New study shows frequent inutero fetal hiccups could be warning sign to infant reflux problems?

[Riot_Queen]

So my son has reflux and went for medication today and his doctor asked me if he gets the hiccups alot.
I told him yeah, several times a day.
I told him he got the hiccups even more when I was pregnant with him.

He told me that him and the other doctors that he works with were talking about that he's noticed a pattern that baby's that get hiccups ALOT in the womb, about 90% of them end up coming back in around about a 4 weeks of age with reflux problems. And they all get the hiccups frequently still.

I just thought what he said was kinda interesting and wanted to share it with y'all and see what y'all think.

[InsaneRoman]

I see that this is a very old post lol but it showed up anyway and caught my attention.

My daughter had hiccups in my womb VERY often and had them multiple times a day as a newborn.

She also was diagnosed with acid reflux and to be put on special formula. It was so bad she was choking on her reflux and was unable to breathe and made weird sounds when sleeping.

She is now a year and a half and perfectly healthy. She gets hiccups only occasionally. This just caught my interest because I never suspected a link between the two. I read that hiccups in the womb meant strengthening lungs so I never thought of a negative connotation. I always just thought her constant hiccups when she was little was nothing.

[healing24]

it is unfortunate to have to medicate our children.  I may have an answer to the riddle.  my son was an excessive hiccupper in the womb and a few weeks out he started to hiccup even more and spit up. They now say hiccups are related to future reflux problems after birth.  Well a family member told me if my kid was spitting up to cut out dairy in my breast milk.  That was the CURE!!!  slowly the vomitting and hiccups were gone.  It takes awhile and I have searched and found that dairy takes a few weeks to get out of your system.  you have to be strict about it, but I will do anything to cure my child and not give him pharmaceuticals.  Any time I cheated with my diet it would start to come back, and I wasn't going to burn myself out cleaning the laundry from all the vomit.  It turns out our children are not cows and need real breast milk from mom.  Dairy is in everything these days, when I thought i was dairy free and he was vomitting, I read the labels carefully and sure enough dairy was in it.  It turns out babies don't digest milk and wheat well early on and to fatten them up at a young age they are given formula, cheese, cows milk and bread/wheat products. I am a health professional and  I encourage people to start researching medical journals at their local hospital library for answers and connections to things.  it turns out that medical practice isn't always up to date on the answers and if you practice what every one else practices and don't question individual situations then you are less liable  for uninformed care.  give it a real try with your milk, it is worth it, my child is worth it.

[Galvez]

im not shure my daughter had hiccups everysingle day in the womb n she doesnt have reflux

[bhow]

I just read in Living Without magazine (Sept 2013) that there is a new study linking babies who need acid reflux medication with a higher prevalence of food allergies. The article mentions having the baby tested for allergies to wheat and other foods. You might try cutting out wheat and dairy while nursing to see if the reflux goes away. Similarly I've read another article recently on probiotics possibly helping with wheat allergies. It's worth asking your doctor which probiotics would be suitable for your baby and giving that a try too.

[jessical1983]

I posted something regarding this subject because i too had heard of it  but no one seemed to have heard or experienced it according to my replies. I too have been experiencing hiccups 5/day in utero. I mentioned it to my doctor,  but he didnt seem worried about it all. In fact, he sounded like he didnt beleive me and said its just thd baby practicing using its lungs. Guess we will see.

[Stef1981]

Any more information on this issue?  MY baby is 32 weeks and has hiccups like crazy.  4 times TODAY ALREADY!!!  I am hoping that she will not have reflux issues later.  Just wondering if there is any more news on this.

[LauraB78]

Well, I think they may be on to something. Jaxson had hiccups in-utero daily and  often... He had BAD REFLUX.. I am sooo thankful he has finally grown out of it, but he still has a fairly immature digestive system.. He's 19 months now & healthy, but the reflux was AWFUL from the time he was 4 weeks until he was nearly a year old.. Good riddance on the those days.. Reflux, GERD, & colic..  = HORRIBLE..

[cocacolapanda]

That is interesting!  My son had them ALL the time in the womb, and when he was first born he had them all the time as well.  After the first few weeks he was having issues, although it wasn't reflex, it was the fact that I was having so much dairy and he couldn't digest it.  

[kcombs816]

This is very interesting... I am 33 weeks pregnant with my son who literally seems to always be hiccuping. Both my mother and I have GERD, and when I saw another discussion about this a few days ago I was talking to her about it and she told me that I also had crazily frequent hiccups in the womb. Then again, I'm 23 years old and I still constantly have hiccups, and they HURT! lol

I'll bet you anything this little guy ends up having GERD, too. Poor thing :-( it stinks!

