Why do newborns sometimes have shortness of breath?

Every baby is a newborn angel, and parents will naturally take good care of them. But for many new parents, they don’t know much about certain symptoms of their children when they are first time parents. For example, many newborns always breathe rapidly when they are breastfeeding, which makes many parents worry whether there is a problem with their children’s respiratory system. So why do newborns sometimes breathe rapidly?

Children have vigorous physiological metabolism, and their oxygen demand calculated based on body surface area is close to that of adults. Children can generally only meet the body's needs by increasing the number of breaths. The younger they are, the higher their breathing rate. A normal newborn breathes 40 to 44 times per minute; for children under 1 year old, it is 30 times; for children between 1 and 3 years old, it is about 24 times per minute. To observe the number of breathing times, it must be done in a quiet or sleeping state to be accurate.

An increased respiratory rate is a characteristic sign of pneumonia in infants and children under 3 years of age. In mild pneumonia, the child coughs, becomes short of breath, and has a faster respiratory rate. For children under 2 months old, the respiratory rate is more than 50 times per minute, for children aged 2 to 12 months, the respiratory rate is 40 to 50 times per minute, and for children over one year old, the respiratory rate is greater than 40 times per minute. In severe pneumonia, the heart rate is more than 60 times per minute for children under 2 months old, greater than or equal to 50 times per minute for children between 2 and 12 months old, and greater than or equal to 40 times per minute for children over one year old.

If the baby lies flat on the bed immediately after feeding, milk will flow out from the corners of the mouth, and the baby may even spit out all the milk he has just eaten. However, if you hold your baby upright for a while after feeding and then put him/her in bed, spitting up will be significantly reduced. In medicine, this kind of spitting up is called regurgitation.

Why do babies spit up milk?

The stomach of a child is horizontal, with a straight bottom, and the contents can easily overflow. After standing and walking, the diaphragm descends and the effect of gravity gradually turns it into a vertical position. In addition, the baby's stomach capacity is small, the stomach wall muscles and nerves are not yet fully developed, and the muscle tone is low, all of which can easily cause milk regurgitation.

The sphincter of the cardia (near the esophagus) of the baby's stomach is not as well developed as that of the pylorus (near the duodenum), which makes the stomach's outlet tight and the entrance loose. When the baby lies flat, the stomach's contents can easily flow back into the esophagus and overflow with milk.

Improper feeding methods, excessive feeding, inverted nipples, empty bottles, or nipples that are not full of milk can all cause the baby to swallow a lot of air and spill milk.

Frequent changes in body position after feeding can also easily cause milk to spit up.

Do you know why newborns sometimes have shortness of breath? There is a reason for this. The child's gastrointestinal and respiratory systems are not yet fully developed. When feeding or lying flat, the child's breathing will rapidly decrease. This is not a physical problem of the child. As the child grows, his breathing will gradually stabilize. Parents just need to pay attention to prevent their children from catching cold.