Infant Breathing

The first night after coming home with my newborn was the longest night of my life. I snuggled him down into his bassinette and then lay in bed listening to him breathe. At first, he was so quiet that I was up several times to make sure he was still breathing at all! I have to confess…I actually poked him a couple times to make him move. Then, after his midnight feeding he started making new noises. He kind of sounded like a cross between a badger and a baby bird. He snuffled, he squawked, he squeaked. I was sure he was dying – no creature could make those noises and be normal!

By two a.m., I had called my pediatrician’s answering service. A weary, but patient doctor assured me that my son’s breathing was normal. He offered a couple of tips to save myself (and him, I’m sure!) from staying up all night worrying.

First, newborn infants often engage in something called “periodic breathing.” Breathing can be fast and shallow, then slow and deep. And…a baby can stop breathing for five seconds or more. This is absolutely, completely normal and typically occurs when the baby is sleeping.

Also, newborns make funny little noises, especially when they are brand new. Nasal passages can have extra mucous and babies are still adjusting to breathing outside the womb. The little squawks and squeaks you hear are normal, as well.

You should be worried if your baby exhibits any of the following symptoms:

Call 911 immediately if you see these symptoms, or go directly to an emergency room.

Other Breathing Issues

If your newborn is making a whistling noise in his nasal passage, there’s probably a little blockage of mucous or dried milk. As long as he’s not gasping for air, it’s not hurting him at all. But if the noise is driving you crazy, you can suck his nostril out with one of those little bulbous nasal aspirators they give you at the hospital. I know that my son hated having that thing shoved up his nose so much (and who wouldn’t!) that he screamed for a good fifteen minutes after I aspirated his little mucous out. The whistling noise was preferable.

If your child has been sick recently, he may develop symptoms of croup (a barking cough) or pneumonia (labored, rapid breathing). If these symptoms develop, seek your doctor’s advice immediately.
In time, you’ll become accustomed to the way your child breathes and will learn what is normal for him and what isn’t.


SIDS

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome claims the lives of approximately 2,500 babies in the U.S every year. Though that number continues to go down as more research is done and more is learned about this killer, SIDS is still one of the things parents worry most about in the early days of their baby’s life.

The American SIDS Institute offers these helpful tips to avoid SIDS:

Though SIDS is relatively rare, it is important to follow these tips.

When all was said and done, my son grew up to be a happy, healthy child with no real breathing problems. Of course, now that he’s a teenager, he snores like a freight train…