Respiratory Distress Syndrome

If any of these are present, get in touch with your child’s doctor right away:

• Rapid breathing (especially faster than 60 breaths a minute)
  
  
• Working hard to breath (using extra muscles, as in the shoulders, neck, or abdomen)
  
  
• Flaring (of the nostrils with each breath)
  
  
• Retractions (especially pulling-in of the muscles between or just below the ribs)
  
  
• Grunting (due to closing the vocal cords at the end of each breath)
  
  
• Blue or dusky skin coloring
  
  
• Change in mental alertness or speech

Most children will breathe rapidly as they enter respiratory distress. As it progresses, they may breathe unusually slowly and/or shallowly.

Read more: http://www.drgreene.com/azguide/respiratory-distress?pagination=1#ixzz18D9QITAG

Children’s airways are smaller than adults. Too much difficulty breathing is a problem, whatever the cause. Children might develop respiratory distress as a result of many situations including allergies, anthrax, asthma, botulism, bronchiolitis, CMV, concussion, cough, croup, cystic fibrosis, diphtheria, encephalitis, enlarged tonsils or adenoids, food allergies, foreign bodies, heat stroke, heart failure, HIV, measles, meconium aspiration, meningitis, mononucleosis, near-drowning, peanut allergy, pertussis, pneumonia, poisoning, polio, reflux, RSV, sepsis, sickle cell anemia, shock, SIDS, sleep apnea, trauma, tuberculosis, or wheezing – among other things.

Read more: http://www.drgreene.com/azguide/respiratory-distress#ixzz18DAI3EAh