this hiccups do not cause much inconvenience to the baby himself, even if it continues for a very long time. When should you start worrying and what should you be afraid of?
Why does hiccups appear?
What hiccups are is probably known to everyone.- this is a contraction of the diaphragm, which is convulsive in nature. For those who do not remember anatomy - doctors call the diaphragm the muscular barrier that separates the abdominal and chest cavities. The glottis suddenly closes and a characteristic sound occurs. And if vomiting is a sign of a malfunction of the digestive system, then hiccups are an exclusively reflex phenomenon associated with the activity of the nervous system. Despite the fact that hiccups and food are not directly related, certain nutritional errors can still lead to the occurrence of hiccups in a newborn baby. Let's try to understand this issue in more detail:
- Excessive overeating
In case the baby has eaten too muchamount of food, the appearance of hiccups is not so rare. It occurs because the walls of the stomach, which are too stretched, exert excessive pressure on the baby's diaphragm.
- Ingestion of the stomach
Sometimes the stomach walls become overstretched not because oftoo much food, but because the baby swallows air during feeding. This can happen because the baby eats too quickly and greedily, or the nipple has too big a hole. Of course, in these cases, hiccups begin soon after eating. By the way, nursing mothers, take note! If you have a lot of milk, slightly express the excess. Otherwise, the baby will choke, and accordingly, swallow air. And as a result, hiccups will occur immediately after eating.
- Inflammation of the intestine
Quite often the cause of hiccups ininfants experience intestinal bloating. The same thing happens as when swallowing air or overeating - the intestinal walls squeeze the stomach, which in turn presses on the diaphragm, causing hiccups.
- Problems with the central nervous system
In some cases, the cause for the occurrencehiccups can be caused by nervous shocks or excessive emotions of the baby - a visit from a stranger, bright light, a loud sharp sound. This is a kind of neurosis, but can also be observed in children with a completely healthy nervous system, just more sensitive. In some cases, the systematic occurrence of hiccups can be a direct consequence of some birth injuries, or intrauterine hypoxia. Fortunately, this is extremely rare, so you should not immediately suspect the worst.
What to do?
So, with those reasons that are oftenprovoke the development of hiccups in a very young child, we have figured it out. Now let's find out what to do if a child hiccups often. As a rule, isolated cases of hiccups do not require special concern and intervention. And it is quite easy to cope with them.
- Heat
For example, if a baby is cold and starts hiccupping,it is necessary to either dress it or move it to a warmer room. You can give the baby some warm water to drink - very often this measure immediately stops hiccups.
- Food intake
If you notice that your baby hiccups mainlyAfter eating, pay special attention to the feeding procedure itself. It was already mentioned above that it is necessary to choose the right nipple - milk should flow out drop by drop, and not pour in a stream. Otherwise, the child will swallow a lot of air. In the event that you are breastfeeding, also make sure that the child eats quickly, without choking. And be sure to control the latch on the breast - when it is correct, almost no air gets into the baby's digestive system. Immediately after the newborn eats, it is recommended to eliminate the cause of hiccups - air. To do this, hold the baby in an upright position for several minutes in a row so that all the air that has entered the stomach comes out. By the way, this simple measure will help to avoid not only hiccups, but also regurgitation of food. In the same case, if the child hiccups constantly occur, lasts for a very long time, you should not try to independently figure out why it occurs and what to do with it. In some cases, such persistent hiccups can be a sign of serious pathologies such as diseases of the nervous system or pneumonia. And such children need urgent hospitalization. Doctors will quickly find out why such a situation arose. We recommend reading:
