Babies can experience symptoms of rapid breathing for a number of reasons. When your baby experiences abnormal breathing difficulties, it's best to have her pediatrician examine her to determine the exact cause as to why she's breathing rapidly to determine which treatment option to use. Certain breathing problems can be life threatening to infants.
Features
When your baby experiences rapid breathing problems, it's easy to see that his chest and abdomen are moving in and out at a faster pace than normal. You can also count how many breaths he is taking each minute by counting them. An infant should take up to 44 breaths per minute if he is healthy, according to MedlinePlus. Tachypnea, or rapid breathing, is anything above the normal limit.
Types
Your baby may experience tachypnea for reasons such as asthma, viral respiratory infections or certain bacterial infections that affect the lungs. Over six million children have asthma, according to KidsHealth. Viral respiratory infections include pneumonia and RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus. Your baby may also have bronchiolitis which is a bacterial infection of the bronchial tubes found within the lungs.
Significance
If your baby experiences rapid breathing, pay close attention to when the breathing started and other accompanying symptoms if there are any. See if she has a fever as a fever can indicate a possible infection, either viral or bacterial. If she has asthma, she may not experience a fever as asthma is not an infection--it's simply a chronic breathing condition. If she begins to turn pale or blue, this could indicate she needs prompt medical care. Changes in skin color can indicate she's not receiving enough oxygen.
Considerations
Certain infections, whether viral or bacterial, can spread through nasal passage secretions such as coughing or sneezing or from hard surfaces such as counters, tables, telephones or door knobs. Keep your child away from children with a known respiratory infection. If your child is sick, keep him away from the babysitter or daycare to prevent further spreading of the infection and to give him a chance to rest and get well.
Prevention/Solution
Getting your child properly diagnosed will help determine why she is experiencing rapid breathing. Your pediatrician can prescribe different treatment options such as an inhaler, steroids or a nebulizer. A nebulizer is a breathing machine that can help your child breathe better with the use of special liquid medicine.
