Most hiccup episodes in newborns last 5 to 10 minutes, and some stretch a bit longer. They’re extremely common in the first few months of life, often happening multiple times a day, and they almost always resolve on their own without causing your baby any discomfort.
What a Typical Episode Looks Like
A single bout of newborn hiccups generally wraps up within 5 to 10 minutes. Some episodes last closer to 15 or 20 minutes, which can feel like an eternity when you’re watching your tiny baby’s body jerk with each one. But even longer episodes are rarely a sign of anything wrong. Newborns hiccup far more often than older children or adults, sometimes several times a day, and the frequency is highest in the first few weeks of life.
If a hiccup episode doesn’t resolve within about 10 minutes, the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests trying to resume feeding for a few minutes, which can help relax the diaphragm and settle things down. Most of the time, though, you won’t need to do anything at all.
Why Newborns Hiccup So Much
Hiccups are involuntary contractions of the diaphragm, the dome-shaped muscle that powers breathing. In newborns, the nervous system that controls this muscle is still maturing, which makes it more prone to misfiring. Research published in Clinical Neurophysiology found that hiccups are especially frequent during active behavioral states in both preterm and full-term infants, and that the brain can detect and respond to diaphragm contractions from as early as 10 weeks before the average time of birth.
This isn’t a glitch. There’s evidence that hiccups may actually play a developmental role. Each contraction sends sensory signals to the brain’s developing cortex, essentially helping the infant brain learn to map and coordinate its own breathing muscles. In other words, those annoying little spasms may be part of how your baby’s nervous system wires itself together.
Hiccups Start Before Birth
If you felt rhythmic, repetitive twitches during pregnancy, those were likely fetal hiccups. Babies hiccup in the womb starting in the first trimester, and the behavior is actually most prevalent during the first half of gestation. One hypothesis is that the powerful breathing effort against a closed airway creates negative pressure in the chest, pulling amniotic fluid into the developing gut. This may help regulate fluid balance between the fetus and the mother. After birth, hiccups continue at a high rate but gradually taper off as the nervous system matures, typically becoming much less frequent by 6 to 12 months of age.
Common Triggers
Newborn hiccups often show up during or right after feeding. Several things can set them off:
- Swallowing air during breastfeeding or bottle feeding, especially if the baby is eating quickly or the bottle nipple has a fast flow rate
- A full stomach that presses against the diaphragm, making it more likely to spasm
- Temperature changes, like being undressed for a diaper change, which can briefly stimulate the diaphragm
- Excitement or crying, both of which involve irregular breathing patterns that can trigger contractions
None of these triggers are harmful. They’re just part of having a brand-new digestive and nervous system that’s still calibrating.
Simple Ways to Help
You don’t need to stop every hiccup episode, but if your baby seems uncomfortable or the hiccups are interrupting a feeding, a few gentle strategies can help. Burping your baby midway through a feeding (not just at the end) reduces the amount of trapped air in the stomach. If you’re bottle feeding, try a slower-flow nipple and hold the bottle at an angle that keeps the nipple full of milk rather than air.
Offering a pacifier can sometimes help because the sucking motion relaxes the diaphragm. Holding your baby upright for 10 to 15 minutes after feeding also reduces the chance of hiccups starting in the first place. What you should avoid: the old folk remedies that work for adults, like startling the baby, pressing on their eyeballs, or pulling their tongue. These are not safe for infants.
When Hiccups Signal Something Else
In rare cases, frequent and persistent hiccups can be one symptom of gastroesophageal reflux, a condition where stomach acid backs up into the esophagus. The key distinction is that reflux never shows up as hiccups alone. Babies with reflux also tend to spit up frequently, cough, cry and act irritable during or after feedings, and arch their back while eating. If your baby has several of these symptoms together and the hiccups seem constant rather than coming in short bouts, that pattern is worth bringing up with your pediatrician.
For the vast majority of newborns, hiccups are a completely normal, harmless, and temporary part of early life. They bother parents far more than they bother babies. As your infant’s nervous system matures over the first several months, the episodes will become shorter, less frequent, and eventually just an occasional event rather than a daily one.