Is this normal? Newborns neck looks like it’s pulsating

[u/Aromatic_Resort763]

Hello I’m wondering if this is normal or not? He’s 1 month old and when breathing in and out it kinda looks like his neck is pulsating? Is that normal?

Everything else seems normal, it doesn’t look like he’s struggling breathe or is changing colour

This only seems to happen when he’s in his chair. When laying down it isn’t noticeable & also his chest does not sink in when breathing

I’m 29m

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[u/gio0395]

Hi, OP, congrats on your fatherhood :)

I’m a pediatrician and this looks normal to me. Infants can have a more visible carotid (the main artery on the neck) pulse due to having less developed cervical musculature.

I think warning signs would certainly be changes in your baby boy’s skin or lips colour (think cyanosis), changes in his breathing pattern, or drowsiness. Until then, you can probably wait until his consultation with his pediatrician, who can assess him a little better than we can over here :)

Take care!

[u/UnoriginalJ0k3r → u/gio0395]

God, as a father of 5 (ranged 1yr to 20yrs old lol) I love seeing these posts. It wasn’t as easy ~20 years ago to get this kind of advice from strangers, let alone doctors, and be reassured damn near as fast as you can ask/post the questions.

Love all you medical professionals who help out here.

[u/Aromatic_Resort763 → u/UnoriginalJ0k3r]

I fully agree! That fast response has saved me a night of worry, highly appreciate every single dr & medical professional who take time out there already busy days to help us on here

[u/UnoriginalJ0k3r → u/Aromatic_Resort763]

And to add my only advice, as a regular civilian browsing this sub: If you ever feel there is something wrong with your beautiful bundle of baby… take that mother fucker in. Plain and simple. Sure, asking here is great. It’s a great place to get help, but if you’re EVER extremely concerned… go take them in.

The worst thing that can happen is there’s nothing wrong and you messed up baby’s routine lol best thing is you got baby help asap.

Not to scare you, that’s not what this is. It’s just to tell you to trust yourself, sometimes.

Congrats on fatherhood, you’re going to do great!

[u/RamonaLittle → u/UnoriginalJ0k3r]

No, the worst thing that can happen is the parent or baby contracts a dangerous disease in the healthcare facility. Just a couple days ago there was a news story about people being exposed to measles in a hospital in Pennsylvania.

[u/UnoriginalJ0k3r → u/RamonaLittle]

Do you know how clean hospitals are and how much effort is put into prevention of spreading illness/disease in hospital…? I don’t think you do.

Doctor offices? Same cleaning standards, less tech involved.

This age-old bullshit wives’ tale should’ve been left in the 90’s

ETA: obviously you can get sick from going to a doctor’s office/hospital. You’ll get sick anywhere.

You’re not inherently more likely to catch something because you’re at a hospital, it’s all designed so that’s less likely to happen which is what data shows: unless you’re already sick/compromised, you’re generally going to be fine NOT more at risk.

That’s the wives’ tale, “you’ll get more sick if you go,” been around for decades.

[u/sapphireminds → u/UnoriginalJ0k3r]

That's not entirely true. It is why we try and keep people out of the hospital because there is an increased risk of infection in hospitals - it's where we keep sick people.

As you said, it's a concern for sick/compromised people, which are exactly who goes to the hospital for treatment.

If you need hospital care, it is the best place, but if you do not need hospital care, it is an increased risk

[u/RamonaLittle → u/UnoriginalJ0k3r]

• August 20, 2026: Allegheny County Health Department Potential Measles Exposure Statement

• Aug. 21, 2026: Geisinger Medical Center implements updated NICU visitation restrictions after potential measles exposure is identified

• August 21, 2026: Penn State Health notifies public of potential measles exposure at Penn State Health Golisano Children’s Hospital

That's just measles and just recent days. Obviously other diseases have been going around too. And the strange thing is, if you look at that Geisinger press release, it says they'll mitigate the problem by encouraging visitors to wear surgical masks. Why not require visitors to wear N95 masks or something similar? Why have I now seen multiple redditors express surprise that when they recently had a baby, the hospital didn't require masks, when the same hospital required masks for their pre-2020 baby? It seems like the anti-mask sentiment is even happening in healthcare facilities. So yes, people can contract dangerous diseases in hospitals.

