Newborn Breathing

Are All Those Little Noises Normal?

By Melinda Copp

Bringing home a new baby is a monumental day for every family – but it's also pretty nerve-wracking. New parents tend to worry about every squeak their new baby makes, especially when it comes to breathing. And newborns can breathe pretty noisily in those first few weeks, but in most cases, the noise is normal.

"In the first few weeks of life, infants are making adjustments to breathing on their own, and simply clearing the airway may sound noisy to parents," says Dr. Donna Hallas, a pediatric nurse practitioner and clinical associate professor at New York University College of Nursing. "The airway is normally immature during this time period and in infancy, so a little noisy sound is normal."

In the first hours of life, newborns are in the process of clearing amniotic fluid from their lungs and airways. This can cause some coughing and breathing noises in the early hours, but this fluid is always cleared before your baby comes home.

"Some babies do it better than others," says Dr. Charles Shubin, the director of pediatrics at Mercy FamilyCare in Baltimore, Md. "But any remaining amniotic fluid is dealt with in the nursery, and babies aren't released from the hospital until it's gone."

However, the noise doesn't stop there. After you bring them home, newborn babies are noisy breathers in general for a couple of reasons. First, they are obligatory nose breathers, which means they can't breathe through their mouths. This ability doesn't develop for a few months, so any mucous in their nasal passages will make a sound when they breathe. Second, their noses and airways are small and still developing. The nasal passages and windpipe are narrow and the cartilage is still soft and flexible.

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