Your newborn's breathing noises

Newborn babies tend to have irregular breathing that alternates between fast and slow, with occasional pauses. If your child makes sounds while breathing, pay attention to how they sound. This will help determine if there is a problem in the airways and where:

Whistling noise: slight blockage of the nostrils tends to make a hissing sound that disappears when inhaled. Newborns breathe through their noses, not their mouths. This is a good trick as it allows them to breathe and eat at the same time. However, their small noses have narrow airways, so a bit of mucus or milk powder can make the airways even smaller, causing hissing and sometimes difficulty getting air in and out.
Hoarse cry and "barking" cough: blockage of the larynx, often due to mucus, causes a hoarse cry and "barking" cough. This may be a sign of croup, infection of the larynx, trachea and bronchi.
High-pitched, squeaky sound: so-called stridor or laryngomalacia, this sound is made by very young children when they inhale. Worse when the child is lying on his back. It is caused by excess tissue around the larynx and is usually harmless. It usually goes away by the time the child is 2 years old.
Deep cough: blockage of the large bronchi causes a deep cough.
Wheezing: A blockage in the bronchioles causes wheezing when the infant exhales.
Rapid and labored breathing: Fluid in the smallest airways causes pneumonia, an infection caused by a virus or bacteria. Pneumonia causes rapid, labored breathing, sometimes cyanosis, persistent coughing, and wheezing when heard with a stethoscope.

Tips for concerned parents

Monitor your child's breathing when he is healthy to get used to his appearance. Record the number of breaths they take in one minute. It's probably faster than you imagined. Knowing what is normal for your baby's breathing will help you spot a potential problem faster.

If you're not sure what's going on, videotape the breathing patterns that bother you so you can show them to your doctor.

When to worry about your baby's breathing

Signs of potential breathing problems for your child include:

Constant increase in respiratory rate (more than 60 breaths per minute)
Increased work on breathing. Signs of this include:

Grunting. The child makes a low growl at the end of the breath. This serves to try to open the blocked airways.
Flaring. The child's nostrils flare during breathing, indicating increased effort.
Retreats. The muscles of the chest and neck of the child noticeably move in and out much deeper than usual.
Retractions. This means that the blood remained blue and did not receive enough oxygen from the lungs.

Cyanosis. This means the blood has remained blue and has not gotten sufficient oxygen from the lungs. For true cyanosis, the blood all over the body should look blue. Check areas that get a lot of blood flow, such as the lips and the tongue. Sometimes, the hands and feet of newborns turn bluish, but the rest of the body is fine. This is not cyanosis but a common response to changes in temperature.
Poor feeding. "Respiratory distress" is often accompanied by a marked decrease in food intake.
Lethargy. Your child's energy level may be significantly reduced if he has severe lung problems.
Fever. Most lung infections also cause fever. Always check your child's temperature when you are worried.