How to Count Breaths Per Minute

Counting breaths per minute — also called measuring respiratory rate — is one of the simplest yet most important vital signs you can track. Whether you're monitoring your own breathing, checking on a child, or keeping an eye on your pet's health, knowing how to measure respiratory rate accurately can help you spot potential problems early.

What Is Respiratory Rate?

Respiratory rate is the number of complete breath cycles (one inhale and one exhale) a person or animal takes in 60 seconds. It's one of the four primary vital signs alongside heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature. Doctors, veterinarians, and nurses use it every day because changes in breathing rate are often the earliest indicator that something is wrong.

Step-by-Step: How to Count Breathing Rate Manually

1. Make sure the subject is at rest. Respiratory rate should be measured when the person or animal is calm, relaxed, and ideally not aware they're being observed. Awareness can change breathing patterns.
2. Watch for one full breath cycle. A single breath consists of the chest or abdomen rising (inhale) and falling (exhale). Count each rise-and-fall pair as one breath.
3. Start a timer and begin counting. The clinical gold standard is to count breaths for a full 60 seconds. If you're short on time, you can count for 30 seconds and multiply by two — but a full minute gives more accurate results, especially for pets.
4. Record the number. Write it down along with the date, time, and any relevant notes (e.g., "after a walk" or "while sleeping").

Common Mistakes When Counting Breaths

Counting breaths sounds simple, but a few pitfalls can throw off your results:

• Counting for too short a period. Counting for only 15 seconds and multiplying by four amplifies any counting error. A single missed breath becomes a 4-breath error.
• Confusing individual movements with full cycles. One inhale and one exhale together equal one breath — not two.
• Measuring during or right after activity. Exercise, excitement, and stress all elevate respiratory rate temporarily. Wait at least 10 minutes after activity.
• Waking up a sleeping pet to count. For dogs and cats, resting or sleeping respiratory rate is the most clinically meaningful number. If you wake them, the number changes.

Normal Respiratory Rate Ranges

If your measurement consistently falls outside these ranges, it may be worth consulting a doctor or veterinarian.

The Easier Way: Use an App

Manually juggling a stopwatch, counting breaths, and recording results is doable — but it's easy to lose count or make errors, especially with a squirming pet.

Breaths Per Minute is a free app that simplifies the entire process. You simply tap the screen once for each breath you observe. The app calculates the respiratory rate for you in real time, uses a built-in timer to ensure you count long enough for an accurate result, and automatically saves every measurement to a history log you can review or share with your doctor or vet at any time.

No complicated setup. No mental math. Just tap and track.

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When Should You Count Respiratory Rate?

• Routine health monitoring. Establishing a baseline when everyone is healthy makes it much easier to spot changes later.
• After a diagnosis. Veterinarians commonly ask pet owners to monitor resting respiratory rate at home after a heart disease or respiratory diagnosis.
• When something seems off. Rapid breathing, labored breathing, or unusually slow breathing are all reasons to take a measurement and call a professional.

Frequently Asked Questions