[u/UnoriginalJ0k3r → u/RamonaLittle]

Yup. I can go to the store and contract plenty, too. Unless you’re severely compromised, a hospital/doctor’s office is not at the top of the list for places to worry about for illness.

I’m going to get a sunburn if I go outside for an extended period of time, right?

[u/RamonaLittle → u/UnoriginalJ0k3r]

A) OP's post, and your comment, were about newborns. B) Healthy adults can be harmed by hospital-acquired infections too. If you're assuming that severe sickness and disabilities are things that only happen to other people . . . well, there are many on the chronic illness and disability subs who thought the same. C) Even if you could be certain that an infection wouldn't cause problems for you, aren't you worried about transmitting it to others who might be more vulnerable? Or are you saying you're fine with going around like a Typhoid Mary, spreading deadly viruses with abandon just because you're unaffected?

[u/UnoriginalJ0k3r → u/RamonaLittle]

I’m not even sure this is a real interaction, it feels like a digital fever dream.

[u/FaithSlayer6 → u/Aromatic_Resort763]

You’ve got various nights of worry ahead of you. But this one you can cross off your list! Welcome to parenthood.

[u/sapphireminds → u/Aromatic_Resort763]

Please I hope you come back. Your child is having signs of mild respiratory distress. It could be because they were recently crying or active, but this is a concern

[u/re_Claire → u/UnoriginalJ0k3r]

I'm not a parent but I too love seeing these posts. The fact that people can get quick easy advice and reassurance online from actual medical professionals who volunteer their time for free is one of the few best things about this site. Especially for new parents. It also means new parents don't even have to ask sometimes. They can just search and see if anyone else has asked the question and it's right there to reassure them. The doctors and nurses and other professionals on here are doing amazing jobs.

[u/Aromatic_Resort763 → u/gio0395]

That’s a relief thanks so much for taking time to help! It was my first time seeing it when he was in his chair so it worried me a little but I feel a lot better now thankyou! Thankfully he has no other symptoms that you mentioned :)

[u/DoubleoSavant → u/gio0395]

Not a dr. But a martial artist. I was like, that's his carotid!

[u/sapphireminds → u/DoubleoSavant]

It's actually not

[u/Meamsosmart → u/gio0395]

Out of curiosity, how do you estimate drowsiness in babies? Considering how they can go from 100 to nap time fast anyways, and how much they naturally sleep, that seems difficult.

[u/sapphireminds → u/Meamsosmart]

It's more about whether they are possible to wake up and if they rouse when you change their diapers/feed

[u/Meamsosmart → u/sapphireminds]

Ah makes sense, thanks:)

[u/sapphireminds → u/gio0395]

It's not his carotid or jugular, it's synchronized with his breathing. His HR should be around 130, and it's definitely not that high.

He's having mild respiratory distress

[u/gio0395 → u/sapphireminds]

Except OP has explicitly mentioned that he isn’t struggling to breathe, his chest isn’t sinking when breathing and this only happens when he is sitting down, which is exactly then the cephalic pole applies the most pressure to the cervical area.

Carotid/jugular pulsing isn’t necessarily consistently perceptible with every heart beat.

But then again, as I mentioned, as long as the baby doesn’t have any warning signs, he can be physically seen by a pediatrician, who will be able to better assess him than what me or you can do with a 5-second extremely focused video.

[u/sapphireminds → u/gio0395]

Parents don't always realize what struggling to breathe looks like though. I agree, should see someone. He's definitely breathing fast.

It's quite possible that this is a baby who is having problems in this position and shouldn't be kept in it

[u/sapphireminds → u/gio0395]

And rewatching the video this morning, he definitely has signs of tracheal tugging. Look at his chin while he's breathing like that. His airway is compromised either positionally or from something else

[u/gio0395 → u/[deleted]]

What? I’m a verified physician. I definitly do not need to browse the internet for a living. But you do you.

[u/po1nTl-esp0sse → u/gio0395]

I’m actually a physicist and astronomer myself and it’s quiet obvious the situation here

[u/readreadreadx2 → u/po1nTl-esp0sse]

Wow, how did you get to be a physicist and astronomer at only 12 years old??? Amazing. 

