Therefore, to an untrained eye, it may seem like the toddler’s breathing may be rapid which may not really be the case. Moreover, most children also suffer from a cold and cough, when they have fever. Symptoms like stuffy nose, runny nose and cough are some of the main factors that could lead to heavy breathing, when the child is not feeling well. In order to deal with toddler fever and shallow breathing, people should take a two fold approach and first treat the root cause of the fever.