9 year old with asthma how much is to many breaths per minute?

Answer 1

Children breathe faster than adults. Body size, weight and activity level influence normal breathing rates. But age is the factor most commonly used to determine normal values. Normal breathing rate ranges from as high as 30 to 60 breaths per minute at birth to as low as 12 to 16 breaths per minute at age 18. Breathing maintains the child's critical balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Breaths by Age

According to the New York State Department of Health, infants, from birth to 1 year, should have 30 to 60 breaths per minute. Toddlers, ages 1 to 3, breathe 24 to 40 times per minute. Pre-schoolers, ages 3 to 6 years, average 22 to 34 breaths per minute. Six- to 12-year-olds have 18 to 30 breaths per minute. Adolescents, ages 12 to 18, have 12 to 16 breaths per minute.

Things to Consider

Children are not all alike, and various authorities report slightly different normal breathing ranges, though most vary by only a few percent. But the trend of decreasing normal rate with increasing age remains unchanged in all cases. Normal rates vary according to weight, activity levels and growth-related developmental milestones.

Breathing for Equilibrium

Normal breathing rate is important because breathing delivers oxygen to a developing child's heart, brain, liver and all the other organ systems. A child not only needs oxygen for ongoing metabolism, like an adult, but for creation of new and growing tissues, bones and nerves. Breathing also eliminates carbon dioxide, the normal waste product of metabolism and growth. A child's biochemistry is carefully balanced between too much and too little carbon dioxide. A normal breathing rate is one of the most important regulators of that balance.