Taking deep breaths - gasping almost

[TheAntiBoop]

Dd (6) over the last few months has been taking regular deep breaths. Not linked to an activity but she says it is sore when she lies down and breathes. Sometimes it's a deep breath every minute and other times every other breath or so

Took her to the doctor and he listened to her breath and he couldn't hear anything in her lungs. She is bunged up a lot so he gave us a nasal steroid spray and told us to come back and see him in two months. He thinks it's a tic.

Any ideas what it could be or what it might be?

Bump!!

Why don't you film it next time to show your GP. Does it happen when she sleeps or just when awake?
No idea what it could be though.

That's a good question about the sleeping - I will watch her tonight!!

It's not all the time - and sometimes more obvious than others. Grandparents and her nanny have all commented on it

I've had this and its a kind of hyperventilating issue. For some people it's linked to anxiety and in others it's a tic. I found the Buteyko breathing method helped (designed to help children with asthma).
Hope it passes for your Dd soon

DD used to do this every so often. I asked her why and she said 'because I need to'. She hasn't done it in months now so I think she might have grown out of it thankfully, because it drove me round the twist.

That's comforting. She is a happy go lucky girl and not anxious at all so I'm not sure. She's always had problems breathing through her nose

I will google the breathing method and hopefully she will grow out of it!

Thank you

yes don't worry i'm sure this is a phase that will pass. the buteyko method helps you breathe through your nose instead of your mouth.
distraction always helps too - it seems to be that the more you think about it the more you do it and keep taking big breaths - or yawning.

Yes - although she does it when she is distracted.

Both my sons had this at about the same age. I'm pretty sure it was a tic as they had had other little things on and off such as blinking. I took ds1 to the gp as I was worried about asthma but it was a habit and they both grew out of it after a couple of months. I get it myself occasionally and the more I focus on it the more I want to do it so it's probably best to completely ignore.

Sounds like a tic to me - ds1 did this every few seconds when he was awake for months when he was little it drove me mad

It's not necessarily anything to do with anxiety and drawing attention to it will definitely make it worse. However breathing tics are tricky as it could be caused by something more serious so if she has any other symptoms which suggest she's having trouble breathing then you'd need to get them checked out

The GP listened to her lungs and said she was fine. I guess I'm unsure about the nasal steroids.

She does struggle breathing through her nose though. I have been ignoring it so hopefully it will resolve itself!

Thank you - I feel reassured!!

Just to add my DD had that too at the age of 6 and again when she was 8 - both times she was going through a period of change (moving house, etc) so the GP linked it to anxiety. But definitely nothing major to worry about!

I know this is an old thread but did anyone get any answers about this? My daughter is 10 and has been doing it for the last two weeks. Worried it might be asthma?

My child has also started taking deep breaths.... I’m worried sick over it. Please tell me this resolves it self!?!

How did things turn out my 4yr old started a week ago! I’m very sad and worry!

I know this is an old post but reassuring, my daughter keeps taking deep breaths regularly and has been worrying me sick doesn't do it when she asleep just in the day time I'm just hoping it's a habit and will disappear.

hi,
just found this thread and was wondering how things turned out for everyone. My son (age 5) just started doing this about a month ago. It is driving me crazy. Took him to the GP, she listened to his heart and lugs and says he is completely healthy. Says it might be allergies or whatever.
I am also considering either tic or allergies as he sometimes complements it with blinking, but definitely drives me crazy and worried. Doesn't do it during the night as well. Another thing I started considering today is that maybe it is related to the weather outside. It seems he does it much more often on rainy/cloudy days... any thoughts or suggestions are welcome

Just thought I'd comment on here as we've had experience of this.

Our adopted 4 year old girl went through lots of different phases when settling in with us, including the gasping as described.
It sounded awful and was obviously worrying but there were no issues with actual breathing . It was just a pause of breath and then a gasp to regain breath. All was fine once she fell asleep and unconscious breathing took over.
We could obviously link this to a bit of trauma upon being re-homed under tricky circumstances.

All settled well after a few months until now when it's started again with a vengeance!
Horrible to hear it but we can easily link it back to a bit of anxiety as a visit to previous life location was on the day it began a week or so ago.
It disappeared after a couple of weeks previously, just like all her other little quirky phases she went through for the first 6 months. I'm sure it will do again now, and want to offer that reassurance to others too.
Almost certainly a phase and a study I just saw suggested that it can be linked to anxiety in most cases.

My 9 years old boy has been taking deep breath for the last few weeks. I brought him to see a doctor but he could not find anything abnormal. I don't know what is wrong with him.