Can anyone help me with a sleep apnea problem with my 6 week old son?
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 at
12:24 pm
emandkevsmom asked:
I think my son may have sleep apnea. He stops breathing sometime, just for a few seconds, and he gasps for air. My husband has sleep apnea and I know what it is like. I asked my son’s doctor about it and he said it might just be reflux and switched his formula. I would just like to know it anyone else has a child this small with sleep apnea and it this sounds like what might baby might be experiencing.
I think my son may have sleep apnea. He stops breathing sometime, just for a few seconds, and he gasps for air. My husband has sleep apnea and I know what it is like. I asked my son’s doctor about it and he said it might just be reflux and switched his formula. I would just like to know it anyone else has a child this small with sleep apnea and it this sounds like what might baby might be experiencing.
Tagged with: 6 Week • Sleep • Sleep Apnea
Filed under: Sleep Apnea
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Infants certainly do have sleep apnea. You probably know it is a serious condition. We are lucky in my area to have a good pediatric ENT and a sleep doctor and sleep lab who have a combined practice. If you have a practice like this nearby, you should see them about your son. Another option is to see a pediatric ENT who can refer your son to a sleep doctor if needed.
Sometimes a child’s sleep apnea can be cured by removal of tonsils and adenoids. A good ENT can make this determination.
From my experience, I can say it is a shame how many pediatricians and primary care physicians know very little about sleep apnea.
Best of luck to you and family,
Banyon
their is a monitor called angel its a pad you put under the mattress. & alarms when this happens, costs vary but around ?60.
my child had the same problem
Newborns have irregular respirations. IF you watch them sometimes they will pant rapidly for a few moments then there may be a 3-4 second pause then they will resume breathing normally, usually with a little gasp with that first breath after. THis is not an abnormal respiratory pattern.
Apnea in a infant is when they “forget to breath for more than 20 seconds. You will see a color change and there would be a drop in the heart rate.
Sleep apnea is usually due to obesity, swollen tonsils, adenoids.
I have worked with infants for more than 10 years and have never seen nor heard of a case of sleep apnea in an infant or a child.
try having him sleep on a slope. i used to put a 3ring binder under the mattress to keep my daughter on an incline. this helped her to breath and kept her tongue from closing up her throat
. Reflux in infants do cause symptoms that resemble sleep apnea, but children are so complex , I would get a second opinion especially if he was a premature baby/
Always better to error and be on the safe side.
Congratulation’s on your new arrival.
He also might have enlarged adenoids. My son had them, though it didn’t present itself until he was around 2. But he snored really bad for awhile and when he talked he sounded like Edith Ann.
Take him to an ENT doctor (ear nose throat or an otorhinolaryngologist (say that 10x fast)) and have him check your baby.
My infant daughter had the same issue, and as I am a herbalist and tend not to follow Western medicine and it’s overmedication of illness, I took her to a cranial sacral therapist. In a nutshell, they work on the skull, facial structure and spinal fluid movement through the spine and neck (it’s like a really relaxing scalp massage, baby just loves it!), and after only 3 weeks of treatment, her apnea is completely gone. Your pediatrician will probably recommend the removal of her tonsils/adenoids if the problem persists, but don’t buy into that as a solution. The adnoids are lymph tissue, and they are there for a reason. Try helping the lymph tissue drain better by using a tincture of cleavers and red clover, and switch her formula to a non-milk based formula, as milk is very mucous forming, and can stuff up little noses and throats making it much more difficult to breathe. Hope this helps, and remember, always get a second opinion before ever considering any surgery on your infant child!
I have sleep apnea, and had the same worries when my son was born. I would listen to his sleeping, and worry at each missed breath. I discussed it with his pediatrician, who suggested that I stop worrying.
He is now nearly a teenager. I won’t be surprised if he develops sleep apnea as he ages, but it hasn’t been a problem for him yet. In his case, there was no cause for worry when he was a baby and small child.