Hi, this is my first post to the forum, so this is long, sorry.  History, I have a 6 year old with asthma, GERD, seizure disorder, and he was diagnosed with sleep apnea last year.  He had his tonsils and adenoids removed in may.  The follow up sleep study showed that it did not help, and in fact, he was experiencing more episodes.  So, after consulting with the ENT and a sleep medicine specialist, he was given a CPAP.  At the titration study, he wore the mask all night, with some complaints of air leaking, but tolerated it well.  
Last night was our first night with the machine at home, and we had a LONG, tiring night.
Initially, he went right to sleep, but he woke up over and over, complaining that the air was in his eyes, or on his lips, that the mask was itchy, etc.  Each time, I turned the ramp back on, and he fell right back to sleep, only to wake again in a little while.  So, I think I restarted the machine about 8 times maybe.  (the RT at the center told me to restart any time he woke up).  Each time he woke he was more upset, until at 3 am, he was crying and choking, and I gave up.  I took off the mask and we both went to sleep.
Today I called the therapist, to tell him I thought the mask didn't fit well enough, since so much air was leaking, and how hard the night was.  His only suggestion was to turn the max. setting down to 6 instead of 7.  He said the mask isn't the problem, and that since we got 8 hours with it, that was good.  That was 8 hours of constant adjusting though, and me not sleeping at all.  My son is not having a problem with the idea of it, he's accepted it well, but actually wearing it all night looks like it's going to be hard.
So my questions are:
1.  How long did your kids take to get used to this?
2.  Will I ever sleep again?
3.  How do I keep the mask from moving around so much when he shifts position?
4.  Any suggestions for the irritation? His lip is all chapped, and back of neck from strap is irritated.

His machine is a ResMed Escape, with a humidaire humidifier.  His mask is a respironics petite comfort gel  (it covers his nose).  His settings are 4 to start, ramping up to 7 after 45 minutes (now, I set it to 6 though, at the therapists instruction).

Hello and welcome to the site. My daughter , Hannah is nine and started on CPAP in June. I would have to say the first two weeks were hell. For her , the first night she wore it two hours and then woke up and freaked out and that was the end of it for the first night. This went on for about two weeks but slowly in those weeks she was increasing her time and it got to about five hours a night.I think it took about a good month for her to start wearing it all night. Even after that it was hit and miss for a while.I think she started wearing it all night, every night about month two. What we did was, she slept with me for about a week and then we moved her to her room and I slept on her floor(on a air mattress ) for another few days. Then I moved back to my room with a baby monitor and a night vision camera on her.I remember thinking I would never sleep again but it does get better. I think the big thing is trying not to get discouraged. Even adults have a hard time adjusting to it.Don't feel that all is lost if he won't wear it all night at first. As far as the mask moving around, that is tough. You may need to tighten the straps more but you need to be careful of the strap marks which is already happening it sounds like. Try this website: www.padacheek.com. This really nice lady makes padding the straps and is super nice and will work with you. Email her and she will make a custom strap for your son.  Not sure about the lip irritation, I am hoping someone else will chime in with some suggestions.  Above all is hang in there and realize it will get better but you will have to give it some time.


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Heather-Mom to Hannah(8-hose head) and Logan(4), wife to Paul (also a hose head)

Thanks....I was hoping tonight would go more smoothly...he made it two and half hours before he woke up crying....I am noticing that when it's at full strengh, his mouth is being blown open, and he gasps and smacks his lips....he's probably going to have to go to a full face one isn't he??? I talked to a few people on the forums and had thought the one that goes under the nose sounded good... (he's sensory defensive, and keeps wanting to take off the mask to "rub out" the feeling)...but if he can't keep his mouth shut they won't work either I don't think....Did you go through many masks with Hannah?

Yes, if his mouth is open at all, the air pressure comes right out and makes the CPAP innefective. Hannah has actually only had one mask- we started with a full face mask- the resprionics comfortfull 2. She took right to it and has never changed. I was worried about it but we don't have to worry about mouth leaks and also when she is congested she can still use her mask. One thing to think about though if he has GERD is that if they vomit with the mask on(full face) there is a risk of aspiration. Hannah has GERD also but so far so good.For Hannah we decided to take that small risk -but then she rarely vomits from GERD. Hang in there, these early days are the hardest part.


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Heather-Mom to Hannah(8-hose head) and Logan(4), wife to Paul (also a hose head)

Thanks for the input.  He does not vomit from the GERD (unless he's crying...he gets so worked up he'll throw up).  So, we shouldn't have to worry about that.  Last night was better, I actually got to sleep between 12:30 and 6am....pretty darn good.  I did hear him a few times, but he said he got it back on....although I could hear the air flying out his mouth most of the night...(sounds SOOO weird...I tried to position him so his mouth wouldn't open so much, and then it slipped through his lips and it sounded like he was rasberrying all night...lol)....I think we need a full mask...I'll be talking to the resp. therapist again soon....

Well, we've had the CPAP since the 12th of December....it's been an adjustment period, but my son's been keeping it on all night every night....(with the exception of the first weekend at his dad's house...they didn't really try)....he seems somewhat more rested....no less hyper during the day though....the specialist said that his apparent ADHD would improve with the CPAP....no real change there.  He keeps having his mouth blow open though...the resp. therapist insists he'll "learn" to sleep with his mouth closed, but I don't think so...and in the meantime his throat is SOOOOO red....the doctor freaked when she saw it....(we were there because my son had chickenpox)....anyone had any experience with stopping mouth breathing?  The therapist says he doesn't want to put him on a full face mask, and I don't either, but it seems the only way to get any real benefit and to stop the throat irritation....advice anyone?