Visit Doctors
Visit
Visit
Call Doctors
Call
Call
Ask Doctors
Ask
Ask
Feed
Home
23 years
My 2 month old baby breathes loudly after I feed him. I can feel his tummy going up and down. What's the problem?
May 3, 2015

Dr. Zakia Dimassi Pediatrics
What you're describing is known as abdominal breathing, and is the type of breathing that we expect to see in newborns and young infants. In fact, it is the natural instinct of infants and babies to do diaphragmatic breathing (the diaphragm being the largest and primary muscle of respiration).
As kids grow up, however, they will learn to chest breathe more.
Abdominal breathing allows babies and kids to get a lot more oxygen intake than chest breathing.
The main reasons why abdominal breathing is prominent in babies include:
The abdominal muscles are still not fully developed.
Chest expansion goes unnoticed in infants and there is only little space for the lungs to expand in the chest.
The belly accumulates fat which makes it more prominent so breathing is more easily observable. In addition, the muscles of the abdomen are still weak in infants so they belly expands more easily.
Because babies spend a lot of time on their back, a big portion of the lungs will be in the mid-back, just above the kidneys. So when the baby breathes, the belly will have to expand.
Adult pattern breathing, or integrated breathing, where all the muscles of the chest and the abdominal area are used, is underdeveloped in young infants.
 •