my 3yr old has sleep apnea. does anyone have experience with this?
I noticed when he was an infant that he stopped breathing regularly, and now they finally did a sleep test on him last night in the hospital. He had many episodes of apnea during the night.
hello.
this is a long story, but when my son was an infant he stopped breathing in my arms, and although I spoke to several Doctors nothing came of my inquiries as to what to do. My son repeatedly stops breathing every night and startles himself awake, or I, hard to describe it, I KNOW when he is having an episode, and if he is not sleeping with me, I am able to be with him and help him breathe again. 2 weeks ago after seeing a doctor I had not seen in about 2yrs (rotating doc at the clinic who set up the ENT/Pediatrician origianally after I expressed my concerns) was being thorough (thank God) and asked about the test results. I told him none were done. he immediately sent me back to the ENT who after ensuring my son was not suffering from a cold etc had my son admitted to the hospital for a sleep monitoring. Last night he had several apneas during the middle of the night (duh, I knew I was not being a hyper sensitive mother like I was made to feel when no followup was done
Tagged with: apnea • apneas • doctors • god • inquiries • pediatrician • sleep • sleep test • test results
Filed under: Sleep Apnea Symptoms
I worked for an ENT who specializes in Sleep Apnea. He is not a Pediatric ENT but very smart. Sleep Apnea is usually caused by a blockage either in the nose, nasopharynx(palate),or the pharynx (throat). It has been my experience working with an ENT, that surgery is the best treatment in MOST cases. In children the major cause I have seen is enlarged, engorged tonsils, and usually a T&A(Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy) cures the apnea. The infant apnea is what I am not sure about. Play a game with your child and look in his throat to see if the tonsils are enlarged. Does he snore? Does he have trouble swallowing? Does he have allergies, Asthma, runny nose all the time, ear infections? The answer to the questions may give you clues to where the cause of the apnea is. My heart goes out to you! E-mail me if you like.
Good Luck and God Bless:)
It is treatable most of the time. I suggest you take him to Atlanta or Seattle. Both have excellent children’s hospitals with programs specializing in Sleep Apnea.
I have never heard of someone so young with it. I have a brother with it and for some reason it made him anxious. He is in his thirties and he was just diagnosed. He has to sleep with a mask. I suggest that you take him to a specialist and make sure that he has a pediatrician that is familiar with apnea in children. Also, doctors do not know everything, you know your child better than anyone else, so watch him for any changes day and night. Record them and take those concerns to your doctor no matter how small that it seems to be. Also, it does not hurt to do your homework, find out all that you can about this disorder. This will help you get peace of mind too.
My life partner – as well as his younger brother – have this sleeping disorder. It is especially alarming when a loved one doesn’t breathe regularly at sleep. Thank goodness your son was diagnosed early.
I have always been a pretty sound sleeper myself and, as a mom, I naturally developed a certain type of selective "sleep-hearing" which allows me to detect particular nighttime noises: I can sleep through a severe thunderstorm, yet the silence when Mike stops breathing sets me straight up in the bed. Are you looking for some sort of support group or searching for information in general?
My step-father was just told that he had sleep apnea after some tests, and he was put on a C-Pap machine to help him breath. While he was being tested he heard of a 3 year old with a severe case. I guess that it is becoming more and more popular among society. You should follow the doctors orders and ask what you can do to help the problem. I know that when people are overweight it makes it worse, as well as other factors. My step-father used to wake up about 6 times a night to use the bathroom, get a drink, etc. He also snored so loud I could hear it from the vents in the guest room when I stayed over, ever since then, he doesn’t wake up during the night and he no longer snores. Good luck with it all and know that this is more common than you may think and it will all work out.
lots of info on web – but you need a fifth, sixth, or seventh opinion – may have some stage of asthma for it to appear at such an early age – get to a specialist in pediatric ENT or pediatric asthma specialist = treatable but you need to know what is going on to treat it
you should discuss with your doctor about going to a sleep clinic but i don’t know if they are specialised in young children. the fact that he startles himself is caused by his brain, which sends ‘shock’ waves to the body in order to start breathing again. i also know that the grown ups use a mask with oxygen during the night and it really helps them. it is very good that you have found a doctor that you trust and you should discuss it with him first.
best of luck!
Sleep apnea is not that uncommon in children. One of the biggest causes of it are swollen tonsils and adenoids. A surgery to remove those frequently cures the apnea. Another cause is difficulty in keeping the airway open due to structural abnormalities. There are several different ways to treat this. Children with severe reflux or GERD also can have problems with apnea. If your child had a sleep study (OPCG) with pH probe your doctor will be able to make a diagnois much more easily. I would definitely request an appointment to see a pediatric ENT, or pediatric pulmonologist who can assist you in treating the apnea. Best wishes!