|
Asthma in Infants
by Chris Le Roy
The person who is learning the Buteyko method takes control of their breathing
and by reduction of the use of their deep breathing muscles reduces the depth of
their breathing until a desire for a deeper breath is felt. This indicates that
a higher level of CO2 is being trapped in, so in a short time avoiding the
conditions associated with CO2 deficiency.
For you to apply the Buteyko Method in infants it is necessary to recognize the
ways in which your breathing can be affected indirectly. This simply means that
you must recognize what makes your breathing deeper,and avoid it where possible.
Once you have followed how this applies to adults then you simply apply it to babies.
1. Keeping your mouth closed. This is the first step for all people learning to
apply the method. It is active in the sense that you control the separation of
your lips, but the way that this alters your breathing is passive. You simply
close your mouth and the increase in CO2 levels happens to you. [Providing that
you do not become stressed and increase your breathing depth, still with your
mouth closed. This may be a factor if you suffer from panic attacks.] In most
cases people who have been used to breathing through the mouth will feel a
little suffocated or feel the desire for a deep breath within a minute or two of
having their mouth closed.
This feeling is an indication that you have trapped in a little more CO2 than
you are used to, and your normal response to this is for your body to believe it
should get rid of some of this extra CO2. This is the reason for the desire for
a deeper breath. After a time your body becomes used to the higher level of CO2
that keeping your mouth closed causes. Once used to this level the desire for a
deeper breath [or feeling of slight suffocation] disappears. At this point
keeping your mouth closed feels absolutely normal, and breathing through your
mouth will feel a little odd.
The application of this wisdom to infants requires a little lateral thinking as
it is unusual for a baby to actually do what you tell it. The simplest approach
is the use of a 'dummy' or 'pacifier'. While these do allow a little mouth
breathing they reduce it greatly. Try it yourself.
There are lots of discussions about these devices and the problems that people
have associated with them. Crooked teeth, thumb-sucking habits, and so on.
If you were to be given the choice of a baby who was A. Miserable with asthma
and associated problems, or B. Much healthier but uses a "dummy" and who may
(and this is not proven at all) develop teeth problems.
Which would you choose? It is not a difficult choice at all. The dummy can help!
So, the first step in improving your babies breathing is to encourage nasal
breathing. The dummy is part of this, other parts include simply pushing your
babies lips together. This can be done at anytime, and done automatically by you
even if the child is asleep. Some Native American Indian tribes did this as part
of their culture, it was simply a normal part of the mothers job. [I do not know
if the father also participated]
| 
Free Downloads
Career
RSS Feed