ABSTRACT.During a 3‐year period (1979‐81) 85 premature infants with idiopathic respiratory distress (IRDS) were treated early with an easily applicable light‐weight CPAP‐system with a binasal tube and a gas jet. We used conservative criteria for ventilator treatment. The treatment proved sufficient in 18 out of 25 infants with a birth weight>1500 g and in 53 out of 60 infants with a birth weight>1500 g. Seven infants developed pneumothorax during CPAP treatment. Seventy‐four infants survived, all without bronchopulmonary dysplasia. At the age of 1.5‐4.5 years the incidence of respiratory tract infections did not differ from that in a group of siblings; and the incidence of lower respiratory tract infections was low compared to previous studies. With the criteria used, early CPAP proved effective in the majority of infant