ain...anywhere, anytime!!Though I don't believe Reid has an issue with sleep apnea, after reading about the incidence in children with Down syndrome I am definitely going to bring it up at our next appointment with his pediatrician. Actually, I read that most parents don't even know that their child suffers from this. Hmmnn...am I one of them?
According to Babies with Down syndrome-A New Parents' Guide, sleep apnea occurs more often among premature babies, babies with certain medical problems, and babies with Down syndrome. Among babies with Down syndrome, sleep apnea is usually due to upper airway obstruction. The upper airways can be obstructed by large adenoids, large tonsils, large tongue, or a combination of the above. Symptoms include noisy breathing, temporary
stopping of breathing, fitful sleep, and snoring. Children
with these symptoms have difficulty in draining fluid from the middle ear to the throat, and more importantly, have decreased oxygen levels in the brain, lungs, and the rest of the body during sleep. It is recommended that children who experience
these symptoms have a consultation with an ear, nose, and throat specialist.
Yikes, one more specialist for me to visit. I have been meaning to make an appointment but have not felt the urgency since Reid luckily has not had much to battle in the way of ear infections, fortunately. However, lately I have been hearing a lot about "Sleep Studies" done to determine whether their child has sleep apnea, and also heard of many having their child's adenoids
and tonsils removed...and now it is all making sense to me. Okay, so just because this is Down syndrome awareness month, it doesn't mean that I can't be included in the gaining more of an awareness myself! So, this post was for me I suppose so I would be forced to learn a little bit more about this issue and to force myself to make that ENT
appointment.
Well...it also gave me the opportunity to post these sweet "sleeping guy" pictures!
8 comments:
Sweet guy indeed.
I too would LOVE to be able to sleep like this! Looks so easy!
My daughter is 4 and just had a sleep study. I wasn't even going to do one, because she doesn't snore and pretty much sleeps through the night, but we went to a Down syndrome clinic and the doctor felt that all kids with DS should have a sleep study.
It was a nightmare! But in the end, she does have "mild" sleep apnea, so we'll probably get her enormous tonsils removed and that should do the trick.
Good luck if you do one. It really is a pain, but you might find out some important information if you do.
Love all the sleeping baby pics! he sure looks like he can sack out anywhere.
My Sean was a very restless sleeper, often waking, often catching his breath in his sleep. We asked for a sleep study when he was 2 ish and he did indeed have sleep apnea. T & A removed and now he is a much better sleeper.
I agree, the sleep study was NO FUN, but needed! Good luck!
The funny thing is.... I could sleep like that... anywhere and anytime, if ONLY I got the chance. (sigh). He is such a cutie! I love sleeping baby pics.
Thank you for this post Cheri. We have our appt tomorrow with the DS Clinic and this gives me more stuff to talk about. He already has a possible issue with fluid in his middle ear (although he has never had an infection) and he is a noisy breather...."snorty" we call him lovingly. I wonder if you have to be a certain age to get this test done.....we'll see I guess!
J
Hi Jennifer, let me know what you find out. I would be curious. I wish we had a DS clinic around here, there is one in San Diego though, I may need to do a little more research on the clinic as it may be worth the drive.
And I thought he feel asleep quickly for me because he liked my singing Irish rebel songs!!
I'm with Jeanette--I could totally sleep like that anywhere. I always say I could lie down in the middle of a busy shopping mall and have a nice nap. :-) Man, he's cute! I love those pics!
We haven't had a sleep study done, but we've gotten plenty of regular all-clears from the ENT. Yep, another specialist. Hopefully you have a geneticist on your list, too.
Post a Comment