Sleep Apnea in Toddler?

Please make sure and and let us know what happened. My daughter is and has gone through the same thing and I'm wondering if having her adenoids removed would help. Her 4 yr check up is next month and I plan to discuss it more with her doctor. Anyway, I would just like to know what you find out with yours. Thanks!

My daughter was diagnosed with sleep apnea at age 3. We had a sleep study done before doing surgery. The sleep study is when they have you and your child stay overnight in the hospital while they have wires to monitor your child sleep patterns and oxygen level to see if she has problems breathing which is what may cause the problems. This will be able to determine if she has it. Your daughter's primary care should be able to give you a list of specialists if you ask. Your local Children hospital would be a good place to find out more information on doctors who specialize in ENT. My daughter ended up having her adenoid and tonsils removed. Today she is 6 and is doing fine. We got a recommendation from her Doctor and he sent us to specialist at Children Hospital. The Specialist wanted to confirm the sleep apnea with the sleep study. After the the results of the sleep study her surgery was scheduled. Hope some of this info helps.

My 29 month old son just had his tonsils and adenoids removed last Wednesday and even with tissue swollen from surgery, his sleep sounded better immediately!! Now five days removed I'm in awe that he is breathing from his nose, sleeps soundly and quietly. I too researched online and felt that he was experiencing obstuctive sleep apnea. I video taped him sleeping and e-mailed it to his pediatrician who shared my concern and adviced me to see a pediatric ENT. The ENT was great (Madison, WI). I say that with confidence now, but a week ago I was very nervous about surgery! My intuition told me my son needed surgery and was in great hands but then I started to doubt and second guess myself as the surgery date approached. Fortunately I got to be with him when they put him under anesthetic so that he went to 'sleep' with a familiar face. Yes, I cried when I walked out of the surgery room having just handed my son over to essentially complete strangers...though qualified AND specialized strangers.

My son's breath is really bad right now and his voice has changed considerably, but friends and family tell me it will return to normal within the month. Those are MINOR compared to the benefits. Good Luck!! I'm happy to answer any specific questions since it's very fresh in my mind.

I've always been against any unnecessary medical interventions, especially surgeries. But when my 3 yr old son was snoring, constant runny nose, tired all the time, and had dark circles under his eyes I finally decided to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. I was a wreck waiting for the surgery to be over and felt awful when he woke up in pain, but as soon as he was healed up (2 or 3 weeks) he was a new child. His whole face changed, the circles went away, he had energy and was rarely ever sick. It really was amazing and I'm so glad that I had it done.

My younger brother has had sleep apnea all his life. He has to use a C-Pap machine to this day (and he had his tonsils and adnoids out at age 3) due to the fact that he stops breathing for 45 seconds out of every minute when he's asleep. I really thought my son (now age 8) had it as well but when we took him to an ENT and he had his tonsils and adnoids removed the problem vanished. The truth is that you must see a Dr (ENT is best) and/or have a sleep study done to get an acurate diagnosis. When my son had his surgery I was a basket case but in the end the Dr's were so right and the change was mind blowing. My best advice is not to panic or stress until you talk to the Dr. You don't need the tension and neither does your daughter - and she will pick up on it. Get a recomendation from her Dr and go see an ENT. Try not to worry until you see the Dr and he checks your daughter out (and even then try not worry too much). The only other thing I would advise is to make sure you are comfortable with the Dr you take your daughter to. That will make things way easier for everybody, no matter what the recomendation.

I would start by immediately taking her off of all cow's milk products (read the labels to be sure). And then I'd stop or at least minimize any other unhealthy foods she's been eating (white flour, sugar, corn syrup, processed foods). Especially if she is at all overweight, but even if she isn't. (if she is overweight, changing her diet should help with that too, as well as exercise). And if you still don't see a difference, I'd elminate other common allergens (wheat, soy, corn. Offer her lots of a variety of fresh organic (preferably raw) fruits and vegetables. Of course she may protest if you take away her comfort foods, which can be quite addicting, so she will need extra love and affection. Of course it would be best for your whole family to change your diet - this could be a blessing in disguise for all of you!

