Weird breathing in DS's sleep...

[mrs.t]

DS does this thing while he's sleeping where he takes a few short inhalations and then exhales or holds his breath for maybe a second or 2. He continues this weird breathing pattern for a few minutes, and I always end up waking him because it freaks me out. It's not wheezy or congested or anything that would make me think it's related to any kind of illness. It's sort of like when a child is crying, and they take a few quick inhalations to catch their breath. I am thinking that maybe he does this when he's dreaming? He seems to be in REM sleep, because his eyelids are fluttering. He doesn't do it very often, maybe once a week or so, but it bothers me. I'm going to ask the Ped about it, but does anyone know what I'm talking about?

[Knitting Mama]

Cecilia does this from time to time. When she was tiny and did this, I asked her doctor and she said that it's totally normal; little lungs sometimes take different types of breath. I've never stressed about it because she always seems to go back to regular breathing after a few short ones.

[mrs.t]

Thanks. It's really freaky...but it totally seems like he's dreaming.

[jessica_s]

Yep, my son does this too. Totally normal I think, he still does it every once in awhile and he's 4 1/2.

[KempsMama]

My almost 5 month old use to do this, although I haven't seen it in awhile, so he must have outgrown it.  

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

Both my kids did this. DS is still doing it, although not as much as when he was really little. It can be a little freaky, yeah.

[Plummeting]

It's normal. :)