Buteyko Manual For Asthma Continued.

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This allows the mouth to be clearly seen, and it can be noticed if any air “sneaks in” through the mouth.

3. With the nose pinched and mouth closed, the child now marches forward, and continues until he cannot hold his nose any longer and must breathe. As the child takes the steps, count them! You will be asked to record the number of steps taken, as this will be the measurement part of the breathing training.

4. When the child cannot go any further, he must stop and stand still. This is the most important part of the training, and you must pay close attention.  Upon stopping, the child will have trapped in a lot of extra carbon dioxide — much more than he is used to.

This will cause the child to have the desire to breathe very deeply to expel all the carbon dioxide. This must be prevented. The goal of this exercise is to cause extra carbon dioxide to be trapped in, and then retained.

 If the breathing at this time is not closely monitored, then it has the capability to reduce the CO2 level below the starting point and actually cause an asthma attack. For children, the key to this vital step is the analogy with the mouse and the elephant. [see later]

5. After a couple of minutes [recovery time will vary with progression of training], then the child may be allowed to move from the spot where they stopped and get ready for the next set of “steps”.

You must monitor your child’s breathing [watch it carefully] for a few minutes after each set of steps — to ensure that the impulse to breathe very deeply is repressed. Signs that this has happened include touching of nose or face, or movement of the child’s shoulders in a vertical direction. If this occurs — remind the child to breathe like a “mouse” again.

Extra: A useful tip

It is useful to take your childs pulse before beginning each breathing session. The key point is that a consistently elevated pulse may indicate that your child is steroid deficient.