Sleep Apnea
You've probably heard the term “sleep apnea”; you may even have it yourself or know someone who does. In this condition, a sleeping person stops breathing while asleep. Within a brief period, his brain recognizes that breathing has ceased and wakes him up. At that point, now awake, he resumes breathing, but his sleep has been disturbed. The person with sleep apnea may wake many times during the night in order to resume breathing and, as a result, does not get a restful night's sleep.
Surprisingly enough, babies, too, can suffer from sleep apnea. The baby who wakes once, several times, or many times during the night due to this condition does not get a good night's sleep — and, typically, neither do his parents. Unless the baby is a good self-soother, he will want his parents' help in settling down again. Since sleep apnea sufferers often wake with a start, even good self-soothers may cry when they wake with an incidence of sleep apnea.
But what if your baby self-soothes and goes back to sleep on his own? What indications can you look for that might cause you to suspect your child may have sleep apnea?
The baby may appear sleepy or be cranky due to sleepiness during the day because his nighttime sleep is being interrupted, or he may be hyperactive due to being overtired.
He may snore at night. Not all babies who snore suffer from sleep apnea, but almost all babies (and adults) who suffer from sleep apnea snore.
You may notice, as you observe him sleeping, that there are pauses in his breathing when he seems not to be breathing at all. (This may also simply be a case of periodic breathing, which is more common at this age and usually considered normal.)
He may be breathing through his mouth.
The baby may sweat profusely, a situation that in some cases seems related to sleep apnea.
He may cough or choke often in his sleep.
Fact
Though such factors as illness, extra body weight, and receding chins can all cause sleep apnea in children, the most common causes are adenotonsillar hypertrophy and the neuromuscular tone of the upper airway during sleep, and enlarged tonsils and/or enlarged adenoids, which can obstruct the airway and interfere with breathing. Children who have Down syndrome also are at greater risk, due to the prevalence of being overweight that accompanies this condition and because Down syndrome children often have enlarged tongues, which can obstruct the airway.
