In the U.S., call 911 now; elsewhere call your local emergency number if your baby has blue or gray lips or face, pauses in breathing, is hard to wake, cannot feed, or is struggling for every breath.

Breathing Together

A CloseDose infant breathing guide

Calm, clear, parent-first

See the signs. Know what to do.

Compare visible breathing patterns, mark what you notice, and prepare a clear summary for a healthcare professional. This guide supports observation—it cannot diagnose or rule out illness.

Choose your baby’s age

Age changes the WHO fast-breathing screening cutoff used after a full 60-second count.

Baby age group

WHO fast-breathing screening cutoff for birth to 59 days: 60 or more breaths per minute. Count for a full 60 seconds while calm.

Compare the breathing pattern

Move through representative examples, then fine-tune the signs. Real babies may show these in different combinations.

Current example

Comfortable breathing

Example 1 of 7

Chest and belly move gently together without pulling-in around the ribs, neck, or nose.

Examples show common patterns—not a guaranteed order.

Fine-tune what you see

Turn individual signs on or off to match your observation.

Model shows comfortable breathing with the chest and belly moving together.

Count breaths for one full minute

When your baby is calm, tap once each time the chest or belly begins to rise. The first tap starts the 60-second timer.

Keep tapping for the entire minute. A result appears only after 60 seconds; a number below the screening cutoff does not rule out breathing distress.

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