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When a Toddler Snores
Could Your Child Have
Sleep Apnea?
Sleep Apnea?
By Harmony Cornwell
The common treatment for sleep apnea in young children is surgery to remove their adenoids and/or tonsils. Both Quero's and Schrantz's sons had surgery to correct their nightly breathing disorder.
Schrantz tried many alternative solutions before deciding on taking the surgical route, including sleeping positions, nose sprays and elevating his head. "The only, and final, thing that worked was the surgery to remove his adenoids and tonsils," she says. "He was instantly better! The first time he fell asleep after surgery (just hours after), I marveled at the fact that there was no sound while he slept – no snoring, no fighting for breath, nothing. Just calm sleep."
The surgery for Quero's son was a similar success. "We have already noticed, even just a few days after surgery, a tremendous difference in [his] breathing," she says. "He is sleeping with his mouth closed for the first time since he was born. We can not even hear him breathing because he is breathing so quietly and peacefully."
Snoring on its own is not harmful other than being detrimental to a good night's sleep. It is rare for further health problems to develop because of sleep apnea. But Dr. Freed says that in extremely rare cases if it goes undiagnosed it can lead to high blood pressure or heart failure.
"All parents should be concerned with the quality of their children's sleep, whether they snore or not," Dr. Connolly says. If your child wakes up on his own in the morning after a night's sleep it is a good indication that he is well rested.