My two and a half year old daughter makes very strange sounds when she sleeps. It occurs both during her naps and at night, even when she naps in the car upright in her car seat. It sounds as if she is struggling to breathe and gasps for air. It is not due to a cold because we have noticed this as far as we can remember. She has an appointment on tuesday for a sleep apnea test to see if there is oxygen restricted to her brain. Has anyone out there experienced this with their own child? I mentioned it to her ped and she mentioned that it could be her tonsils and if that is the case, they can remove it. She is only 2.5 and the thought of her going through any kind of surgery scares me, I dont know if i would even want to put her through the surgery if they suggested it so I'm just reaching out to see if there are any real life experiences out there from you wonderful moms. Thank you.
I don't have any experience with sleep apnea, but I just wanted to say that if she needs to have her tonsils out, it might be better to do it sooner rather than later. I had my tonsils out when I was 18 and it was a miserable experience. I've heard it's much easier for little kids.
Good luck!
A friend of mine dealt with this issue with her son at about 3.5 years. They removed his tonsils and adenoids, and his life turned around. He was a whiny, shy little boy who wanted only his mother. When he started getting enough oxygen while he slept he not only slept better, but he became a happy child who now can't be stopped.
Sleep apnea is VERY serious. I have it myself (and have the Darth Vader mask LOL). If removal of her tonsils will help or eliminate it, then I advise you to proceed. Be sure to see a reputable ENT before making any decisions. All surgery carried risk, as you know, but if your child does not get enough oxygen to her body each and every day, the cumulative effects can be devastating. Sleep apnea is exceedingly stressful on all organs, including the heart, and of course it is bad for the brain.
My best to you.
We are goign through a similar thing with our nearly 3 year old daughter. She definately has apnea, she quit breathing in the docotrs office while sleeping in my arms in front of a physician's assistant. The look of fear on the PAs face was actually scarier to me than my daughter's pause in breathing. We are now going in for a sleep study to see how prevelant it is and see if we can find the cause. Sleep apnea isn't only caused by blocks by tonsils. Our little girl has some other medical issues and has had surgery once and general anestesthia twice. It IS scary to turn your precious child over to doctors and let them do something to them that does have risk that you do not know how to do. In my daughter's surgery even though she had some complications, she is totally fine and not doing the surgery would have been worse for her. If the doctors reccomend taking our daughters tonsils out we will treat it like any other reccomendation they have made for her. We will ask what they hope ot gain by doing this. Are their any guarantess it will help? Could it make things worse? Are there other options? What if we do nothing? You are entitled to having all your questions answered fully. We tend to prefer low tech, natural remedies but we look at the benefits and risks of each treatment before deciding what is best for our daughter. Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions. My oldest daughter failed a hearing test when she was four and was sent to an ENT. He did a better test which she also failed, took one look in her ears and told us she needed tubes or her speech would be affected. I scheduled the surgery went home and didn't feel right. I called the pedi who saw us that afternoon. She talked to the ENT while we were in the office. We cancelled the surgery and tried an antihistamine to get rid of the fluid. The ENT assumed without asking me that my daughter had had multiple ear infections when she had had only one. He also assumed her shyness in the office was a language delay. She was evaluated and was ahaead in language. She never had the surgery. We use antihistamines for about a month twice a year. I tell you this only to say asking questions is VERY important.
I can only imagine how difficult this must be, but you are doing the correct thing by having her tested! If you have seen this happen on many occasions and it seems as though you have, chances are she DOES have sleep apnea. This runs in my family. I can see how a tonsil surgery for your baby would scare you, but honestly if that is all thats needed to fix the problem, that is no big deal at all. Otherwise, you are looking at her wearing a CPAP machine when she goes to sleep for the rest of her life. This machine supplies Oxygen so if she does stop breathing, she will not suffocate herself to death or suffer life altering brain damage from lack of Oxygen to the brain. Any night could be 'the night' so waiting to see is not an option.
I am not trying to scare you, but this is reality. My mother has sleep apnea, (so do both her sisters, and my grandfather on my fathers side) and she is also an active sleeper, which caused her to knock her machine crooked and I have been woken up many times over the years to go in and adjust her machine when the alarm on it went off. I hope your daughter does not have this, but if the tonsils are the problem, please get them removed so she doesn't suffer anymore!!
