Babies with Apnea

My twins were born at 37 weeks, and seemed fine at the hospital. The day after we came home, we went back for a sleep study and they put him on an apnea monitor.

They also said they had no idea why and ran all kinds of tests, which all came back without answers.They finally decided it was probably that his body reverted back to breathing how he did when he was breathing amniotic fluid rather than oxygen. He did outgrow it, but had the monitor for a month.

It's not a fun thing to deal with, and I feel for you. Hang in there, it's wonderful to finally be done with it!

One of my good friends baby girl was full term and had baby apnea too. She too and to stay in the nicu and eventually came home, but was hooked up to a monitor at all times. All they could tell my friend was that the baby's brain stem was not fully developed, but hey did not know why. They told them that hopefully it would mature on it's own and she would out grow it. She was put on some type of caffeine treatment to help keep her stimulated, but because of that treatment she also had severe reflux. She is now 7 mths months old and has been of the monitor for about 2 months and is perfectly fine. The doctors still can't say why or how. They just simply had to monitor her and that was all they could do. I wish you luck and lots of patience.

Hi L.,

My daughter had this problem when she was born. She had to wear a heart monitor, until she was one year old. She was alos on oxygen until she was 6 months old. It would alert us when she had an apnea spell. Ask her dr about it. Most insurances will pay for the rental on one. She will be 6 on Friday and is doing great now. If you wanna talk just send me a private message.

M.

my baby was only two weeks early and he had apnea, however I'm the one that caught it.. He would choke in the night and I couldn't sleep. They put him on a monitor, did they put your baby on a monitor? they need to if they didn't because it helps.. It can tell when your baby stops breathing and her heart stops. it can save her life... please check into it, oh and I took my son to a specialist and they changed his formula to nutramigin and add rice. alot of rice, it makes it really thick, but helps the baby keep it down. talk to your doctor and see what they think about this. please let me know how your little one is doing, and try and get some sleep...

My son is now 4 1/2 months old. He has laryngo malasia. He had surgery for that when he was 2 mos old. In the couple nights we were in the hospital his O2 stats would drop....They kept saying there was nothing wrong...Yet it kept doing it even with them in the room....they would tell me loose connections...I said then make it stop while you are here....they couldn't...Anyway mommy's intuition said do something so he doesn't quit breathing and I not know what was wrong. So they sent him home on an Apnea Monitor that alarms when he quit breathing for 15 secs or more.....Is your baby on that....I also let him sleep with me so I could keep a better eye on him...Or I would put him right beside me at all times!!! I know that with my daughter she was in the NICU and had some problems with breathing they said that some babies are lazy and forget to breathe. Do you just do stimulation to get her breathing good or does it require oxygen or CPR??? I know with my son....he would stop for a few seconds....You could rub his back and he would start breathing fine again....or change his position..if lying down pick him up...etc......hope this helps :) PM me if you would like!!!

My preemies had apnea and they were sent home on a monitor. did they give you one?

I am so sorry to hear that you are struggling with this. As if it is not hard enough to be a new mom, but to add this on is crazy. I did not have a problem with this, but my baby brother died of SIDS at 4 1/2 months so I had that on the back of my mind. I hope that they figure out a reason for her troubles. Good luck on your search and God bless!

I myself have sleep apnea so when my twins were born they were on the monitor to be checked for it. But luckily they didn't have it... yet. Apnea is herditary as well as other things that can increase your chances of getting it. I'm not sure how they treat a baby, but I would think they would also need some sort of CPAP (Constant Positive Air Pressure) device. They will need to check if the reason is treatable by surgery or if one of the unlucky ones like myself who gets to wear the dark vader mask while sleeping. But one other help for apnea it to sleep in an inclined position opposed to flat on your back. So you may prop up on side of the crib and put those pads on each side so she can't roll over. As my doctor told me the majority of apnea's can be corrected with the removal of the tonsils the skin over them and such since most of the time they are just larger than they should be. (That's where you get the loud snorer's from) But for us non treatables that have to use the CPAP it is just our soft pallet that collapses too much during sleep closing off our air way which is why you need the constant air pressure to keep it open. I'm sure your regular doctor doesn't know much about this sort of thing. You need to have a sleep specialist or pulmonary doctor brought in immediately. Someone who knows how to treat and work with this.

WebMD with AOL Health - Sleep Apnea -- Topic Overview

This a web site I found and it's been great at explanning different disorders, dieases, treatments and other health related issues. I hope it helps you. T. L.