What Causes Baby Hiccups and What to Do about It

Knowing to What Causes Baby Hiccups and What to Do about It

Short rhythmic twitches in the womb during the pregnancy’s third trimester may cause alarm to pregnant women. These twitches are nothing to be scared of. The short rhythmic twitches are your baby’s hiccups while he or she is still in your womb. This is quite surprising for first time moms because they don’t know that babies do have hiccups while they are still in the womb. But what causes baby hiccups while they are still in the womb and what causes baby hiccups after they are born? There are many questions that need to be answered especially for first-time moms who have not experienced baby hiccups while the baby is still in their womb.

What Causes Baby Hiccups While They Are Still in the Womb?

Fetal hiccups or baby hiccups in the womb during the third trimester of pregnancy are normal. It is felt as constant twitching in her womb. Fetal hiccups only happen when the baby’s Central Nervous System or CNS is fully developed. Fetal hiccups may be caused by cord compression, swallowing of amniotic fluid, or by mere breathing of the baby for mere entrance and exit of fluid in the baby’s lungs cause hiccups. Hiccups, in general, are involuntary reflex movements. Some babies hiccup a couple of times a day while others rarely hiccup.

Learning about What Causes Baby Hiccups - What are the Causative Factors of Infantile Hiccups?

Hiccups occur even after the baby was born and all throughout his or her lifetime. Hiccups are involuntary and uncontrollable tightening of the muscle sheet that separates the chest from the abdomen which is known as the diaphragm. The diaphragm contracts whenever you inhale and exhale air. But when the diaphragm is irritated, the muscle sheet is abruptly pulled and air is forcefully inhaled which results to abrupt closing of the vocal cords, thus producing the “hic” sound. But what causes baby hiccups or infantile hiccups? According to some research, infantile hiccups are caused by air intake during bottle-feeding and it also occurs when the baby quickly drank the milk.




Prevention and Remedies of Infantile Hiccups

Baby or infantile hiccups are easily prevented by using the appropriate nipple for the baby’s age and ability to suck and swallow the milk, and ensuring that the baby does not consume the milk quickly. It is also very important to burp the baby after feeding to ensure that the air swallowed by the baby during feeding is eliminated. The position of the baby should be regularly changed during feeding and it is important to feed the baby before he or she becomes very hungry to avoid hurried sucking and swallowing of milk.


Hiccups are normal occurrence in the body. But what causes baby hiccups may be different from the causative factors of adults. Moms should not be afraid of baby hiccups for it indicates that their baby’s CNS is fully developed and functioning well. What Causes Baby Hiccups