Parents of older children with behavioral issues should pay attention to the quality of their children's sleep. Pediatric sleep apnea isn't like adult apnea. For children,surgery is usually the first line of treatment, and can make a tremendous difference, as Yonah's story illustrates.
But infants can also suffer from apnea. Here's another story, from Terri Lynn Breary:
We too experienced sleep apnea with our son, but at a different level. When our son, Trenten, was 5 weeks old we noticed his breathing was irregular while sleeping. He would fall into a deep sleep and then wake himself up.
At first, being new parents, we weren't alarmed. Within days these episodes became more frequent and more severe. It was now obvious that this was not normal behavior, by any stretch of the imagination. Trenten stopped breathing when he was asleep.
Our doctor admitted Trenten to the hospital for observation. The first night, he had 300 episodes, which more than a half were over 20 seconds. The second night in the hospital, he had approximately 200 episodes, with more then half being true apneas of 20 seconds or more. He had at least five episodes of over 50 seconds without breathing.
Trenten had a very close call. His doctor told us if that he hadn't had intervention, we would have lost him within days.
Because of Trenten's close call, our family decided to found an organization to raise public awareness of infant and childhood apnea, and to raise money for research.
While Infant Sleep Apnea is rare in full-term newborns, it is more common disorder than most parents think. It is a potentially life-threatening condition if not diagnosed and treated.
One lost life is one too many.
Trenten's Message: Awareness Can Save a Life.
Please share Trenten's message with your friends who are expecting a baby or have a newborn. Consider a donation to the foundation, as well.
Main website: Infant & Children Sleep Apnea Awareness Foundation. Also see the blog and the discussion forum.
To learn more about obstructive sleep apena and a less invasive treatment option visit http://www.pillarprocedure.com
Posted by: Ken | Thursday, August 28, 2008 at 06:34 AM