[Riot_Queen]

No I'm talking about EXCESSIVE hiccups.
Like everytime you turn around they got the hiccups, kinda thing.
Atleast that's what my kids' ped is saying.
Aiden got hiccups in the womb ATLEAST 7-10 times a day. It was sooooo annoying. It happened the most when I was laying still or trying to sleep. It's extra annoying when you're trying to sleep and that rythmic hiccuping causes you to get hiccups yourself. lolol.
But that's just me, I fall into the smaller percentage of women who don't enjoy being pregnant.
I was just huge, and hot and miserable.
I was fine until 3-4 months when sleeping on my stomach was no longer an option.
Nothing like rolling over onto your stomach and sleeping on it for the first time after 9 1/2 LOOOOONG months. lol

[JoyRenee]

All of my girls had hiccups while in the womb (maybe 1-2 times per day in the third trimester). None of them have had colic or reflux. They've all been really good, calm babies. Of course there's always going to be those people that don't match up exactly to a study. It definitely sounds very reasonable (the study) because it is a diaphragm and digestion issue with both hiccups and reflux.

[Riot_Queen]

It is very interesting to see all of you gals match up to the study.
When I was pregnant with my daughter Ivy I remember feeling her have the hiccups one time when I was between 5 and 6 months pregnant. She rarely got hiccups as an infant, didn't spit up too often, and was a relatively quiet baby.
This time around tho Aiden had hiccups all the time in utero, still gets them atleast 3-5 times a day, spits up everywhere allll the time and is very very fussy all the time.

I'd be curious to see a further study on this once it gets out.

Jonezy ~ Common reflux symptoms can inclued: fussyness, arching of the back before or followed by fussyness, crying or screaming. Frequent spit up sometimes in large quantity, spit up may sometimes come up so fast it comes out the nose, cries if laid down flat after feedings, random swallowing motions or sounds, Cried during and/or after burpings after and/or during feedings, Random cough/choking sounds, random gagging.

Just remember that some reflux symptoms can mimic other conditions and vise versa.
Sometimes colic and other gas related problems can mimic some reflux symptoms aswell. NEVER buy over the counter medication for your infant for reflux or anything else without consulting his/her pediatrician FIRST. Thank you.
Only reason I'm saying this is I actually found a bottle of some sort of bootleg pepto for babies and it was supposed to settle sour tummy and can help neutralize stomach acid or something like that while I was at the store buying Ivy some tylonal and I just want to make sure our babies on here stay safe!

[tiredbuthappy]

they both hiccupped, although my first did much more than my second. My first had hiccups constantly. She did not have reflux, but my second does.
i have heard of the connection as well, although i am not sure causes which. For example, i did notice dd screamed after hiccupping, but i think it's because it brouhgt up the acid that was already there. i would be curious to see a study

[faye83]

How do the hiccups feel like when the baby is in utero?  I don't think I've ever felt her having hiccups. Should I be worried/???

[Jonezy16]

hello everyone,

my son had hiccups at least 2x's per day while I was pregnant and even has them at least 2-3 times daily now since he was born 3 weeks ago.  What are the symptoms of reflux?  What should I be looking for?  Lately he's been fussing a lot more than usual, like getting stomach cramps....I'm thinking it's b/c I switched from the similac formula can to the powder and perhaps he's not digesting this properly??

[TiDo08]

My son was the same, he had the hiccups alot in the womb and constantly, too the point we called the doctor, and he did have Acid Reflux too.

[Linzola1]

Julian had hiccups multiple times a day in utero and came out with severe reflux. hmmm that is interesting! Sounds like they may be onto something!

[amy0013]

True for me!  Both my kiddos had FREQUENT hiccups in utero and both had reflux (and hiccuped a lot after birth!)  Interesting!

[Ashelen]

Very interesting! My daughter had hiccups once the entire time she was in my belly and never had reflux, so I dunno...but it's curious! congrats on the new bundle of joy and I'm sure things'll settle down soon!!!

[Limonada]

That is interesting!  DS had the hiccups at least once a day and didn't have any reflux issues.  This baby doesn't seem to be hiccuping any more than he did......so I hope he/she will be spared that as well.

I read your other post about the 3-ring circus at your house and just wanted to say that I feel for you! I hope it all gets better soon, especially now that Aiden is on some medication for his reflux issue.  ((hugs))

[niki_beth]

Thanks for sharing that! That is really interesting!!! All of my kids (including the one I'm carrying now) have had hiccups like crazy in the womb... and both my son and daughter were on meds for reflux after the were born. Come to think about it... I don't really remember with my daughter because she is 12 now... but my son still hiccuped like crazy as an infant.

[Tasia32]

Thanks for the info, it sounds like they could be right. My son got hiccups all the time in the womb and had it at least 3-5 times a day after he was born and he had reflux issues. Now that he has stopped getting the hiccups so often his reflux corrected.