How do I actually count their breathing rate?

Count for a full minute rather than fifteen seconds and multiplying, because newborn breathing is irregular enough that a short sample is misleading. Do it when they are settled and not straight after a feed or a cry. Watch the tummy rather than the chest — it is easier to see. A wide range is normal, and a rate that is fast and staying fast while they are calm is more meaningful than one high count.

They sound really congested but have no cold. Why?

Because a newborn nose is narrow and they breathe through it by preference, so a very small amount of mucus makes a large amount of noise. KidsHealth notes newborns can sound congested with no cold at all. If it is not affecting feeding or sleeping, it needs nothing. If it is, saline and gentle suction before feeds is the usual approach.

Is periodic breathing the same as sleep apnea?

No. Periodic breathing is a normal newborn pattern — a pause of about five to ten seconds followed by fast breaths, with no color change and no help needed. Apnea is defined as a stop of twenty seconds or longer, or a shorter one with a falling heart rate or oxygen level. You are not expected to tell them apart by eye; the practical rule is that a pause beyond ten seconds, or any color change, means call for emergency help.

Do I need a home monitor for peace of mind?

This is worth discussing with your pediatrician rather than deciding from marketing. Consumer monitors that claim to track breathing or oxygen are not regulated as medical devices, they generate false alarms, and there is no evidence they prevent SIDS. The measures that do have evidence behind them are the safe sleep ones — flat, firm, on the back, in an empty cot, in your room.

The squeaky noise is louder when they lie on their back. Should I lie them on their side?

No. Positional noise is common with laryngomalacia and it is not a reason to change sleep position — back sleeping remains the recommendation, and side or front sleeping carries a real SIDS risk that the noise does not. Mention the pattern to your pediatrician, including when it is loudest and whether it affects feeding, because that is exactly the detail they want.

Newborn days · 5 min read

The noises they make when they breathe

You are lying awake listening to them, and they have just gone quiet for long enough that you have put your hand on their chest.

Newborn breathing is not a smaller version of adult breathing. It is irregular, it is noisy, and it pauses — and once you know what the normal version sounds like, most of the night gets quieter.

Last updated August 20, 2026

Irregular is the normal setting

A newborn awake and cross can breathe as fast as sixty breaths a minute, especially after a bout of crying, and then settle into something much slower. KidsHealth puts it plainly: it is normal for newborns to breathe somewhat irregularly, and the rate varies widely.

This means counting breaths for fifteen seconds and multiplying will hand you an alarming number about half the time. If you want to count, count for a full minute, while they are settled and not just after a feed or a cry.

Sneezing and hiccups belong in the same category. Both are common in newborns and neither is a sign of a problem — sneezing in particular is usually just a nose clearing itself, not a cold starting.

The pause that stops your heart

It has a name. Periodic breathing is a short pause followed by a run of quick breaths, and it is an expected newborn pattern rather than a diagnosis. Cleveland Clinic describes the pause as usually lasting five to ten seconds, with the first few breaths afterwards being fast.

It is most likely when your baby is two to four weeks old, it happens more in sleep, and it is normal up to about six months of age. Babies grow out of it as the part of the brain that runs breathing matures.

The thing that makes it normal rather than worrying is what does not happen: they start again by themselves, and their color does not change. A baby who pauses, resumes, and stays pink is doing the ordinary thing.

Cleveland Clinic's own threshold for calling emergency services is a pause longer than ten seconds, a change in color, or a baby who cannot be woken. For contrast, the medical definition of apnea is a stop of twenty seconds or more, or a shorter one with a drop in heart rate — but you are not being asked to make that distinction at 3am. Longer than ten seconds, or any color change, means call.

Why they always sound blocked

Newborns breathe through their noses, and their nasal passages are narrow. KidsHealth's explanation is the useful one: small amounts of nasal fluid or mucus can make them breathe noisily or sound congested even when they do not have a cold.

So the snuffle is usually not illness. The test is whether it is interfering with anything — a baby who sounds like a small farm animal but feeds well, sleeps, and is content is congested rather than unwell.

