# 7 month old breathing fast/panting...cause for concern?



## 2xshy

My daughter has sometimes breathed fast for 5-10 breathes at a time. almost like a dog panting. Tonight she did this repeatedly ( lots of fast breath followed by a bit or normal breathing then repeating the fast breaths) for about 30 minutes at which point i nursed her and put her to bed and she now seems fine.
Should I be alarmed? Is this worth a trip to the doctor?
She is EBF/non vax'd

TIA


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## Ruthla

If she did this for a few minutes and then stopped, it might have just been her experimenting with breath control. If she was doing lots of fast, shallow breathing, all the time, with NO normal breathing in between I'd be very concerned- that's what DS' breath was like when he was diagnosed with pneumonia. But since it sounds like she's capable of normal breathing, just prefers not to for short periods of time, I wouldn't worry too much about it.


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## EzzysMom

My daughter does this when she's excited. Like if she see's a cat and wants to walk over to it. Does it all the time, might this be true for yours too?


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## WyattsMom2008

ds does this because he thinks it sounds cool. He also does it sometimes when he's frustrated. It almost sounds like he's hyperventilating. But he starts and stops it at will and even incorporates it into his babbling. It's funny because in his babbling, every kind of noise is considered fair game for speech, including fake coughing. He is really into funny noises, and a sure way to get him to laugh is to imitate his hyperventilating. This morning he thought it was hilarious when I pretended to hiss at our cat.


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## janasmama

I think this is one of the times we have to look at other symptoms too. Is the only problem the breathing or are there other symptoms that are accompanying it.

One thing for sure to look for is chest retractions where you can see the little triangle in the throat by the collar bone retract and it will appear as though they are breathing with their belly. That would be something to be concerned about.


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## MountainMamaGC

I think babies are just weird sometimes. My 8 month old does a fake cough/gasp when she gets excited.


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## 2xshy

Thanks for the replies.
She seems other wise pretty much fine, but has been doing this and coughing when ever she gets excited or fairly active. I'm not sure it's something but I am also not sure it is nothing.
She doesn't appear to be doing it for fun but who knows. She is due to she the ped sometime soon so I think I will just keep an eye on it and bring it up then unless things change.


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## Reg1123

Quote:


Originally Posted by *janasmama* 
One thing for sure to look for is chest retractions where you can see the little triangle in the throat by the collar bone retract and it will appear as though they are breathing with their belly. That would be something to be concerned about.

Is Eden still having problems, K? Have you made it to the ped yet?

That is good advice of what to look for. A's pneumonia taught me a lot about what to look for with breathing problems and babies. Deep retractions in between the collar bones or the indentation right beneath the breast plate, along the ribs... Those are serious signs of breathing difficulty.

Those can be serious issues. Even asthma can lead to real problems if untreated. If you haven't been yet, I'd get her seen asap!


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