Hey moms,
I have a three month old baby boy and several times now when I have taken him outside, I notice him starting to gasp if wind blows strongly across his face. Today we took my two year old to the park and I had him in a baby bjorn and it was pretty windy. Once again he started to gasp. I had to get back to the car and put him in his stroller with the little sun shade up. Once the wind was not directly hitting his face, he did fine. I remember hearing a long time ago that you shouldn't blow in a baby's face bc they sometimes stop breathing, is this true? Has anyone else ever gone through this? If so how long did it last, and is it normal? Thanks!
Very normal. When taking my babies outside on a windy day, I kept their faces covered with a receiving blanket.
Nothing to worry about. It's normal. A reflex.
I believe in teaching babies to swim from the time they are a few months old because they have the natural reflex to hold their breath under water. You don't even have to teach them. It's instinctive.
Both of my kids are "fish"....they love the water and never had any fear.
It's kind of the same thing with the wind. They instinctively hold their breath.
It may seem like gasping, but what your baby might be doing is taking a deep breath and holding it.
Your baby will not stop breathing all together if you blow on his face or if it's windy.
Take him to baby swimming lessons. This is the perfect time.
Once they learn how to hold their breath, it's not a bad thing at all.
not sure exactly what causes it but its normal as to whether he will grow out of it not sure about that one either i at 26 still gasp if im going down the road and the wind shoots across the car in the windows but i dont think it would hurt him just cover him until he quits gasping good luck
Yes, that is normal. I can't remember the reasoning behind it but it is some type of self preservation reflex that usually goes away by about a year, I believe. If you blow in the baby's face, they will hold their breath for a moment, but will not stop breathing.
Yes this is normal! My son is almost one and he still does this in the bathtub with water. It is a natural reflex. He doesn't stop breathing, he's just holding his breath. They did a test on this with babies in water. They say they look like natural swimmers, but it's all reflex. When it's super windy we shield our son's face with a blanket or hat, but he's getting use to it now. 3 months is still young, so stroller with a shield in this situation is probably best.
Aww so many memories. Yes, my oldest did this. He also did gasping when you put in laying in the water of the bath tub. It stopped before he hit 6 months.
Ha - I remember this! Just a reflex and completely normal. In fact, it's quite handy when you're trying to get baby to take medicine. Put it in his mouth, blow in his face... He will automatically stop crying and swallow. He's just normal. :)
It's one of those reflexes that you're born with that goes away. The reflex is to blink and hold thier breath for a moment, but then they start to breath again.
Yes, gasping when high wind or a person blowing in the face can happen. It is the babies way of holding their breath for a moment. I have blown in my kids faces when they get ready in public to do a huge cry out for nothing or right when we were about to put them under water for a bit while swimming. Some babies may be more sensitive to wind than others. Perfectly normal unless they keep gasping over and over again once the wind is not there.
My daughter would do this (my first child didn't) When i would take her outdoors, I began realizing she had terrible colic later that evening. I think she swallowed air when she did that gasping. I started covering her when we walked from the house to the car and stopped the stroller rides temporarily. By 7 months this was gone. But, no, she never stopped breathing.
Leander Granny
from what i understand your not suppose to take a baby out in the wind because it makes them swallow air. also when my kids seem to be choaking or not breathing in i DO blow in there face and it makes them breath in. good luck. my son who is two...i can still blow in his face to make him breath.
Please dont' think I am mean... When my younger 2 were about that age I would blow in their face b/c they'd gasp, but only a time or two. It was such a cute and funny face they made, plus they would smile and laugh. BUUUT they didn't like it outside when it was windy! Imagine sticking your head out a car window and breathing... Definatly not the same as a quick blow on the face! sooo don't take him out on windy days. And if you do, cover him up. It only lasts a couple of months. Actually the 1st time I blew in their face was b/c I read in a magazine that it helps medicine go down (i.e. infants tylonal, mylicon drops etc.) b/c they swallow... I found that if I didn't, medicine, generally staining pink color, wound up everywhere!!!
So, anyway, I don't know why babies do that, so I can't help you there... But I think it is normal.
Hi. My son did this, too, as an infant - never figured out why. The pediatrician didn't have an answer, either. We just made sure to keep his face protected when it was windy. He eventually outgrew it. He was still under a year when he stopped, I just don't know exactly when since we kept the wind out of his face.
Not sure if it's related or not, but my son was in NICU for his first 5 days because of rapid breathing. They said his rapid breathing was because he was a c-section baby and his lungs didn't get all of the fluid squeezed out like in a natural birth. I always wondered if the gasping was a "left-over" symptom of not being able to control his breathing during his first few days.
Hope he gets over it soon. I know it's scary every time it happens.