My daughter had sleep apnea as a newborn. The docs diagnosed her in the hospital because of her stats. She grew up with terrible allergies and snoring and coughing. I've been treating her allergies and food allergies and she is doing a lot better. Find a good doctor to diagnose and treat her. Thankfully, she didn't need surgery... Good luck!

My son his tonsils and adenoid removed last month. Believe me, life got much better after that. I was so tired of his tonsilitus and dealing with high fevers and ear infections every month. He sleeps much better now and no sawing and logging... And you don't need anybody in you area. Just make an appointment for the Childrens Hospital and they will let you know if she needs surgery. Good luck!

My toddler had her adenoids removed & ear tubes put in, not so much for snoring but for ear congestion/infections & delayed speech. She was definitely a "mouth breather" though and was speaking "hypo-nasally".
The ENT did a mini cat scan and it showed that her adenoids were very enlarged, taking up much more space than normal.

We went with a ENT locally who had a lot of experience performing adenoidectomies in children, with no serious complications. Although I was very nervous beforehand the surgery went great and two days post-op my daughter was her normal happy self. And her speech really took off.

Could be her adnoids and/or tonsils causing the problem. I remember my younger brothers 'sawing logging' when they slept, tonsilitis and ear infections... so when they were old enough, around 3 yrs of age, out they came and life got so much better. My older older brother and I had our tonsils and adnoids out when when we were 4 (me) and 3. We had tonsilitis almost every month, we'd just get over it, be well for a week or so and bam, back again. I great pediatrician can do this surgery as well, you don't necessarily need to see an ENT. Talk with your pediatrician/primary care doc for a referral if they feel they can't do the job. It's a common procedure. Best of luck!! Get well soon!

My daughter is scheduled for surger in a couple of weeks. She, too, has been snoring since about 18 months and it is progressively getting worse. Each cold she has, her tonsils get bigger and don't really go back down. She has had awful sleep apnea in the past month and had some problems for awhile before.
My daughter is very petite and is on growth hormone for SGA. They say that she may have a pretty good growth spurt after her tonsils are out. The apnea tends to keep them from going into the proper sleep cycles for growth.
She was lacking growth spurts before she started having snoring and sleep apnea, so I'm pretty sure that isn't the cause, but may have contributed to it once it started.
You might try a Naturopath and see if there are some natural solutions for her.
Good luck to you,
D.

3 of my 4 children have had their adnoids & tonsils out (as well as 2 sets of tubes)...b/c of ear infections, snoring, & sleep apnea. The tonsils & adnoids coming out was def. a MIRACLE surgery...dramatic results!! No more snoring, waking up 20 million times a night, no more darth vader sounds while they played, etc. W/ ea. child, the tonsils were so enlarged that they were touching & barely any room & the adnoids were taking up 85% of their breathing space! The surgey is VERY quick! 2 of mine recovered so quickly that by the next day you would have had no idea that they had surgery, the 3rd one...by about day 4 he was back to normal. Def. get your doctor to refer you to a good ENT!! Good luck!

Hi TJ. I know what you mean about not wanting to put your child through surgery. But let me tell you our experience. My oldest was always "snotty" with a runny nose and she snored all the time. I knew it couldn't be a continuous cold so I asked the doctor and he ordered a simple x-ray. Turned out that her adnoids and tonsils were huge!! We went to the ENT and he scheduled her surgery right away. It was amazing...the snoring was gone in the recovery room! And her runny nose was history as well! Remember our kids take their emotional cues from us and you have to stay strong and hide your fears if she need surgery. The calmer she is the better everything will go. If you have to do surgery one thing I did learn is to not wait when you get home to give her the pain meds. The new pain meds they give out are better at keeping the pain away vs killing the pain that has already set in. So don't wait for her to tell you that "it hurts" before you give her what the doctor perscribes the way he perscribes it. Good luck and best wishes.

I had my adenoids removed when I was about 8, it knocked me out for a few days, but that's it, and it's fairly safe and simple.

As far as sleep apnea, it depends on the severity. Some need a breathing mask, though there is a lot of research on surgeries that could help.

My friend's newborn has sleep apnea, not sure how he is being treated though.