2023 Author: Anita Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-22 03:30
For the past fifteen minutes, her little body has quivered to the rhythm of hiccups and hops. You thought it was cute at first, but now the worry starts to eat away at you.
What if baby hurts? What if it was dangerous? What did I do wrong?
Remember, even while baby was still in your womb, he would sometimes have episodes of hiccups that you witnessed. For long minutes (which could stretch up to half an hour), your stomach was shaken by small jolts.
Baby is therefore familiar with hiccups. In fact, he spent 1% of his intrauterine life having it. We can therefore say that it is an altogether normal and rather banal phenomenon.
Why the hiccups
Even if in the vast majority of cases there is no need to worry, it is interesting to understand - or try to understand - this strange phenomenon. To demystify it all, we sought the expertise of Delphine Bélanger, osteopath at theClinique Inspiration.
“It is difficult to scientifically explain the primary cause of hiccups in babies, but it is strongly believed to be a reflex symptom of the baby and its diaphragm, when the latter swallows too much air,”Ms. Bélanger explains straight away. So, at the risk of disappointing all the grandmothers out there, hiccups have no connection to weight gain as one popular believer would have it.
Neither painful nor disturbing, hiccups can however become an irritant. If the seizures persist over time, or are too frequent, they can affect the quality of baby's sleep and/or his mood.
All the wacky tricks advised to adults (drinking water with your head thrown back, putting a cold key behind your back, etc.) are, of course, useless and completely inadvisable for babies. To make hiccups disappear, the best ally is time. You have to be patient.
Osteopathy, an avenue to consider
If hiccups are frequent, osteopathy is an interesting avenue. “First, we assess the diaphragm, ribs and stomach/esophagus to make sure there is no excessive pressure in this area, then we look at the nervous system as it relates to these structures. Stretching the entire anterior chain of the baby often helps to rebalance the pressures and release the tensions of the digestive sphere,” specifies the qualified osteopath.
Prevent so as not to suffer
Manual work in osteopathy is therefore an avenue to consider in order to limit - or even eliminate - frequent attacks of hiccups, but the best remedy remains prevention.
- During drinking, it is advisable to havemultiple baby burps
- Do not put baby to bed immediately after feeding
- For non-breastfeeding mothers, use air-free bottles
- Do not overstimulate baby
Nevertheless, if the situation worries you, or if the frequency of hiccups seems abnormally high to you, it is recommended to consult a doctor to make sure that baby has no malformation of the diaphragm.
