I learned this first trick twenty years ago, every time I meet someone with hiccups I teach it to them and it has never once failed, even on people who've had their hiccups all day.
Take a glass of water, now say,
"hiccups I have got"
take a good size sip (not a gulp) of water
now say
"hiccups I don't want"
another sip and say
"hiccups go away"
another sip and say
"hiccups gone"
It may sound ridiculous but it's the swallowing action and the rythm of it that gets your diaphragm back in order.The actual words aren't relavent except that they provide the correct pace and rythm.It's important to take just enough water for it to be effective but not so much that you hurt your throat should you hiccup in the middle of swallowing (very painful).You may have to repeat this for a really bad bout but trust me, it works.
Now for the baby.It's obviously not possible to get a baby to do anything like this to order. Breast or bottle fed babies regularly get hiccups after feeding.Sometimes another feed will do the trick but this is self defeating since it will often bring the hiccups back.
Some time ago I noticed that blowing on my baby son's face would startle him and cause him to reflexively swallow.Now when he gets hiccups I hold him so my face is just a few inches from his and suddenly but gently blow on his face as if blowing out a candle. Repeat this two or three times a few seconds apart,the hiccups will stop and both of you can get some sleep.
