About obstructive sleep apnoea
If your child has obstructive sleep apnoea, it means that she stops breathing when she’s asleep.
The most common cause of obstructive sleep apnoea in children is enlarged adenoids or tonsils. Obstructive sleep apnoea is also linked to obesity, allergies and hay fever.
Children with small jaws or medical conditions that cause low muscle tone, like Down syndrome, have an increased risk of obstructive sleep apnoea.
Obstructive sleep apnoea symptoms
Your child might have sleep apnoea symptoms at night while he’s sleeping and also during the day.
Sleep-related symptoms include:
- snoring
- pauses in breathing or choking, gasping sounds
- hot sweats during the night
- restlessness during sleep
- a tendency to sleep in unusual positions
- bedwetting.
Daytime symptoms include:
- tiredness and irritability
- morning headaches
- poor appetite
- blocked nose
- difficulty concentrating and sitting still
- mood changes.
Because children with sleep apnoea aren’t getting enough good-quality sleep, they often feel tired during the day. This can lead to behaviour and development problems, as well as problems at school.
Many children snore, but most children don’t have obstructive sleep apnoea.
Does your child need to see a doctor about obstructive sleep apnoea?
Yes. If your child snores, and you notice she’s also gasping and struggling for breath while sleeping, you should take her to your GP.
Tests for obstructive sleep apnoea
Your GP will look in your child’s throat to check his tonsils. The GP might send your child to an ear, nose and throat specialist if it looks like your child’s adenoids and tonsils are the cause of your child’s obstructive sleep apnoea.
To help the doctors work out whether it’s obstructive sleep apnoea, your child might need to undergo a sleep study – called a polysomnography. This involves staying overnight in hospital (with a parent), so that specialists can watch your child’s breathing, heart rate, oxygen level, and brain, eye and muscle activity while she’s sleeping.
Some children might have an oximetry test. This test also measures your child’s heart rate and oxygen levels while he’s sleeping, but it can be done at home.
These tests aren’t usually painful or uncomfortable.
Obstructive sleep apnoea treatment
Treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea depends on what the cause is.
If your child has severe sleep apnoea and enlarged adenoids or tonsils are the cause, doctors usually recommend tonsillectomy surgery to remove them. Mild sleep apnoea often gets better without surgery over time.
If your doctor thinks hay fever or allergy is the cause, the doctor might suggest a trial of nasal corticosteroids or medication for a few weeks.
If obesity is part of the cause, your doctor will recommend a weight and exercise program.
Some children who have special medical conditions or severe cases of obstructive sleep apnoea might need to use a Continuous Positive Airways Pressure (CPAP) machine. Your child will see a sleep specialist or respiratory physician to arrange this.