My eldest was 5 and had hiccups
He was a bit distressed that they wouldn't stop.

"Dad, how do you make hiccups go away?"
"Well," I said, calmly, "there are lots of ways, but sometimes a surprise can stop them."
"OK then, surprise me!"
"It doesn't work like that, " I continued, calmly, "You have to be not expecting it for it to work, otherwise it isn't a... " and then I yelled "SURPRISE!" at him at full volume.

He stopped. He went pale. He started to cry. Oh fuck, I overdid it a little. We had a hug.

"Sorry. That was a bit loud wasn't it?"
"*sniff*, yes Daddy"
"Hiccups have gone though, haven't they?"
( chthonic, Thu 4 Apr 2013, 16:57, 3 replies)

Awww
Well it's easier than trying to explain hiccup-suppression by gulping in air in such a way as to compress the pleural membrane against the diaphragm, even to a grown-up.
( fred zeppelin II: Electric Boogaloo, Thu 4 Apr 2013, 17:19, closed)

Damn, I did exactly this.
I was mortified, I've never made him cry before, or not intentionally anyway.

Now whenever he gets hiccups he asks me to do it again, but a combination of guilt and a certainty it won't work makes me refuse.
( CQ Knows the truth, all of it., Fri 5 Apr 2013, 16:30, closed)

About 11 years ago, I was out with the then 'soon-to-be' SigourneysBeaver - at a very nice Thai restaurant.
We're sitting there, ploughing through the wine after our first course,
everything's going fine, apart from I just can NOT stop hiccupping. It's
really distracting, and starting to wear very thin indeed - as it would
after about 20 - 30 minutes.

Anyway, we're sitting there, trying to make light of the fact I sound
like a broken record, when the waitress comes over to our table and says
to me, "Sir. Your wife's outside. She told me to tell you that she's
pregnant."

I looked at the waitress.

I looked at my girlfriend.

I looked at the waitress, growing ever more mortified.

I looked at my girlfriend, with a "I SERIOUSLY have no idea what's going
on here" look on my face.

I look at the waitress again, just about to say something - but she gets
in before me and says, "there you go. No more hiccups!", smiles and
walks off.

Nice.
(SigourneysBeaver took off and nuked the entire site from orbit on, Sat 6 Apr 2013, 19:12, closed)