Question: Hi there is it normal for babies to desat while drinking a bottle? My daughter is 11 months and her heart always beats very quickly while she drinks her bottle and she breathes faster and eventually falls asleep. I am not sure if this is normal for the respiratory rate to increase while feeding. I used a handheld o2 pulse oximeter and her hr was 135 with an o2 SAT level of 91 (i am not sure if it was accurate as she was moving a bit BC she doesn't like the finger sensor). I went to her doc a few weeks ago about a racing heartbeat while drinking and she performed an echo cardiogram and an ekg and both came back normal. She refused to do a holter (even though I told her it only happens while she drinks). I am wondering if it couod be a problem with her heart/lungs?

Thanks for your reply. I am concerned BC from what I read online desat to under 94 in babies are problematic. Also what is the normal heart rate for a baby and why does it speed up when feeding and why is it 'normal' for babies to desat while drinking (according to you) ? Her heart rate while drinking has reached 180 BPM many times. Just curious BC everything I have read states it's not normal and a problem. She spend some time in the NICU after she was born and I remember when the monitor would show she was having a moment of desaturation it would ring and the nurses would come in. Also is this indicative of a heart or a lung problem (the extremely fast heart rate while drinking and dsats while drinking?)

OK thank you doctor. I am not sure if it comes back up as I have a heard enough time measuring it when she is feeding as she hates the feeling of the sensor on her fingers and tries to move her hand to get it off. She does seem very uncomfortable while feeding breathes rapidly and and shallow, moves around a lot like she is uncomfortable, sits up to take breaks frequently and then leans forward (legs straight and in standing position and leans her head and body into my chest/shoulder). She has always had a difficult time with bottle feeding and would not breastfeed (she would scream). This has always seemed strange and it never seemed "right" The frustrating part is that her cardiologist won't do the holter or measure her o2 SAT when she is feeding. The problem only occurs while drinking so the fact that her echo and EKG came back normal isn't looking at the episodes of when it happens. As I mentioned earlier since she was in the NICU for 10 days, if it were a heart or lung problem would it have most likely been picked up there (with the leads she wore)?