Sleep Apnea in Children - What You Should Know

Does your child have problems staying alert during the day?  Perhaps they are tired or irritable all the time.  Children often do not sleep well and may have a Sleep Disorder such as Sleep Apnea. 

Sleep Apnea is one of the most prevalent of the Breathing Disorders of sleep. Generally, one out of 25 middle-aged men and one out of 50 middle-aged women have Sleep Apnea but it can also affect children. 

What is Sleep Apnea?  It is a common condition characterized by a periodic reduction in or a complete stop of breathing during sleep. This is usually caused by an obstruction blocking the back of the throat so that the air cannot reach your lungs. It can be a frightening experience for a parent to watch their child suffer from these symptoms. 

Facts You Need to Know About Childhood Sleep Disorders: 

Children can be affected by Sleep Disorders, including those commonly found in adults, such as Snoring, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Insomnia, and Restless Legs Syndrome.  Children’s Sleep Disorders can affect the child’s general behaviour which can result in mood swings and general irritability.  Rest is essential to a child’s growth and development – both physically and mentally.   Sleep Apnea in children has been linked to bedwetting, growth problems and even High Blood Pressure.  With prolonged periods of insufficient sleep a child’s attention span will be affected which may result in poor school performance, learning difficulties and has been linked to ADHD.    Those who have ADHD and Sleep Disorders are difficult to treat, but when the proper treatment is found, the results can be notable such as improved conduct and decreased irritability. Most children who snore do NOT have Apnea, but a sleep study is the only reliable way to tell for sure.  Children are more likely to have it if their parents or siblings had it as children.

 

What Can Be Done:

Sleep Specialists have special training in sleep medicine and can help to determine if your child has primary Snoring, Sleep Apnea or another problem. They can then offer you the most appropriate treatment.  As with all conditions, it is essential to get the advice of a professional Healthcare provider.   

Conclusion: 

Children’s Sleep Disorders are often harmful to their development and well being.  Every child needs periods of uninterrupted sleep for optimal growth, but sleep problems are very common - especially among younger children.   Sustained periods of disturbed sleep have enormous impact on the whole family - both on parents’ ability to function during the day and on other children. 

The good news is there are many Natural Treatment Solutions for Children’s Sleep Disorders.

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Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea - What’s the Difference?

He gasps, he snorts, and he is grappling for breath! He likely has sleep apnea. (This can happen with women as well.)

You’ve probably heard these telltale signs.

It’s also scary. If you’ve ever lain beside someone with sleep apnea and literally watched that person stop breathing - it is scary!

Snoring
The actual loud snoring sound is created as the soft palette and the uvula vibrate. The uvula is the little fleshy bit of skin that hangs down at the back of your throat. From physics, we know that any rapidly moving air will try to elevate and vibrate the objects in its path; hence, voluminous airflow passing through the nose or mouth causes this loud, intense vibration. It’s the irregularity of the air movement when it’s not consistently even, that causes the sporadic vibration of the soft pallet. The National Sleep Foundation research suggests that about 44 women snore and this snoring affects their bed partners. When someone snores loudly and constantly every night, it is considered chronic snoring. Other times, snoring only occurs on an occasional basis and can be due to excessive tiredness, overeating, sleeping on one’s back, excessive alcohol consumption etc.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Obstructive sleep apnea, on the other hand, is where the sufferer’s breathing actually stops for a brief period of time - anywhere from 10 seconds to a minute. The initial culprits that trigger the onset of sleep apnea are weight gain, aging, and lose of muscle tone, though this can also occur in younger people without the typical triggers. In a home setting, sleep apnea is often misdiagnosed, as very often, it is accompanied by loud snoring, though snoring does not need to occur for the person to be having apnea events. When the throat muscles relax during sleep, the windpipe collapses. This then prevents the oxygen from flowing. As the blood oxygen level decreases, the brain finally kicks in and say, ‘Hey! It’s time to give me oxygen’, so it wakes you up just enough for you to tighten up the upper airway muscles and open your windpipe. This results in a huge intake of air and causes snorting and gasping, literally for breath. This pattern can repeat hundreds of time through the night and the sufferer is never the wiser. This is why it is so important to monitor your daytime behavior and how you feel. My husband suffers from very mild apnea events and he can always tell when he’s had a ‘bad’ night as his throat tends to be sore the next day, and he is very tired and groggy upon waking. If left unchecked or untreated, it can lead to intense irritability and depression, as well as morning headaches, loss of sex drive and a decline in cognitive functioning. There can also be an increased risk of high blood pressure, irregular heartbeats, and an elevated risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Millions of people have their sleep interrupted with this disturbing medical condition…and millions go undiagnosed. This extremely common sleep disorder is one that definitely needs medical attention. It is diagnosed by spending a night or two in a sleep lab hooked up to Polysomnography equipment that monitors your heartbeat, breathing and brainwave activity.

Once sleep apnea is diagnosed, the common solution is to sleep with a CPAP mask (continuous positive airway pressure) over your nose and mouth. It provides regulated flow of air through the nasal passages, which prevents your windpipe from closing. For milder cases of sleep apnea, learning to sleep on one’s side often will correct the situation. Extreme solutions involve surgery to correct structural deformities. All solutions must be discussed with your medical practitioner.

