I think my son may have a form of sleep apnea. He's 17 months old and lately I've noticed his breathing only at night has changed. During the day when he sleeps he's ok. At night he tosses and turns, and struggles to breath normally. He did come down with a cold 4 days ago. Congested, nose plugged up. So the first two nights i thought it was just the cold causing him to breath not so well. The third night i was getting frustrated wondering why is his body still trying to breath  through the nose, struggling , instead of breathing through the mouth,when he's sick. So i got right up in his face,  squeezed his cheeks to open his mouth, and realized that he was breathing through his mouth the whole time, not his nose. Thinking to myself, So why is he struggling to breath then? I look again real close at his mouth and notice his tongue is arched up toward the roof of his mouth. I try sticking my finger in his mouth, moving him into different positions, but his tongue would go right back to the same spot. So when he breaths in his tongue goes flat against the roof of mouth stopping him from breathing in. So is this a form of sleep apnea? Or is it just the cold causing the breathing problems?

Guest,

I moved your post to the pediatric section where you will get more responses from parents of pediatric patients.

Vicki


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That which does not kill you makes you stronger-Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich must of had apnea.

Guest,

You may want to register as a member.  You have to register in order to post further in this Pediatric forum.  That may also be of help to you.  Registering is easy, free and safe.  And it has some extra features.


Linda


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Hi guest.

It very well could just be the stuffy nose, but you won't know for sure until the cold is completely gone. Talk to your pediatrician about what you've noticed in your son's nighttime breathing in the meantime. A sleep study is usually done to diagnose sleep apnea.

I will say that, I too, thought that my son's noisey breathing was from him trying to breathe through his nose......I got down towards his face one time to listen......and realized he was breathing through his mouth-not his nose....like you described. He was diagnosed with obstructive apnea due to enlarged tonsils and adenoids. My son is 5 now and was recently diagnosed, but I would say he has been a noisy breather since he was a baby. It got really bad when he turned about 2. It started out as what I use to call "nose noise." By 4, he snored very loudly and gasped at night.

As far as tongue position, I'm not sure if that's usually an issue or a cause of apnea, or not.   The majority of obstructive apnea in children is caused by enlarged tonsils and adenoids....but not always.  

It can't hurt to talk to your son's doc about it.

Anyway, welcome to the forum.


Kim