Patient's question:
My newborn baby who is only 15 days old has been hiccuping for a long time after feeding. To relieve her hiccups, I gave her water and held her upright while gently patting her back, but it didn't help. The baby is still hiccuping. What could be the reason for hiccuping in newborns?Doctor's answer:
Newborns burping after feeding is a very common phenomenon. In the first six months after birth, if a baby swallows air while drinking milk but doesn't burp, burping may occur. The best way to prevent newborn burping is to burp the baby after feeding. After feeding the baby, if the parent doesn't burp the baby, as a general rule, as long as the baby is held upright for 20 to 30 minutes, the air will gradually rise and naturally expel, and the baby will burp on its own.When newborns drink milk, they often fall asleep while drinking. When the baby is already asleep, parents may hesitate whether to burp the baby or not—will this wake the baby up? In fact, even if the baby is asleep, parents should still help burp the baby. Even sleeping babies burp and will expel air from their bodies just the same.