Sleep Apnea Children

There are different types of sleep problems in children. Sleep apnea is a common problem among toddlers. It affects child’s health as well as their behavior badly.

One of the common symptoms of sleep apnea is snoring. Children often snore loudly and breathe with their mouth. Children with sleep apnea disorder sleep too much in daytime. Since their sleep is not completed at night they feely sleepy in class and are unable to concentrate in their studies.

Children with sleep apnea get annoyed on trivial matters and may get violent with or without any reasons. Since children suffering from sleep apnea are also hyperactive; hence some people misunderstand it as ADHD. You should be able to distinguish between sleep apnea and ADHD.

Observe carefully and see if your child has to work hard to breathe or does he/she gasps while trying to catch his/her breathe? If you find these symptoms then your child might be facing sleep disorder known as apnea and not ADHD.

When tonsils or adenoids get enlarged in toddlers, they face such problems. Obesity is also one of the major causes of snoring loudly in children as well as in adults. Children between 3 to 6 years typically suffer from sleep apnea due to enlarged tonsils. However, children of other age groups can also face this problem.

Sleep apnea is divided into other categories such as Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), Central Sleep Apnea or Cheyne Stokes Respiration and Mixed Apnea and Complex Sleep Apnea.

In Obstructive sleep apnea, recurring episodes of upper airway subside during sleep. Such episodes may last for 10 seconds or more. It may even last for 30 seconds in some cases. In this case too the child feels sleepy during daytime, lacks concentration and gets violent. Its treatment has to be started soon because it can lead to depression, hypertension, diabetes etc.

In central sleep apnea, the victim stops taking breath and then starts again. The victim doesn’t make any effort to inhale during the pause. You may get frightened to see your child suffering from this condition because there are no chest movements and the victim doesn’t even struggle to do so.

Mixed or complex sleep apnea is the combination of both types of sleep apnea. Don’t get panicked if you find any sign of sleep apnea in your child and start its treatment immediately.