Hi.

My three year old son has been snoring very loudly for about 9 months now.  He breathes through his mouth at night, and often sounds as if he is fighting for air.  He does stop breathing, but this often only lasts for around 5 seconds, and there is no choking sounds before hand.  He will just suddenly stop breathing.

I don't really know too much about this sleep apnea, apart from what I have read on the internet.  He has an appointment at the Dr's on Monday, but I don't want to take him if this isn't anything too serious.  Obviously, I class my child not breathing pretty serious, but from what I've read, the apnoea is only such when someone stops breathing for more than 10 seconds.  

Any ideas on what this could be (from my vague description) and what the dr will suggest next?  I only came across all this because I was looking for snoring remedies for him.  It may sound silly, but I never realised that snoring in children was uncommon.   Because a lot of my family snore, I just assumed that it was nothing to really worry about.

Thanks

Jen

Your child doesn't have to stop breathing completely for it to be a problem.  On top of the 5 secs you are seeing he may be breathing shallow (hypopnea) at times.  I think if it's serious enough that you have taken the time to watch and count how long and how many times he's stopped breathing, then it's definitely serious enough to talk to the Dr about it.  The Dr may decide to be really conservative about things, but it sounds like getting further evaluation might be important.
My daughter was a big snorer, woke up to drink a lot cause her mouth was dry, and was just looking really tired at times. So her PCP sent her to an ENT who did a sleep study, and she had moderate sleep apnea, mostly obstructive.  I totally expected them to tell us to go home keep giving her her allergy pills and don't worry about it, well we just had her tonsils and adenoids out, and already she is sleeping much better.

Good luck and let us know if you keep the appointment and what the Dr has to say,
Sarah J

hi jen and welcome
we r not to far from u just donw the m11 really.

i think u read what i posted about apnoeas being for a certain amount of time.
i have no expericne of OSA only from matthews central apnoeas so only post what i have been told by GOSH. obv people with OSA things r diff i think.
OSA is an obstruction somewhere and i think snoring is one of them.
but i have no experince on this

i wouls push for a app with ENT and maybe ask for a sleep study addenbrooks should do this.
good luck

I had read from a number of places about the apnoeas being 10 seconds, but you guys are right, I am concerned about it, so he WILL be going to the dr on Monday morning!  Ben is tired a lot of the time.  I used to put this down to him not going to sleep until after 9pm most nights (even though he was put to bed at 7.30pm) He is also a little brat most of the time, so this could also be a possible explanation.  He has also said that he has headaches in the mornings.  (Although he could just be saying this, he is only3 after all).  The only 'symptom' he doesn't have is stunted growth.  He towers over all the other children in his nursery.

I am nervous about all of this, but if it explains the bedwetting and other things that just make him hate bedtime, then I'll be glad to have an explanation.

Anyway, my appointment is 9.30 on Mon (GMT) so I will let you know what the Dr says.

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

PS - what is GOSH?!

hello
good luck for monday let us know how u get on

GOSH is Great Ormond Street Hospital. its the childrens hospital in london they r a fab place.

make sure u tell the GP everything

Ah, yes I have heard of it, but all the acroymns (sp?!) are really confusing!

Well, I am currently audio recording his sleep again.  No real snoring at the mo, just a noise that sounds he isn't getting hardly any air.  Can't really describe it, but something is obviously not right.

Still, after reading what some of you are experiencing, I feel quite lucky really.  Whilst I am concerned, some of you really seem to be going through the mill.

sorry its easier to write GOSH some abbrevations r hard to understand.

recording is good they cant then say there is nothing wrong with video evidence. we got told matthew was fine by our local hospital only for 2 months later to find out after a sleep study he has sever apnoeas(285 in one nights sleep)

ur child is ur main prority so dont feel lucky coz others r gping through worse. its horrid no matter the severity of apnoeas

I meant at least I get sleep at night - that's why I'm lucky!

I would video him, but I don't have a camcorder, and the video on my phone is pants.....

hope i dodnt word that wrong and u didnt take offence

audio recording would still work i think.

good luck

Hi Jen.  My son never snored but was cranky and irritable all the time.  Even if he slept 10 hours at night and took 4 hours worth of naps.  We did a sleep study and he did have OSA - 6.7 episodes of either hypopnea (shallow breathing) or apnea an hour.  He constantly slept with his mouth open also.  I'd watch him stop breathing, sometimes for 5 seconds and sometimes longer.  The ENT said he had EXTREMELY large tonsils and adenoids so those were removed last October.  Poor thing was only 14 months old at the time.  We are now looking into central sleep apnea also, however, his breathing during the day and night has greatly improved.  He doesn't work nearly as hard to breathe and only needs 1 nap a day (usually).  It's certainly worth a trip to the doctor's office.  Good luck!

Sara

mummy2hollyandmatthew wrote:

hope i dodnt word that wrong and u didnt take offence

audio recording would still work i think.

good luck

Not at all!  Peed off with myself for not having a decent phone!

aww just go with the audio recording for now if u find the gp isnt very helpful ask to be referred and say u want a specilist to look at ur son.

(((hugs)))

Don't worry the many times we've tried to video, all that came out really well was the audio stuff anyway.  That was enough to get one drs attention.  Even with a fairly good camcorder unless your little one can sleep with all the lights on it's tough to get a good video.

Good luck on Monday,
Sarah J

Hi there,


I would advise insisting on an ENT. the Gp's know little about tonsil size and do like to fob us off. Mine tried and I took no notice took him to an E&T and he was admitted the next day!!
Your prob sounds a bit like osa to me.
My son is a bit of a brat in the day when his oxygen is bad the night before so the sleep quality does deff make a difference to their moods. ( and ours!!)

GD luck

I managed to get about 4 minutes of video footage last night.  It came out really well actually, and it shows the troubles he is having at night.

If that doesn't get him an ENT appt, I don't know what will.  Only thing I'm a little concerned about is the GP we are seeing is a registrar.  (an american resident I think)  Hopefully though, they will see there is something wrong.