The article considers the most important discoveries in this area and answers such questions as, “Should I worry about my 5 year old breathing through his mouth?”
“How to get children to breathe through their nose?”
“What are the causes for breathing through the mouth?”
“How to fix mouth breathing at night in children?”
“What are the techniques to deal with open mouth breathing when sleeping in toddlers?”
“Are these any special methods for infant mouth breathing?”
“What should I do with my infant noisy breathing?”

Mouth breathing in babies, children, infants and toddlers is an emerging problem facing parents and the medical community due to its devastating effects on the development of the young. In order to realize the broad scope of negative effects of mouth breathing, consider the titles of recent research articles:
Etiology, clinical manifestations and concurrent findings in mouth-breathing children (Abreu et al, 2008)
Prevalence of malocclusion among mouth breathing children: do expectations meet reality? (Souki et al, 2009)
Relationship between mouth breathing and postural alterations of children: a descriptive analysis (Krakauer et al, 2000)
Prevalence of oral malodor and the relationship with habitual mouth breathing in children (Kanehira et al, 2004)
Radiological evaluation of facial types in mouth breathing children: a retrospective study (Costa et al, 2008)
The negative effect of mouth breathing on the body and development of the child (Flutter, 2006)
A comparative study of effects of mouth breathing and normal breathing on gingival health in children (Gulati, 1998)

Revealed effects of mouth breathing in babies, children, infants and toddlers are:
- Allergic rhinitis
- Malocclusion
- Enlarged adenoids
- Enlarged tonsils
- Higher levels of Gingival index
- Postural alterations
- Obstructive deviation of the nasal septum
- Oral malodor
- Facial changes (long face, half-open mouth and increased anterior facial height)
(Abstracts related to these medical research findings are on my website.)

Typical clinical manifestations of problems with nose breathing in the young include:
- Itchy nose
- Sleeping with mouth open
- Drooling on the pillow
- Snoring
- Nocturnal sleep problems or agitated sleep
- Irritability during the day
- Nasal obstruction

Major causes of mouth breathing and poor health in children are:
- Sleeping on their back (except infants, who should sleep on their back while tightly swaddled)
- Over-heating (too much clothing)
- Over-feeding of children by parents
- Mouth breathing parents
- Junk food and lack of essential nutrients in diet (Ca, Mg, fish oil, and Zn)
- Lack of physical activity (or exercise with mouth open)

In comparison with normal breathing in adults (8-12 breaths/min), normal breathing in the young is more frequent (newborns: 40-46 breath/min; infants: 20–40 breaths/min; preschool children: 20–30 breaths/min; older children: 16–25 breaths/min). The crucial thing, however, for maximum body oxygen content in children, is to have normal (up to 98%) oxygenation of the arterial blood (due to tummy breathing since costal or chest breathing reduces oxygen delivery to lower parts of the lungs and blood), but with higher cellular carbon dioxide content. Therefore, ideal breathing is very slow and small, but using the belly only. (Note that there are many silly and uneducated people, who believe that “Deeper breathing means more oxygen for the body” and promote the myth that “CO2 is a waste, toxic gas.)

Reduction of CO2 in the body, in fact, is the main reason and mechanism why oral breathing is so damaging. As in the case of healthy adults, normal breathing in children is inaudible or very quiet and almost invisible. CO2 plays the key role in oxygen delivery due to its vasodilatory properties (expansion of blood vessels) and facilitating effects (O2 release in tissues due to the Bohr effect). Hence, the less we breathe, the more oxygen is delivered to our tissues).

Additional details, techniques and suggestions can be found here: Devastating effects of mouth breathing in children, babies, toddlers, and infants: their causes, effects, treatment, and prevention.

Artour Rakhimov (PhD) is health lecture and the author of books and the educational website www.NormalBreathing.com devoted to natural self-oxygenation, breathing education and breathing retraining.