Hi, we're going through the same thing right now with our now-three-year-old (she was 2.5 when it really started up big time, although she'd always had some snoring / wierd noises at night). We were advised to have her tonsils / adenoids removed. We still might do that, but like you, we've stalled because of her age. In the meantime, we did two rounds of steroids and antibiotics (in case of an infection in the tonsils / adenoids) which did seem to provide some relief, although I think we will eventually be going the surgery route. Her specialist said that he does a lot of these surgeries on kids between 3-6 years old. I know how scary this is (both the sleep apnea and the prospect of surgery - I wasn't getting any sleep when it was at its worst pre-steroids). If we do the surgery any time soon, I will certainly let you know how it goes. Good luck!
I think you've got some great experiences here to help in your decision. My son just turned 3 and he'll have his tonsils and adniods removed next week. I am so scared about the surgery and going under, but after his apnea test showed that he stopped breathing 6.6 times per hour and his oxygen dropped to 84% (lower than a runner after a marathon) I knew I had no choice. We have kaiser and had a pre appt. and a pre op appt in Oakland and Dr. Gotschall is a pedi surgeon specialist. I am very nervous but also relieved that there is a cure for this problem. One thing I'd be sure to request is an overnight stay if the surgery is done in the next year. I had a friend who's child came home same day and had to be readmitted, so 24 hour watch is best post surgery. Good luck and I am sure we'll both feel better once our children can breathe well and sleep soundly. Try holding your breath and mimmick her sleep, I tried and it scared me really bad, it can't be fun. Oh, my son's came on right after a bought of tonsilitis, they swelled and never went down, now they close over his throat, and the adnoids are huge too. Funny how a virus can totally wreck havoc on our kids, thank goodness for remedies. Good luck to you and yours!
C.
We went through the exact same thing. My son was almost 3 and he slept just like that. We took him to an ent and they told us he needs his tonsils out. He ended up with this tonsils and adnoids out and there is absolutely no problem with his sleep. The surgery was not too bad...the recovery was a little rough (but NOTHING like mine when I was 26 and had them out). It was so worth it. He was a much happier child after...guess from getting some good sleep!
Okay - here is a nice alternative answer - my daughter was the same - my thought was allergies were giving her a hard time - DH & I have seasonal and he is also allergic to our dog. I took her to an allergist and while she tested for no allergies, he said it sounded like her sinuses were blocked (most likely caused by a bad cold she had 7 months earlier). 2 weeks on Nasonex and she was breathing fine no more snoring, or gasping for air in her sleep.
I will say a prayer that your daughter's problem is this simple.
My son had his tonsils removed at age 5 due to frequent bouts of strep throat. He was also a snorer and was usually tired and had dark circles under his eyes. After the surgery he has not had a single case of strep (he is now 8) and sleeps quietly through the night.
It was scary having him go through this, but it went very quickly and in our case the outcome was well worth it.
Good luck,
K.
My son is 2 1/2 and a snorer. Sometimes loud, sometimes soft, always pretty cute. My husband has sleep apnea. The difference, from my perspective, is snoring is rythmic and consistent. Sleep apnea is neither. My husband snores himself awake with one breath, then stops breathing alltogether with the next. He grunts and snorts, and it is not a comfortable sound. After 20 years of marriage, I still have to leave the bed some nights because I cant' stand it !!!! I've never felt that way with the sounds my youngest makes. They just make me smile.
We never had our son tested for sleep apnea. My son did the same before his tonsils were removed. He was 3 when we did it. Although, he had many other issues: ear infections causing speech delay, etc. His tonsils were huge. Not only did the snoring stop, but his behavior totally changed. He started sleeping through the night (first time in 3 years!!), he lost the dark circles under his eyes, he started having energy that a 3 year old was suppose to have.
PS. He already had tubes once before the tonsillectomy. They had falling out and were replaced during the surgery.
Hi! My daughter was 3 when she had her tonsils and adenoids removed. It helped her sooooo much! Her tonsils were "kissing" and her adenoids were very large. We sleep better now too because we hear her breathing is slow and steady....no loud snores then quiet moments followed by the scary gasp. The procedure was same day/outpatient. Because she was so young she was the second surgery of the day and we were home before noon. Recovery was easier than expected. My daughter asked for a PB&J sandwich on day 3! Her preschool teacher commented that she became much more alert during school post her surgery. For us the scariest part of the procedure was the anesthesia. All went well though. Kids do come out of the anesthesia crying, so don't be alarmed should ths be the route you choose. Good luck......these decisions are very difficult!
our daughters tonsils had to come out for that very reason. She would snore so loud you could hear her thru the whole house. When we couldn't hear her, we would run and go flip her because she has stopped breathing.
Her problem was solved when her tonsils came out and she could breath normally again. Those things were huge!!!