When it does get in the way of feeding, saline drops and gentle suction before a feed are the standard approach, and they work because they address the actual obstruction. Ask your pediatrician before using anything medicated in a newborn's nose.

The squeak on the way in

If the noise is a high-pitched squeak specifically as they breathe in, and it has been there since the first days or weeks, the likely explanation is laryngomalacia — soft tissue in the voice box falling into the airway on the inward breath. The AAP calls it a common condition in newborns.

Most babies with it start having symptoms within a few days to weeks after birth, and most need no treatment at all. Symptoms usually go away by the time they are a year old, though full resolution can take until eighteen months to two years.

It is worth having looked at rather than assumed, because the same noise has other causes, and because the threshold for doing something about it is clear: serious breathing problems, difficulty feeding or gasping and choking while feeding, pauses in breathing during sleep, or not gaining weight as they should. Those are the reasons surgery is occasionally needed.

Sound is not the signal — effort is

This is the sentence to keep. A loud baby who is comfortable is usually fine. A quiet baby who is working is not.

The signals that matter are about effort and color: skin pulling in above, below or between the ribs with each breath, nostrils flaring, a head bobbing with the effort of it, a grunt at the end of every breath rather than an occasional one, blue or gray around the lips, or a baby who stops mid-feed because they cannot breathe and suck at the same time.

If that is the picture you are looking at, this is not the page you need — read what to do about a baby who is working hard to breathe, and do not spend time trying to characterise the noise first.

Get emergency help now if

They stop breathing for longer than ten seconds, or the pauses are getting longer or more frequent.

They go blue, gray, or unusually pale — around the lips and the face is where you will see it first.

They go limp or floppy, or you cannot wake them properly.

Their skin is pulling in around the ribs with each breath, or they are grunting with every breath out.

They are too breathless to finish a feed.

Common questions

How do I actually count their breathing rate?: Count for a full minute rather than fifteen seconds and multiplying, because newborn breathing is irregular enough that a short sample is misleading. Do it when they are settled and not straight after a feed or a cry. Watch the tummy rather than the chest — it is easier to see. A wide range is normal, and a rate that is fast and staying fast while they are calm is more meaningful than one high count.
They sound really congested but have no cold. Why?: Because a newborn nose is narrow and they breathe through it by preference, so a very small amount of mucus makes a large amount of noise. KidsHealth notes newborns can sound congested with no cold at all. If it is not affecting feeding or sleeping, it needs nothing. If it is, saline and gentle suction before feeds is the usual approach.
Is periodic breathing the same as sleep apnea?: No. Periodic breathing is a normal newborn pattern — a pause of about five to ten seconds followed by fast breaths, with no color change and no help needed. Apnea is defined as a stop of twenty seconds or longer, or a shorter one with a falling heart rate or oxygen level. You are not expected to tell them apart by eye; the practical rule is that a pause beyond ten seconds, or any color change, means call for emergency help.
Do I need a home monitor for peace of mind?: This is worth discussing with your pediatrician rather than deciding from marketing. Consumer monitors that claim to track breathing or oxygen are not regulated as medical devices, they generate false alarms, and there is no evidence they prevent SIDS. The measures that do have evidence behind them are the safe sleep ones — flat, firm, on the back, in an empty cot, in your room.
The squeaky noise is louder when they lie on their back. Should I lie them on their side?: No. Positional noise is common with laryngomalacia and it is not a reason to change sleep position — back sleeping remains the recommendation, and side or front sleeping carries a real SIDS risk that the noise does not. Mention the pattern to your pediatrician, including when it is loudest and whether it affects feeding, because that is exactly the detail they want.

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Where this comes from

Periodic breathing in newbornsCleveland Clinic
Getting to know your newborn: breathing, sneezing and hiccupsKidsHealth
Laryngomalacia and stridor: is my baby's noisy breathing serious?AAP
A pediatrician on why newborns are noisy in their sleep, and which sounds are ordinaryPedsDocTalk

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