so i think my 3 year old has sleep apnea

I was really watching her today as she napped in my arms today. We're going to get her into a good ENT this week and go from there. I guess it stands to reason, like father like daughter?

I hope it turns out that there's not a problem with your daughter, Bret, but you're wise to have that checked out. If this isn't something you have observed while watching her sleep in her bed at night, it could be that her neck was bent while you were holding her in your arms, limiting her airway. Her tonsils/adenoids may be inflamed.

There's lots of interesting information via Google search. Try the four keywords: "sleep apnea" young children. This article on childhood sleep apnea lists some of the possible causes, symptoms, and treatments: http://www.stanford.edu/~dement/childapnea.html. I hope you'll let us know what is found.

Hey Bret...I hope this is something simple like dreamon mentioned. I would hate to see someone that young struggle with this forever.

DreamOn wrote:I hope it turns out that there's not a problem with your daughter, Bret, but you're wise to have that checked out. If this isn't something you have observed while watching her sleep in her bed at night, it could be that her neck was bent while you were holding her in your arms, limiting her airway. Her tonsils/adenoids may be inflamed.

There's lots of interesting information via Google search. Try the four keywords: "sleep apnea" young children. This article on childhood sleep apnea lists some of the possible causes, symptoms, and treatments: http://www.stanford.edu/~dement/childapnea.html. I hope you'll let us know what is found.

Thanks--this is very helpful! And thanks to LSAT as well.

I was letting her head / neck hyperextend off my arm in different positions to see how that affected her airway. There are also many direct observations during her sleep where she stops breathing, gasps for air, and often wakes herself up gasping. She has developed some chronic sinus problems so we'll have that checked out too, but the airway restrictions seem to be below the sinus / airway connection (whatever that's called).

Sleep disordered breathing can be inherited. the shape of the mouth can be contributor to SDB.
The first approach is to consider adenoids an tonsil removal. alternate is to have a orthodontist
do a rapid palet expansion to reshape oral cavity. The reshaping can be the best long term solution.
Many children with ADHD and other emotional problems have some form of SDB.
God BLess hope this helps!

Check out this dental link for background. Oral shape http://www.brianpalmerdds.com/summary.htm
He is a strong proponent for breast feeding to reduce the chance of SDB due to an abnormal oral cavity shape.


Stanford research by Dr. Kushida illustrating relationship between oral cavity shape and sleep apnea.
A VERY important relationship that everyone needs to understand.
http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/127/8_Part_1/581?
maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Kushida+Morphometric&
searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

my nephew had to have his tonsils out due to having sleep apnea. he is fine now.

msudawg wrote:my nephew had to have his tonsils out due to having sleep apnea. he is fine now.

Yes most likely ..tonsils. My Grandson had same problem.

My understanding was that, IF a child has SDB, they have an 80% cure rate with a tonsillectomy & adenoidectomy. However, on Dr. Park's interview with Dr. Kasey Li, he says the overwhelming majority continue to have it after T&A. That was news to me, though.

In any event, a child with SDB has some options that most adults don't have.

Also, if allergies are involved, or to shrink hypertrophic adenoid pads, they sometimes use things like Nasonex. For some, this is enough.

If you need a sleep study, the tough thing for you is going to be finding a sleep center that knows how to assess SDB in children. There is a lot of research underway on the best way to best measure it and my understanding is most of the measures used in most sleep centers are insensitive. So, if they find SDB, it's there, but if they don't, I personally would not have any confidence that it is not a false negative. If you read the work of people like Ron Chervin in Michigan and of course Dr. Guilleminault and folks at Stanford, you will see some of the research that is underway to study better ways of detecting sleep disordered breathing.

Please do keep us updated on your little one.

Before sleep apnea was much on anyone's mind, one of my daughters snored terribly and sounded miserable trying to sleep. Finally at age 9 she had a T&A with cauterization of turbinates. She still has terrible allergies, but has not had those struggles nor has she snored since. I'm hoping that since she appears to have her father's genes physically in every other respect, she won't get my family's apnea anatomy. ARGHHHHHHHHH!! Had never thought about this till I said that, but her father had classic apnea symptoms. (He died in 1974 and I just never thought about it.) Guess I'd better give her "the talk".

I do wish your little girl the best the medical community has to offer in diagnostics, and if needed, treatment. Great that she has an observant daddy. Let us know.

Here's a very good overview of childhood sleep apnea from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, with some specific characteristics to look for: http://www.sleepeducation.com/Disorder.aspx?id=71.

Hi Sleep Guy,
I happened across this link today. I have no idea if its very accurate or not, but it mentioned acid reflux possibly being a reason for young children having sleep apnea. I hadn't thought of that. Good luck with your little one!
Here's the link.
http://www.acidrefluxpillow.com/PTPDesi ... mation.htm

please keep us posted, Bret.