What can I do about my one year old’s sleep apnea?
My husband and i are pretty sure that our one year old has obstructive sleep apnea, she fits all of the symptoms and other people have suspected it since she was born. We made an appointment for the doctor but its not until Thursday so I was wondering if anyone knew what I could do to help her breathe while she’s asleep until we do get to talk to the doctor? thanks <3
yes she does snore and when she’s awake its not rare for her to have a runny nose and appear to be congested… we havent had anything checked out yet :( when she does quit breathing its for about 5+ seconds at a time then she gasps/chokes for air and this happens more than 10 times an hour, she hardly ever attempts to breathe out of her nose when shes asleep..
Tagged with: appointment • lt • runny nose • sleep
Filed under: Sleep Apnea Symptoms
Well, tell you what. Probably nothing more than you already have been doing. She’s been doing this for quite some time, right?
Does she actually quit breathing and for how long? Is she stuffy? Have you had her adenoids checked out? They may be enlarged. Does she snore? Does she breathe through her mouth. If she breathes through her mouth, take my word for it, a regular peds doctor generally won’t think that’s a problem.
I’ll tell you it is. Over a couple years her mouth will become out of shape because a young one sleeps about 1/2 her life and for that 1/2 part of growing, the roof of her mouth, teeth, etc, will become deformed into an oval shape, giving her the appearance of bucked teeth and a narrow mouth.
Please, take her to an ENT (Ear/Nose/Throat) doctor. They specialize and can see her tonsils and adenoids for a problem. Once removed and wallaa!!! no more snoring, there’s breathing through the nose and a restful baby!!
Anyway……Good luck. I hope you find the problem.. May not be sleep apnea at all. Especially in light of the above.
God bless you
I am an RN
Small children often have irregular breathing patterns and this is normal. If she has chronic nasal congestion, your doctor can give you some direction for this. He will also look at her nasal passages and her throat to determine if he thinks she may have a problem. Running a humidifier in the room where she sleeps never hurts in the wintertime – it keeps all the nasal passages moist.