OK, I have a question for my sister. I've been diagnosed with sleep apnea. I'm 28, but I had sleep apnea when I was a little kid. It wasnt' diagnosed til this year, but I remember not breathing when I was little. My mother remembers watching me all night when I was a baby, because I would stop breathing often, and the doctors just told her it was normal. My mother was just diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. My father hasn't been diagnosed, but almost certainly has sleep apnea as well. (What IS this with everyone having sleep apnea?)
My younger sister has a 1 year old, and she says she's counted, and he stops breathing every 7 seconds. She has him sleeping on a pad that sets off an alarm if he stops moving. I'm pretty sure it's more likely that he does have sleep apnea, due to the number of relatives who do.
We want to know how likely the baby has actual sleep apnea, and if he does, what would be done about it? I can't imagine a baby wearing one of these masks...
She IS going to schedule him for a sleep study, but we were just wondering how they handle small children with sleep apnea.

hello and i hope i can try and help you but the info i have is from personal experience

A apnoea is classed as a non bresthing episode lasting 20 seconds or more although some hopsitlas do class 10 second ones as well.

Matthew has central sleep apnoea and peridoic breathing
periodic breathing is a breathing pattern which is common in children, but ob theres extremes of this

but we have always been told an apnoea to be classed as a serious one to be taken into account must last 20 seconds or more.
i think also alot of people have central apnoeas but because there quite low only a few seconds breathing its not normlaly consdiered serious

does ur niece alarm mat go off?

matthew use to have one and this would go off the time, this from 6 months old, wasnt til he was 14 months a sleep syudy was done which showed 285 apnoeas in one night, along with periodic breathing which means they breathe then pause then breathe again, this doesnt normally affect 02.
matthew 02 dropped to 82% during his 1st study, hes had 4 done in the last year and hes 2 1/2.

if ur sis is worried maybe request but i feel becuase its only 7 seconds they mite not do anyhting as its not classed as a true apnoea.

What I meant was, he stops breathing every seven seconds, not that he stops breathing FOR seven seconds.  Meaning, after he starts breathing again (and I'm not sure how long that takes,) he stops seven seconds later.
His alarm does go off. It keeps her up a lot, but I'm not sure how often.

can i ask what alarm he has then
matthew had an angel care alarm  to go off at 15 seconds if no movement was detected would bleep, then if for a further 5 seconds nothing was picked up the alarm would go off, i have never heard of any alarm going off at 7 seconds that goes under the mattress, the machine is either not working properly or its to senstive

i know its a silly question but is ur sister going by the alarm or by her, we was asked this, sometimes u just think omg the alarm is going off so something must be wrong but those mats do give of flase alarm, and esp as its going off every 7 seconds,

The alarm she is using is something she got at Wal Mart. It is a pad that goes under his sheet, and detects lack of movement, not breathing problems.
The alarm doesn't go off that often. She sits by his bed and watches him stop breathing, and wakes him up if he doesn't start after about two seconds. That is when she is awake. I guess I'm not very clear.
Last time she stayed up and watched him, (which she does even though she has to go to work,) She counted how long it was between the times he started breathing and then started again. She said that he stopped breathing every 7 seconds like clockwork. Which seems like a lot to stop breathing to me. I posted this question because she asked me about it, but I see that I may have to call her and get more information.

Jessica,

Your sister's baby needs to be evaluated pronto.  In babies, I believe it is more common to have central apneas, rather than obstructive, but the only way to know is by a sleep study evaluation.  Obstructive Sleep Apnea are caused by a physical obstruction.  In children enlarged tonsils and or adenoids my be the culprit and in children, a T&A removal has a pretty high success rate in decreasing or elimination obstructives apneas.  There may be other causes of the obstruction.

Central apnea is where the brain doesn't send the signal to breath and this type of apne is handled differently than obstructive.  I honestly don't know how it is handled, whether by meds. or apnea monitoring.  I saw a new PAP designed for central apneas.  Babies sometimes have underdeveloped nervous sytems and as their nervous system matures their central apneas go away.  That may be why your parents were told it was normal

Your sis. needs to find a doctor who specializes in pediatric sleep disorders.  Start with the find a doctor in the FAQ section at the top of this form and/or call Children's hospitals in your area.  Let us know how it goes!

Vicki


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That which does not kill you makes you stronger-Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich must of had apnea.