Children are not built like small adults. In a healthy adult, the average resting heart rate is 60 to 100 beats per minute (bpm). With physical fitness, the heart rate may be lower, because a strong cardiac muscle does not have to beat quickly to circulate blood efficiently. A healthy infant will have a much faster heart rate than their parents. The infant heart rate will slow slightly as the baby gets older.
How to Measure a Babys Heart Rate
The easiest areas to measure your baby’s heart rate are at the wrist, the inner elbow, the groin, the side of the neck or at the top of the foot. For an accurate measurement, place your index and middle finger over the pulse point and count the beats you feel. There are several ways to determine the heart rate.
- Count the number of beats felt in 60 seconds
- Count the number of beats felt for 20 seconds. Multiply the resulting number by three
- Count the pulse or beats for 30 seconds, and multiply that number by 2