It is sometimes difficult to tell if children have sleep apnea. Most of the time people think kids will be kids. Individuals believe that the children have a behavior problem rather than a medical problem. That's the danger of the illness. Without proper treatment the illness can worsen. Look for certain signs that can help you to properly communicate the symptoms with your doctor. My son had many signs that were easy to detect.
The First Sign: When my son was a new born we had to constantly take him to the emergency room. The doctors would constantly tell us that there was nothing wrong with him. My son would be coughing and coughing all night long. The doctors thought that he had croup. Croup is a breathing problem accompanied by a barking cough during the night. Now my son did have those symptoms so it was easy to misdiagnose him. They gave him oral steroids for the cure but it didn't help. He continued to have problems breathing at night.
The Second Sign: As my son began to grow older you can hear him gasping for air during his sleep. This is difficult to detect because you would have to be awake almost all night to hear those times that he was choking or gasping for air loudly. Most of the time when someone has sleep apnea you cannot hear the snoring or the choking. It is silent. The only way to truly tell if he has sleep apnea is to have a sleep study done.
The Third Sign: My son had some odd behavior problems for a child his age. His behavior could easily be mistaken for the terrible two's. He would also have rapid mood swings. One moment he would be happy and then he would become very sad. He would become depressed. He would also start to fidget nervously.
The Last Sign: I noticed that it took my son a long period of time to start talking. He didn't have speech problems but it was a learning problem. He was a little slower because he was exhausted from not getting the proper rest he needed. Most of the time they would want to say he was ADD.
Note: If you have a family history of sleep apnea you must tell the Doctor. When we took the child to get examined they did not want to test him for sleep apnea until we insisted and told them that it may be hereditary. Finally they sent him for the sleep test and scheduled him for a tonsillectomy. Even after surgery he is still having some symptoms of sleep apnea and has gone to a second sleep study. Results are still pending.
The First Sign: When my son was a new born we had to constantly take him to the emergency room. The doctors would constantly tell us that there was nothing wrong with him. My son would be coughing and coughing all night long. The doctors thought that he had croup. Croup is a breathing problem accompanied by a barking cough during the night. Now my son did have those symptoms so it was easy to misdiagnose him. They gave him oral steroids for the cure but it didn't help. He continued to have problems breathing at night.
The Second Sign: As my son began to grow older you can hear him gasping for air during his sleep. This is difficult to detect because you would have to be awake almost all night to hear those times that he was choking or gasping for air loudly. Most of the time when someone has sleep apnea you cannot hear the snoring or the choking. It is silent. The only way to truly tell if he has sleep apnea is to have a sleep study done.
The Third Sign: My son had some odd behavior problems for a child his age. His behavior could easily be mistaken for the terrible two's. He would also have rapid mood swings. One moment he would be happy and then he would become very sad. He would become depressed. He would also start to fidget nervously.
The Last Sign: I noticed that it took my son a long period of time to start talking. He didn't have speech problems but it was a learning problem. He was a little slower because he was exhausted from not getting the proper rest he needed. Most of the time they would want to say he was ADD.
Note: If you have a family history of sleep apnea you must tell the Doctor. When we took the child to get examined they did not want to test him for sleep apnea until we insisted and told them that it may be hereditary. Finally they sent him for the sleep test and scheduled him for a tonsillectomy. Even after surgery he is still having some symptoms of sleep apnea and has gone to a second sleep study. Results are still pending.
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