# What Your Child's Resting Heart Rate Reveals About Health and Stress
A child's resting heart rate serves as a window into their physical fitness and stress levels. Parents can learn what healthy baseline looks like for their kid's age and use it to track changes over time.
Resting heart rate varies by age. Infants typically have rates between 100 and 160 beats per minute. Children ages 1 to 3 average 90 to 150. School-age kids run 70 to 110. Teens approach adult ranges of 60 to 100 beats per minute.
Several factors shift these numbers. Regular exercise lowers resting heart rate because a trained heart pumps blood more efficiently. Stress, illness, and poor sleep push rates higher. Dehydration and caffeine also increase heart rate.
Parents can measure resting heart rate by taking their child's pulse for 60 seconds when they first wake up or after sitting quietly for 10 minutes. Count the beats on the inside of the wrist or neck.
A declining resting heart rate over weeks suggests improving fitness. A sudden spike warrants attention. Changes might signal stress, infection, or sleep problems. Consistently elevated rates deserve a conversation with your pediatrician.
Tracking this simple metric helps parents spot patterns they might otherwise miss. It's free, requires no equipment, and teaches kids to notice their own bodies.