What is obstructive sleep apnoea?
Obstructive sleep apnoea is when you stop breathing while you’re asleep, usually due to a blockage in your mouth, nose or throat.
What causes sleep apnoea in children?
The most common cause of obstructive sleep apnoea in children is enlarged adenoids and tonsils or tonsillitis. Obstructive sleep apnoea is also linked to obesity, allergies and hay fever.
Children with small jaws or medical conditions that cause low muscle tone, like Down syndrome, have an increased risk of obstructive sleep apnoea.
What are sleep apnoea symptoms in children?
Your child might have sleep apnoea symptoms at night while they’re sleeping. They might also have daytime symptoms.
Sleep-related symptoms of obstructive sleep apnoea
- Snoring
- Pauses in breathing or choking, gasping sounds
- Hot sweats during the night
- Restlessness during sleep
- A tendency to sleep in unusual positions – for example, with neck tilted back or the head upright on a pillow
- Bedwetting
Daytime symptoms of sleep apnoea
- Tiredness and irritability, especially in older children
- Difficulty concentrating and sitting still
- Morning headaches
- Poor appetite, with difficulty swallowing foods like meat and crusty bread
- Blocked nose
- Mood changes
Many children snore, but most children don’t have obstructive sleep apnoea.
What should you do if you notice the signs of sleep apnoea in your child?
Take your child to the GP if they:
- seem to be very tired during the day
- gasp and struggle for breath while sleeping.
How do doctors diagnose obstructive sleep apnoea?
Your GP will look in your child’s throat to check their tonsils. The GP might send your child to an ear, nose and throat specialist if it looks like your child’s adenoids and tonsils are the cause of your child’s sleep apnoea.
The GP might also recommend that your child has some sleep apnoea tests. These tests usually aren’t painful or uncomfortable.
What is a sleep study?
A sleep study is a test to help doctors work out whether your child has sleep apnoea. A sleep study involves staying overnight in hospital (with a parent), so that specialists can watch your child’s breathing, heart rate, oxygen level, and brain, eye and muscle activity while they’re sleeping.
A sleep study is also called a polysomnography test.
What is an oximetry test?
The GP might recommend that your child has an oximetry test. This test measures your child’s oxygen levels during the night to find out whether your child’s oxygen level drops at times during the night because of breathing difficulties.
An oximetry test doesn’t give as much information as a polysomnography test.
How is sleep apnoea treated?
Mild sleep apnoea often gets better over time without surgery.
For more severe sleep apnoea, treatment depends on its cause.
Sleep apnoea caused by enlarged adenoids or tonsils
Doctors usually recommend using a nasal steroid spray for 6 weeks, which can relieve the swelling. If this doesn’t help, doctors might recommend surgery to remove the adenoids or the tonsils.
Sleep apnoea caused by hay fever or allergy
Doctors might suggest a trial of corticosteroid nose spray or antihistamines for a few weeks. They’ll also suggest ways you can reduce your child’s exposure to the things that trigger their allergies, especially house dust mite.
Sleep apnoea related to obesity
Doctors will recommend a weight and exercise program.
What are CPAP machines and how do they help with sleep apnoea?
A CPAP (Continuous Positive Airways Pressure) machine delivers a constant flow of pressurised air into your child’s nose and throat through a mask. Your child wears the mask at night, and the pressurised air flow helps to keep their airways open during breathing.
A sleep specialist or respiratory physician might recommend a CPAP machine if your child has a special medical condition or severe sleep apnoea.
Frequently asked questions about sleep apnoea in babies and children
Does sleep apnoea cause behaviour issues in kids?
Children with sleep apnoea aren’t getting enough good-quality sleep, which means they often feel tired during the day. This can lead to behaviour and development problems, as well as problems at school.
Can you prevent sleep apnoea?
You can prevent sleep apnoea caused by obesity by maintaining a healthy weight. You can prevent sleep apnoea caused by allergies and hay fever by treating the allergies. For example, if your child starts on hay fever treatment in spring, it might help to stop the swelling in their nose that causes the sleep apnoea.
Can babies have sleep apnoea?
Yes. Children of all ages can have sleep apnoea.
Can a child die from sleep apnoea?
This is extremely rare. Severe sleep apnoea can cause oxygen levels to drop very low, which can cause a heart rhythm problem and death.
Can sleep apnoea go away on its own?
Yes. If your child has mild sleep apnoea, it might go away on its own in later childhood as the tonsils and adenoids get smaller and children get fewer colds. Moderate to severe apnoea will probably need treatment.
Can you grow out of sleep apnoea?
Yes. If your child has mild sleep apnoea, they might grow out of it. Moderate to severe apnoea will probably need treatment.