Not only pulse, temperature and blood pressure can tell a lot about the child's condition. The frequency of respiratory movements is also considered a very informative indicator. How to learn how to measure it, and what frequency is considered the norm, we will tell you in this article.
What it is?
Such a biomarker as the respiratory rate has been known since ancient times. Healers of the ancient world noticed that this indicator changes in a sick person. Today NPV (respiratory rate) does not lose its relevance in the diagnosis of a wide variety of childhood and adult diseases. One movement is considered to be one series of "inhalation-exhalation". The number of such movements is estimated for a specific period of time - usually 1 minute.
It should be noted that NPV in children is not at all similar to that in adults. Children, due to anatomical features, breathe a little differently - their breathing is shallow, shallow, the frequency of inhalation and exhalation is much higher. The oxygen requirements of a growing child's body are extremely high, and the lung capacity and chest size are small. That is why the baby needs intense breathing.
However, there are certain norms for different ages. And the excess of the respiratory rate in excess of these norms may indicate that the child has oxygen starvation (hypoxia). Rapid breathing accompanies a wide variety of pathologies in children.
Why measure?
Respiratory rate, coupled with the determination of the heart rate and type of respiration is of the most important diagnostic value when examining a newborn and infant. Such children cannot tell their parents what exactly bothers them, and only by the indicators of NPV it can be understood that something is wrong with the baby. Most diseases that are accompanied by rapid breathing in children can be successfully treated with timely treatment and proper medical care. The pediatrician, of course, will pay attention to the child's NPV at every scheduled visit to the clinic.
The rest of the time, parents are on guard for children's health, they need to be able to distinguish normal breathing from abnormal.
It is not difficult to do this, the frequency of respiratory movements is a parameter that any mother, any father and grandmother of the baby can independently determine. The main thing is to do everything correctly and correctly evaluate the results obtained.
How to measure?
If the parent thinks that the child is breathing too often, the breathing rate should be measured. It is best to do this when the child is calm, for example, in a dream. When the baby is awake, playing, experiencing something, experiencing emotions, breathing becomes more frequent, and this is quite natural.
The mother should place her hand on the baby's chest or belly. The choice of the measurement site is very important, as it determines the type of breathing of the baby. In infants and children up to 4-5 years old, diaphragmatic breathing predominates (the child breathes in the stomach, the peritoneum methodically rises during inhalation, and descends at the exit).
At the age of 4, the development of a new way of breathing for the baby begins - chest breathing (when, when inhaling and exhaling, the chest rises and falls). By the age of 10, the child develops the type that is more characteristic of him by gender. Boys usually have abdominal breathing, while girls have diaphragmatic breathing. Thus, determining where to put your hand is very simple - it is necessary to build on the age of the child.
The counting algorithm is pretty simple. The episodes "inhalation-exhalation" are counted for 1 minute. One series of such movements is counted as one breathing movement. It is a big mistake to measure breathing for 30 seconds, then to multiply the resulting number by two. Breathing is not as rhythmic as, for example, the pulse, and therefore such a simplified method for measuring NPV is not suitable. Parents will spend one more minute on measuring the heart rate (pulse) and it will be possible to assess the condition of the child, starting from age norms.
An electronic watch, a stopwatch or a watch with an arrow is useful for measuring.
Standards
There are a lot of tables on the Internet, according to which it is proposed to compare the data obtained as a result of measuring the child's breathing rate with the norms. It is difficult to assess the veracity of each. Pediatricians try to adhere to the data published in Berkowitz's Pediatrics: A Primary Care Approach. They are officially recognized:
- Newborns. Respiratory rate - 30-60 times per minute. The pulse is from 100 to 160.
- Children at 6 months. Respiration rate is 25-40 times per minute. The pulse is from 90 to 120.
- Children in 1 year. Respiration rate 20-40 times per minute. The pulse is from 90 to 120.
- Children at 3 years old. Respiratory rate is 20-30 times per minute. Pulse - from 80 to 120.
- Children at 6 years old. Respiration rate 12-25 times per minute. The pulse is from 70 to 110.
- Children at 10 years old. Respiratory rate - 12-20 times per minute. Pulse - 60 to 90.
Attentive parents will be able to notice any deviation from the individual child's norm. We are talking about the frequency at which a child usually breathes, because one baby has 40 breaths in 60 seconds, while another baby at the same age has only 25. It is clear that in the second case, the frequency will increase to 40-45 considered a violation, and in the first, in crumbs with frequent breathing from birth, the same indicators will be the norm. Parents shouldn't ignore their own observations. After all, moms and dads know the individual characteristics of their baby better than any, even a very good doctor, who sees a child for the first time.
Reasons for rejection
Exceeding the frequency of respiratory movements in medicine is called "Tachypnea"... This is not a disease, but just a symptom that may indicate the development of a certain pathology. You can talk about tachypnea if if NPV differs from the norm by at least 20%. There are quite understandable physiological and psychological reasons for the frequent child's breathing. When children are worried, worried, in a state of stress, fright, in a nervous situation, they very often react to stress by increasing their breathing movements.
Such tachypnea does not require correction, treatment and usually goes away on its own as the tender children's nervous system strengthens. If the stress is very strong, then parents can consult with a neurologist and child psychologist.
Pathological tachypnea is always a rather serious diagnosis:
- acute or chronic infectious respiratory disease;
- bronchial asthma;
- high fever, fever;
- traumatic brain injury, cerebral edema and cerebral hemorrhage;
- pneumonia;
- tuberculosis;
- tumors in some parts of the respiratory system;
- mechanical trauma to the chest (rib fractures, cracks and displacements);
- pathology of the cardiovascular system, congenital heart defects.
With shortness of breath, shallow breathing in a child is observed only during periods of increased physical activity, at times when the child is tired and trying to catch his breath. Shortness of breath is temporary and transient. Tachypnea is permanent. If the excess of the normal respiratory rate does not disappear in the child even in sleep, this is certainly the basis for calling a doctor and examining the baby for a possible illness.
What to do?
If an increase in NPV is detected in newborns, it is best to call a doctor. If the baby also has other symptoms - a runny nose, cough, fever, inhalation or getting out became difficult, the optimal solution is to call an ambulance. An older child can try to help on their own. A prerequisite is the absence of any additional painful signs.
To stop an attack of tachypnea, it is enough to take a paper bag, cut a small hole in it and invite the child to breathe through the bag in a playful way. This will help restore gas exchange in the cells, and breathing will be stabilized.
Inhalation and exhalation should be done only through the bag, you cannot inhale air from the outside.
A sudden increase in breathing for no apparent reason (excitement, stress, fright) is always an alarming symptom that parents should not ignore. It is important to quickly pull yourself together, calm the baby, breathe through the bag, make sure that the child's skin is of a normal color, has not changed, has not turned pale and cyanosis has not appeared. Treatment always involves treating the underlying disease causing the rapid breathing.
What cannot be done?
Parents should not try to give medication to a child with rapid breathing. No pills and drops at this moment can affect a separate symptom of a probable latent disease. But it is quite possible to worsen the baby's condition without permission with these drugs. You should not try to make a child with respiratory disorders inhalation. They are not able to help, but a burn of the respiratory tract, which a baby can get when inhaled with steam, is a very real threat.
It is important for parents to learn to distinguish tachypnea from ordinary shortness of breath.
For information on which respiratory rate in a child is considered correct, see the next video.
