Babies are known to make all sorts of noises, from high-pitched wails that many times pierce through your eardrums to contented sighs which melt your heart. For baby grunting, it should not be a cause for alarm because it is part of his/her audio repertoire, neither should it be ignored. Your baby can grunt because of the exciting desire to communicate. On the flip side, it could be a sign of some serious illness. Like all other noises coming from a baby, parents should always listen so that they are in a better position of figuring out what it means.
What Does Baby Grunting Mean?
Caregivers and parents are naturally able to pay close attention to a baby’s behavior especially when the activities involved are essential to the baby’s life like sleeping and breathing. In that way, they are able to note if there are any oddities or abnormalities immediately. When an infant is sleeping quietly, it always looks charming and sweet, but when meeting baby grunting, it tends to worry, confuse and even amuse the parents. Even though most babies grunt while sleeping, it is important that you carefully evaluate your child because baby grunting may be caused by an underlying medical problem.
How to Tell If My Baby’s Grunting Is a Sign of Illness
To be able to tell whether the baby’s grunting is problematic or normal, you should first check for other signs of respiratory trouble or sickness. If your baby is suffering from blue tongue or skin, weight loss, fever or lethargy, then the grunting is probably an indication of serious respiratory problems. However, if the bay is healthy, active, happy and eats well when awake, grunting is rarely a sign of illness. Grunting that signifies respiratory troubles more commonly occurs when the baby is awake. If the baby is generally healthy, the grunting is probably a sign that its sleep cycle is in much lighter segments.
When to See a Doctor
1. Neonatal Respiratory Distress
This potentially fatal disease occurs when the lungs of a baby haven’t fully matured. While it is more common in babies that are prematurely born, it can also occur in babies born at full term. According to Medline Plus, neonatal respiratory distress has the following signs and symptoms: brief pauses when breathing, blue color to the baby’s skin, decrease in output of urine, breathing movements that are unusual such as drawing in the chest muscles, grunting and nasal flaring. If you notice these signs or if the infant does not breathe for over 10 seconds, call 911.
2. If You Still Have Concerns
If your baby shows worrisome symptoms or if you still have concerns about your baby’s grunting, take him to a doctor for expert evaluation. In order to have thoroughly assessed your infant’s respiration, you must consider an intricate list of indicators such as depression of torso skin among his bones, respiration per minutes and have categorized the grunting. Many times, grunting while sleeping is not an indicator of something troublesome. However, since grunting can also be an indication of an upcoming or serious respiratory failure, you should protect the baby’s health by consulting a medical professional.
Check out this video for more information about baby grunting:
