How to Measure the Heart Rate of 2 Year Olds

It is important to know how to measure the heart rate of a child, because it can clue you in to important information about the health of a 2-year-old. If the heart is not beating fast enough or is beating too fast, the child could have an arrhythmia, or an irregularity of the heart rate. A toddler's heart rate should be between 70 and 80 beats per minute.

Things You'll Need

• Stopwatch

Instructions

1. Find the child's pulse. The pulse can be found on the neck, the temple, the wrist or the chest.

2. Count the beats for one full minute, or for 30 seconds and multiply by two. You want to know the resting heart rate, so make sure the child has been at rest for at least 10 minutes, as recommended by the National Institutes of Health.

3. Determine if the heart rate is in a 2-year-old's normal range, which is 70 to 80 beats per minute. If it is too slow or too fast, mention that to your child's doctor, who might want to check for an arrhythmia or other medical condition.

Tips & Warnings

• According to the American Heart Association, a child's heart rate speeds up when she breathes in and slows down again when she breathes out. It is completely normal and is called a sinus arrhythmia.

References

• National Institutes of Health
• American Heart Association
• The Children's Heart Institute