8 year old trouble breathing

[tarah]

As I have mentioned in other posts, everyone in my family has apnea, pretty severe, beginning at fairly young age.  I have been watching for it in my kids.  My husband sleeps near my daughter, who is 8, for periods of time during the night.  He said she is regularly starting to have trouble sleeping on her back.  He has to nudge her to her side because she's unable to get air on her back.  She is thrashing so much at night that we are putting a pillow between her bed and the wall because she is hitting so hard and frequently that it wakes my husband up.  She is also continuing to have night terrors, very vivid nightmares about people trying to kill her or our family.  I feel like the time has come for her to get evaluated.  I want to get her the help she needs early in her life.  Anyways, just posting for some support.  thanks.

[OpalRose]

Hi tarah,
So sorry to hear this, but the good part is that she has a great role model and someone to help her through this.  

Even though we hate to see little ones face sleep apnea, it’s far better to catch it young than like some that we see come to this forum in their 20’s and 30’s and see them struggle with acceptance, anger and just not believing that they could have this.

Sleep Apnea affects all ages.  My granddaughter, who is only 5 is starting to show some symptoms of SA as she has very restless sleep.  Her mom, (my daughter) also has SA, so this is something we’re watching.

The good thing is that my granddaughter is used to her mom and grandma (me) using a Cpap machine.
She stays over a couple times a month and is very attentive towards me and makes sure I put on my mask.

You will get through this, plus you have all of us here to help.

[SarcasticDave94]

Tarah, best wishes your little one gets the treatment she needs. Keep us updated. With prayers for God's grace in the troubled time

[Gideon]

The acceptable numbers for children are significantly lower than adults.  This is for your awareness.


Here are the AHI levels of severity for Sleep Apnea in adults:
Mild: 5-14
Moderate 15-29
Severe: 30+

Here are the AHI levels of severity for Sleep Apnea in children:
Mild: 1-5
Moderate 5-10
Severe: 10-30
Extremely Severe: 30+

[Hydrangea]

She's so lucky to have parents like you who are aware of this!

I agree, it sounds like it's time to get her evaluated.

I am not someone who has dreams involving death or killing. But when I'm having mask issues and I'm not getting enough fresh air in my mask, I do have dreams of being killed. No fun at all.

[tarah]

Thanks everyone.  My daughter is such a sweet kid, and she doesn't have any screentime, no movies or t.v. or anything, so it's especially disturbing when she's having very violent dreams and waking up screaming.  I went for years waking up sobbing during the night and shaking so badly it would take an hour to calm down.  It was apnea!  I will let you know what the testing shows for her.

[Matt00926]

Definitely have your daughter do an overnight sleep test. You are able to sleep in the room with her (actually you are required to as far as I know).