Take a Deep Breath... All Is Well.

I had mentioned yesterday that we were worried about how quickly Parker was breathing. I think I left the last post saying that I was going to check to see how many breaths per minute he was taking. I did. He had just finished playing and had fallen asleep and he was breathing 55 breaths per minute. My wife had also checked his respitory rate earlier today during his nap and it was 36 breaths per minute. Now, I had metioned in my last post that there is a specific range that infants should be in when we are speaking of their respitory rate. After doing some research last night as well as having a child whose respitory rate has been monitored pretty much his whole life I had some new information that I would like to pass on.

I will start with how long your should be counting for when monitoring a respitory rate. Many of you who run or check their pulse on a regular basis will count the number of beats for ten seconds and then multiple by six to get you heart rate. This makes sense since having an irregular heart rate is abnormal and you normally have the same number of beats per 10 seconds for the whole minute. So multiplying by six when you count for ten seconds works great. If your heart rate or pulse was not regular and maybe went fast for 15 seconds and then slow for 5 seconds and then changes again after that it would definately not make sense to take it for ten seconds and then multiple it by six. You would get a result that would be quite construde. Have you ever watched your baby breathe? Have you noticed that she may breathe quickly for a while and then slowly and then speed up again? Does it make sense to count for ten seconds and multiply by six? Well, it is common practise in hospitals to count for 15 seconds and multiple by four. Being with Parker all the time we knew that way the case and had requested the nurses at Sick Kid's count for sixty seconds instead of the normal fifteen seconds. While doing my regular research last night I located some information about just such a thing. It supports my hypothesis that a fifteen second reading for an infants respitory rate is not sufficient. Feel free to check it out here.

The same link also suggests that their is data that states that 50 breaths per minute is not a good cut off for infants to suggest that there is some form of respitory problem. It states that 50% of babies had a respitory rate greater than 50 breaths per minute. Having a strong scientific background I would feel right stating that I completely agree with this statement without seeing the data. That said, I know for a fact that if I am excited or have just finished working out my respitory rate increases. For that reason, I could see how 50% of infants had a respitory rate above 50 breaths per minute. I don't think that would be the case if the respitory rate was taken while the infant was sleeping and was taken for a full sixty seconds.

Now, that I have finished my little blurb about respitory rates I will digress. Parker spends most of his time on the main floor of the house and for that reason we have placed some of his toys on the main floor. Parker's Baby Einstein exersaucer is one of his favourite toys so it is on the main floor. We also have his Fisher Price Aquarium Bouncer on the main floor since he spent quite a bit of time in it in isolation and it is great when we are eating. We can remove the attachment in the front and he can watch us eat. This is important when we want him to learn what eating solid food looks like.

While I wrote this article we moved his Lamase gymnie down to the main floor as well. We usually do 'tummy time' upstairs in his room. But I had a revilation today. Parker loves watching "The Backyardigans" so much that we thought he would hang out on his tummy for extended period of time if he could watch the TV while being on his tummy. You know what? He did. Strong neck muscles are important!