Introduction: Respiratory distress due to acute respiratory infections (ARI) are responsible for 3.9 million deaths per year in young children according to World Health Organization (WHO).

Aim: To study the common symptoms of respiratory distress  in infants with respiratory distress due to ARI during 1 - 6 months of life.

Methods: Infants of exclusive breast feeding age group who presented with respiratory distress according to WHO criteria for the first time are included in the study, case proforma with risk factors completed and appropriate investigations done. Results are analyzed.

Results: The study enrolled 100 infants with male predominance of which 82 were bronchiolitis, 18 were pneumonia.

Conclusion: cough and respiratory distress are the most common symptoms of respiratory distress followed by fever, coryza (62%) and poor feeding (55%)