Vital signs (peds)

This page is for pediatric patients. For adult patients, see: vital signs. See critical care quick reference for vital signs by age group.

Chart

Pediatric vital signs chart

Age	Pulse^	Respiratory Rate	Systolic BP
Preterm < 1 kg	120-160	30-60	36-58
Preterm 1 kg	120-160	30-60	42-66
Preterm 2 kg	120-160	30-60	50-72
Newborn	126-160	30-60	60-70
Up to 1 year	100-140	30-60	70-80
1-3 years	100-140	20-40	76-90
4-6 years	80-120	20-30	80-100
7-9 years	80-120	16-24	84-110
10-12 years	60-100	16-20	90-120
13-14 years	60-90	16-20	90-120
15 years and older	60-90	14-20	90-130

^Fever directly causes an increase in heart rate of 10 beats per minute per degree centigrade

Newborn Vital Signs

Age	Pulse^	Respiratory Rate	Systolic BP
Preterm < 1 kg	120-160	30-60	36-58
Preterm 1 kg	120-160	30-60	42-66
Preterm 2 kg	120-160	30-60	50-72
Newborn	126-160	30-60	60-70

Min of life	Target sat^^
1 min	60-65%
2 min	65-70%
3 min	70-75%
4 min	75-80%
5 min	80-85%
10 min	85-95%

^Fever directly causes an increase in heart rate of 10 beats per minute per degree centigrade ^^Hyperoxia can be harmful

Systolic Blood Pressure

SBP Rule of Thumb

• 0-28dy >60
• 1-12mo >70
• 1-10yrs = 70 + (Age x 2)
• >10yrs = >90

Note: Lower limit of DBP = 2/3 SBP

Estimation of Weight

Estimation of Pediatric Weight by Age

See Also

Pediatric Critical Care

• Critical care quick reference
• Neonatal resuscitation
• Newborn resuscitation
• PALS (Main)
• Intubation (peds)
• Initial mechanical ventilation settings (peds)
• Vital signs (peds)

See Also

• Vital signs