The Baby Belly-Breath

Watching a newborn or pre-one year old babybest ways (with exceptions) to get the easiest lung
breathe is, well, often peaceful, but not asvolume while moving the body. Neither of which are
informative as many have been led to believe. Is it orreadily available to the unstable non walking baby.
isn't it the right way to breathe?The back breath is critical to optimal breathing.
Many point to the belly and how it rises and falls.Posture-wise, the baby has not been upright much at
They deduce that because the baby breathes thatall and its body is compressed in the areas it is lying
way it is the right way for adults to breathe as well.on; generally the back. After all, it has just spent the
This is not true. The baby belly breath is simply alast several months or its intrauterine life in a bent
beginning, not the whole picture by any stretch offorward position. Try bending forward and taking a
theimagination. It is perhaps 40-50% of an optimaldeep breath and you will soon see that bending over
breath.restricts the breath quite a bit.
The baby's belly rises so much because:Does this imply that the baby should breathe into the
1. There has been little development by that time ofupper chest? Nope. Not yet unless it is well
the lungs and breathing sequencing during standing incoordinated and there is enough 360 degree belly
gravity. The baby actually closes its throat so that itbreath as a foundation.
can breathe and suckle at the same time. This abilityBelieve it or not, you don't really want to sleep like a
is lost as it grows older and sits up more. This ofbaby. Why? Babies' sleep, especially in the early
course reduces flow of air and forces more attentionmonths, is typically full of interruptions because their
in the abdominal area. Breathing is harder this way.sleep cycles are much shorter than an adult's. It
2. The stomach has replaced the umbilicus now withtakes time for these cycles to lengthen and for our
solid food and it invites some fat accumulation andbaby to learn how to fall back to sleep on his own if
bulking of the belly giving a visual impression ofhe wakes up in the middle of the night.
excessively implied importance.To summarize, the classic baby breath example most
3. There is a minimum of chest expansion becauseoften involves under developed lungs which makes it
the lungs have not gotten large enough to neednot a very good example or at least a very limited
more space.one and is only during quiet breathing anyway. Most
4. Balanced integrated breathing has not developedbreathing issues involve an abnormal percentage of
and the belly, mid chest, sides, back and abdomen ishigh chest breathing that occurs more often during
still to be.activity (making it harder to track) and increased
5. The mid back above the kidney area has the largeroxygen needs, including more severe aspects of
lung volume but when the baby is on its back thereanxiety, high bloodpressure,hyperventilation, asthma,
simply is no where else for the baby to be able tomost bronchitis and many forms of COPD. They
breathe but into the belly area.breathe deeper and in the effort of that they cough,
6. The soft tissue of the frontal belly area is the pathgasp or wheeze even more. That encourages shallow
of least resistance so the majority of visual emphasisbreathing and the cycle repeats itself.
is in that area. Being on the back is mostly betterEssentially non-activity oriented forms such as
then the side or stomach as it allows the rib cage tobronchitis, emphysema and COPD stem from BOTH
raise and that allows the diaphragm to rise for amechanical and toxemia/chemistry aspects, the
deeper easier inhalation and the baby, or most peoplevariations of issues related to air quality, diet, stress,
for that matter, to breathe easier, but notsmoking history and lifestyles. Both mechanics AND
necessarily "better".chemistry need be addressed to achieve optimal
Ideally, standing straight up, or swimming the breastbreathing.
stroke or side armed-back stroke aretwo of the