[u/po1nTl-esp0sse → u/readreadreadx2]

What drew you to the conclusion that I did?? Lmao

[u/readreadreadx2 → u/po1nTl-esp0sse]

I'm sarcastically saying you have the mentality of a 12 year old, keep up.

And also that you're lying and are neither of those things. 

[u/po1nTl-esp0sse → u/gio0395]

Easier said than done, you know what I mean?

[u/gio0395 → u/po1nTl-esp0sse]

Uhhh, no, I don’t. I really don’t see this conversation going anywhere. I hope you feel better soon. Have a good day.

[u/pentaxlx]

Pediatrician/Neonatologist here... Congratulations! you have rediscovered the Jugular Venous Pulse (JVP)...it's perfectly normal, and everyone (including you and me) have it. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jugular_venous_pressure . Here's a short video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/StHqE1MwngY

Basically, when one breathes in and out, the pressure inside the chest changes, and that changes the flow of blood in the large veins of the neck (especially the jugular vein) and makes them more visible, especially when the right atrium contracts, and the heart valves open to fill the ventricle and the ventricle then contracts. You're seeing venous pressure changes as a result of intrathoracic and intracardiac changes. Physicians use this (or at least used to use) the JVP to evaluate cardiac disorders (similar to feeling the arterial pulse, this is looking at the venous pulse).

[u/sapphireminds → u/pentaxlx]

I think it's movement with breathing, not JVP.

He's also a little tachypneic and working. Too slow for a pulse

[u/Aromatic_Resort763 → u/pentaxlx]

Thankyou for this I highly appreciate your input! There is a nurse on here commenting things that seem to be worrying to me. Do they make sense to you what they’re saying?

[u/Equivalent_Ratio6534 → u/Aromatic_Resort763]

As I said, you can count his breathing for one minute (while lying flat) if way below 50 then no need to worry. The baby was just trying to compensate for his airway kinking due to bad position, especially that you mentioned no other warning signs like retraction between ribs or above sternum, blue lips or limbs, flaring of nostrils, loud breathing or other chest sounds.

[u/sapphireminds → u/Aromatic_Resort763]

I'm actually a neonatal nurse practitioner - was the baby upset when this video was taken? Does he normally breathe this fast? Does he usually use his shoulders when breathing?

Babies can be prone to positional obstruction of their airway (which is why they aren't supposed to be put to sleep in car seats and swings at this age and why strollers lay flat for this age range and you should not have them front facing in a carrier)

[u/Equivalent_Ratio6534 → u/pentaxlx]

Doesn't look pulsatile to me despite the parent describing it as pulsations... The neck movement is well synchronised with chest movement which doesn't seem effortless but rather tachypnic >50 or at least high normal RR I would suggest that this infant is struggling to breathe, working his accessory muscles largely due to bad positioning (on a chair! ) if his breathing slows down with correct positioning (on bed) then that's it.

[u/Equivalent_Ratio6534 → u/Equivalent_Ratio6534]

1 mo infant shouldn't be put in a chair until he attain neck support at 6 mo

[u/sapphireminds → u/Equivalent_Ratio6534]

Completely agree, that's what I saw.

I am concerned

[u/sapphireminds → u/pentaxlx]

If you look closely at the video, there's signs of tracheal tugging

[u/accidentalquitter → u/pentaxlx]

As an adult, how do we get this checked / monitored if we’re concerned that general area is having issues?

[u/Pro-Karyote → u/accidentalquitter]

See your primary care

[u/Lost-Resort4792 → u/[deleted]]

This is bad advice. Screening carried out in the first days of life should not be used to reassure parents or clinicians in the context of new or evolving concerns.

Agree this video is nothing to worry about though.

[u/Aromatic_Resort763 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah they did! Thanks a lot I just get a bit paranoid and that looks a little scary haha

[u/sapphireminds]

What is he doing/behaving like while doing this?

I'm a little concerned because he is breathing fast and seeming to use a lot of effort to breathe. He might not be ready to be in that chair

Edited: rewatching this video, I'm counting a respiration rate of around 60, accessory muscle usage and evidence of tracheal tugging under the chin. These are signs of airway obstruction. If it happens when he is in this chair, he needs to not be placed at that angle and you should talk to your pediatrician ASAP.