Checking your baby's breathing

How often should I check my baby's breathing?


As often as you feel you need to. And if you feel compelled to check your baby's breathing all the time, you're not alone. Consider your vigilance a reflection of how seriously you're taking parenthood.

It may help to keep in mind that babies have various stages of slumber — sometimes deep and still, sometimes active, sometimes noisy and snuffly. Your comfort level should grow with experience, but it's okay if you continue to make nightly forays into your child's bedroom, just to check on his breathing, for years to come.

Danielle Buckley-Werner remembers feeling panic-stricken every time she put her son to bed during his first months of life.

"I was sure that if I wasn't there to hear him breathe, then he couldn't take a breath," she says. "I was so tired all the time because when he slept, I would watch him. I finally collapsed on the floor of the nursery one afternoon and realized that something had to give if I was going to have the energy to be a good mom."

Buckley-Werner started taking naps with her son and using a baby monitor when she couldn't. For the first three months, she and her husband, Daniel, kept the crib in their room so they could easily respond to any coughs, cries, or breathing emergencies — which, thankfully, never arose.

"I can't tell new parents that they shouldn't worry and that constantly checking breathing is insane," says Buckley-Werner. "But depriving yourself of rest and waking your baby up all the time will exhaust everyone. For me, keeping my baby close helped me overcome my fears that he'd stop breathing."

How can I stop worrying so much about SIDS?


It may calm some of your fears to know that sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is rare, afflicting fewer than 1 in 1,000 infants. What's more, 90 percent of SIDS cases happen before age 6 months, and the risk virtually disappears when a baby reaches his first birthday.

No one knows exactly what causes SIDS (although there are plenty of theories), and there's no surefire way to prevent it. Thankfully, the incidence of SIDS has dropped dramatically in recent years as more risk factors are identified and more parents learn to avoid them.

To help guard against SIDS, always put your baby to sleep on his back, and if you or another family member smokes, give it up. (Read more about reducing the risk of SIDS.)

It's also a good idea to learn infant and child CPR. Knowing CPR will help ease your fears and enable you to respond to any serious breathing emergencies throughout childhood.

Call the Red Cross or the hospital where you delivered to find an infant CPR class, or consider organizing an infant CPR party for yourself and other new parents in your area. Take your spouse and the babysitter along, too.

How can I tell if my baby has stopped breathing and what should I do about it?


Newborns do what's called periodic breathing: They breathe progressively more quickly and deeply, then more slowly and shallowly, then pause for up to 15 seconds, and then start up again with progressively deeper breaths. This is normal and will evolve into a more mature pattern of breathing, with occasional sighs, in the first few months of life.

If you suspect that your baby has stopped breathing or simply want to reassure yourself, touch or rouse him a bit to see whether he responds. If he doesn't, he may be experiencing something called apnea, and you should call 911 or your local emergency number right away.

If this happens and you know how to administer infant CPR, you should begin emergency treatment right away and have someone else call for emergency help. If you're alone with your baby, administer CPR for two minutes, then call for help, then resume CPR until help arrives or your baby starts breathing again.

It's not unusual for a baby's hands, feet, and skin around his mouth to be bluish. But if his forehead or the trunk of his body turns blue, it's another sign that he may be in danger.

In most cases, babies' irregular breathing habits are nothing to worry about. But babies who have had more than one apparent life-threatening event (ALTE) are at increased risk for long-term complications or sudden unexpected death. An ALTE is an episode in which a baby stops breathing. He may also become limp, turn blue, and choke or gag.











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