Newborn hiccups are almost always harmless and resolve on their own, typically lasting about 8 to 10 minutes per episode. They’re one of the most common concerns new parents search for, but in most cases, hiccups bother you far more than they bother your baby. That said, there are simple techniques that can shorten an episode and reduce how often they happen.
Why Newborns Hiccup So Often
Hiccups happen when the diaphragm, the dome-shaped muscle below the lungs, contracts involuntarily. In newborns, this is especially common because the nervous system pathways that control breathing are still developing. The circuits that process body sensations aren’t fully wired at birth, and hiccups appear to play a role in building those connections.
Research from University College London found that each hiccup triggers a distinct pattern of brainwaves in a newborn’s cortex: two large waves followed by a third that resembles the brain’s response to sound. This suggests the baby’s brain is learning to connect the “hic” sound with the physical sensation of the diaphragm contracting, essentially training itself to monitor and eventually control breathing muscles voluntarily. So while hiccups can seem alarming, they may actually serve a developmental purpose in the early weeks of life.
The most common everyday trigger is swallowed air during feeding, which distends the stomach and irritates the diaphragm. Overfeeding and feeding too quickly can have the same effect.
How to Stop Hiccups Mid-Episode
If your baby is hiccupping and seems uncomfortable, a few gentle strategies can help relax the diaphragm and shorten the episode.
Offer a pacifier. Non-nutritive sucking helps relax the diaphragm and can stop hiccups without introducing more milk (and more air) into the stomach. If your baby doesn’t take a pacifier, letting them suck on a clean finger works the same way.
Hold your baby upright. Keeping them in an upright position for 10 to 15 minutes after feeding helps any trapped air rise naturally so it can be burped out, taking pressure off the diaphragm.
Gently rub or pat their back. Light, upward strokes on the back can encourage a burp, which often relieves the stomach distension triggering the spasms. There’s no need to pat hard. A slow, circular rub between the shoulder blades is enough.
If none of these work, it’s perfectly fine to simply wait. Most episodes resolve within about 8 minutes on their own, and babies generally aren’t distressed by them even when parents are.
Preventing Hiccups During Feeding
Since swallowed air is the biggest trigger, small adjustments to how you feed can make a noticeable difference in how often hiccups show up.
Burp at regular intervals. For bottle-fed babies, pause for a burp after every 2 to 3 ounces. If you’re breastfeeding, burp your baby before switching sides. Your baby may fuss at the interruption, especially when hungry, but clearing air midway through a feeding prevents it from traveling deeper into the digestive system where it’s harder to release.
Check the latch. A poor latch is one of the biggest sources of excess air. For breastfed babies, make sure their lips form a seal around the areola, not just the nipple. For bottle-fed babies, the lips should wrap around the base of the nipple, not the tip. If you hear clicking or smacking sounds during feeding, the seal likely isn’t tight enough.
Angle the bottle correctly. Tilt the bottle to about 30 or 40 degrees so air rises to the bottom of the bottle, away from the nipple. This way your baby gets milk with each suck rather than a mix of milk and air. If you notice large bubbles streaming through the milk while your baby feeds, the angle needs adjusting.
Feed before your baby is frantic. A desperately hungry baby gulps faster and swallows more air. Watching for early hunger cues, like rooting, lip-smacking, or bringing hands to the mouth, lets you start a feeding before crying begins and the pace becomes frantic.
What Not to Do
Many traditional hiccup remedies that work (or at least feel harmless) for adults are genuinely unsafe for newborns. Avoid all of the following:
- Scaring the baby. Startling a newborn doesn’t reset the diaphragm. It causes distress and can trigger more crying, which means more swallowed air.
- Giving water. Babies under six months should not be given water. It can interfere with nutrition, dilute electrolytes, and in young infants, even small amounts carry real risk.
- Pulling the tongue or pressing on the fontanelle. These folk remedies have no mechanism of action and risk injuring a fragile infant.
- Pinching the nose. This interferes with breathing and causes panic.
- Feeding more. If overfeeding or swallowed air caused the hiccups, adding more milk only makes the problem worse.
Is Gripe Water Safe?
Gripe water is widely marketed for hiccups, gas, and fussiness, but there is no scientific evidence that it works for any of these. The FDA has not approved gripe water, which means no regulatory body checks whether it’s safe or effective before it reaches store shelves.
Because herbal supplements aren’t regulated the same way as medications, gripe water products have been recalled multiple times for bacterial contamination, choking hazards from undissolved ingredients, and the presence of harmful metals like lead, mercury, and arsenic. Some formulations have also been linked with vomiting and nausea. Most pediatricians don’t recommend it, and the potential risks outweigh the unproven benefits.
When Hiccups Signal Something Else
Occasional hiccups, even daily ones, are normal in the first few months. But frequent, prolonged hiccups combined with other symptoms can sometimes point to reflux. In babies with reflux, stomach contents flow back into the esophagus, irritating the diaphragm and triggering hiccup episodes that happen more often and seem harder to stop.
Signs that hiccups may be related to reflux include bringing up milk during or shortly after feeds, coughing or hiccupping specifically while feeding, seeming unsettled or arching the back during feeds, crying that doesn’t settle, and poor weight gain from not keeping enough food down. Any one of these on its own can be normal, but a pattern of several together is worth raising with your baby’s doctor. Reflux in infants is common and usually manageable, but it sometimes needs more than positioning changes to resolve.