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Normal Respiratory Rate by Age Calculator

Find the normal breathing rate range for any age.

How it is calculated

The tool looks up the age in a fixed table of resting breathing rates, in breaths per minute. Under 1 year: 30 to 60. From 1 to under 3 years: 24 to 40. From 3 to under 6: 22 to 34. From 6 to under 12: 18 to 30. From 12 to under 18: 12 to 16. From 18 on: 12 to 20. There is no calculation beyond finding the age band; the low and high limits are shown together with the age you entered. Enter age in years, using a decimal for babies (0.5 for six months); the band is chosen from the exact value, and the age is echoed back with two decimals when it is not whole, such as 0.50 yr. Ages below 0 or above 120 give no result. These figures describe a resting, awake person and are for information only; they do not diagnose anything.

Worked example

A child aged 8 falls in the 6 to under 12 band. The tool shows a normal low of 18 /min and a normal high of 30 /min. If you count 22 breaths in one minute while the child is calm and resting, that value sits inside the range. A resting count of 36 would be above it, which is worth mentioning to a health professional, who also considers fever, activity and other signs.

Try this example →

Common mistakes

  • Entering age in months. A 6-month-old must be typed as 0.5; typing 6 uses the 6 to under 12 year range.
  • Counting breaths after crying, running or play. The ranges are for rest, so count when the person is calm or asleep.
  • Counting for only a few seconds. A short count multiplied up can be off; count for a full minute, especially in babies, whose breathing is irregular.
  • Using the adult 12 to 20 range for a child. The ranges are much higher in the younger bands, so a rate that is normal for a 2-year-old would be alarming in an adult.
  • Treating a value just outside the range as a diagnosis. The ranges are reference limits, not a clinical decision.

Sources

About this calculator

Normal respiratory rate — breaths per minute at rest — varies substantially with age: newborns and infants breathe much faster than adults, and the normal range narrows and drops steadily through childhood before settling into the adult range of roughly 12 to 20 breaths per minute. Clinicians use age-specific reference ranges, not a single adult number, when assessing whether a patient’s breathing rate is abnormal.

This calculator looks up the normal breathing rate range for the age you enter, based on standard pediatric and adult vital-sign reference charts, to give a quick point of comparison — it is informational and not a substitute for clinical assessment.

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