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2 month old on sleep apnea monitor–need help?

My 2 month old son is on a sleep apnea monitor day and night. He’s been on it ever since he was 2 weeks old. It has only alarmed for apnea (not breathing) once this whole time and all the other times it alarms is for low heartbeat. So anyway, the average times it would alarm would be maybe 2 times in the day and once or twice at night for low heartbeat and that would be it. Mostly the daytime alarms would be when he would be eating and forget to breath. All of a sudden for the past 3 nights his low heartbeat alarm goes off so much at night I never even fall asleep. It’s not a mishap with the machine as I have checked and rechecked it many times. But I just think it’s weird that it alarms so much at night and none during the day even though he is also sleeping much of the day still. I’m wondering if anything I may be doing is causing it, such as dressing him too warm or something. If anyone else has had experience with monitors I would appreciate the advice. I’m probably taking him to the doctor Monday by the way.
Much thanks, ladies!
Does anyone know how much longer a baby has to stay on a monitor if they’ve only had apnea once the whole time?
Okay, we got the machine checked today and found out whoever set it to begin with set it too high–on 100 instead of 75 or 80, and that’s why it kept going off. It was way too sensitive. I hope this helps anyone elso who may have this problem. Don’t let them talk you into thinking you’re not using the machine right–insist that they check it!

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If you wear a monitor for sleep apnea and hold your breath will it record as not breathing?

Just curious, little one likes to play. So I wondered if he holds his breath on purpose during night will the monitor record as not breathing.
The test will be done at home on a portable monitor.

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Sleep Apnea device comparison and review

Compared a CPAP machine to an Aveo TSD device. This new device holds your tongue, preventing it from blocking your air passageways.This works well to prevent sleep apnea and snoring for people with obstructive sleep apnea.

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Confirming the Diagnosis and Treating Sleep Apnea

Once you have been given a tentative diagnosis of sleep apnea or a similar sleep/breathing disorder, an all-night sleep test should be arranged. Proper testing for sleep disorders is important because several sleep disorders have superficial similarities and might be confused with sleep apnea or be incorrectly diagnosed if testing is not done properly. An incorrect diagnosis, leading to incorrect treatment, can be a serious error. For example, medications that are often prescribed for narcolepsy or insomnia can actually worsen sleep apnea, so a correct diagnosis is very important.

Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder in which people have irresistible “sleep attacks” at inappropriate times, somewhat as in sleep apnea. However, narcolepsy is a distinct neurologic disorder with its own characteristic symptoms (cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and hypnagogic hallucinations) not found in sleep apnea.

Insomnia is sometimes confused with sleep apnea. Insomnia has numerous causes, and only a few people who have insomnia also have sleep apnea.

Two other sleep disorders sometimes occur alone or along with sleep apnea. These are periodic limb movement in sleep (PLMS, also called periodic leg movement disorder, PLMD, or nocturnal myoclonus) and restless leg syndrome (RLS). Again, appropriate testing by an experienced sleep disorders specialist will avoid confusing one sleep disorder with another.

An overnight sleep test will:

1. Confirm whether you actually have sleep apnea or another form of sleep-disordered breathing
2. Determine the type of sleep/breathing disorder, which must be known in order to select the appropriate treatment
3. Rule out other sleep disorders

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What to Expect from a Visit with a Sleep Specialist

What to Expect from a Visit with a Sleep Specialist. How do you know wether you may have an inderlying condition, or just trouble sleeping…Expert advice from Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Sleep Medicine Expert, Dr. Colleen Lance www.memorialhermann.org

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Does the United Healthcare Choice Plus insurance plan cover pre-existing sleep apnea CPAP treatments?

I have been on a CPAP for 18 months now, and acquired United Healthcare Choice Plus insurance several months ago. Will they cover my masks, CPAP and future sleep treatments?

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How can I treat my sleep apnea without a C-pap?

I am not overweight. Surgery is not an option (if you have researched it, you’d know why). I have feverishly tried using my C-pap on and off for the past 5 years and always have to eventually stop using it because I’m not getting any sleep. People say “if you wanted it enough, you’d get used to it”. Not true. If I ever do fall asleep on it, I wake up gasping every minute (even with a chin strap). What can I do? I have nothing going on in my life right now because the chronic fatigue prevents me from holding a job or going to school. I’m so dysfunctional, everything seems pretty pointless and it seems like I have reached the end of any advice. People just repeat themselves. I’ve run out of solutions.
I’ve tried provigil. It made me crazy and irritable to the point of not being able to function productively.
..I’ve also tried all of the masks they have to offer. The “nose pillow” is the best for me out of them all but still doesn’t seems to work. I have had the pressure adjusted many times. Maybe they just screwed it up the last time. I’ll have too look into that. Thanks.
Nicole: Haha.. that seems the only option I have left!

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What Is The Cost To Treat Sleep Apnea?

cpap.apnea-treatment.com “Southern California Sleep Apnea Expert Dr. Jonathan Greenburg discusses sleep apnea treatment options that reduce the risks associated with Sleep Apnea.”

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