The Fear of Sleep Apnea in a Kid With COVID-19

My 5-year-old son seemed off on Saturday morning. He was tired when he woke up and was crying a lot. I cuddled him in his bedroom and he asked to lie down for a little bit, something that never, I mean never, happens. He fell asleep.

When he woke up, I tested him with one of our saved rapid at-home tests. Negative. He seemed in good enough spirits, so we went to the playground with his friend. I told them I’d tested him to be sure we weren’t harboring disease and we all laughed. Gallows humor. The rest of the day progressed normally.

Testing positive for COVID-19

Sunday morning, we had a second playdate scheduled at a different park. I also told the mom I’d tested my son before our weekend of socializing. She seemed unconcerned and the boys played together very nicely.

When we got home, my son’s nose was running. He had dark circles under his eyes and he was coughing. It was not a normal-sounding cough. It was chesty, hoarse, and a little croupy. His forehead felt a bit warm. I took his forehead temperature 3 times. It was normal twice, but the third time was 99. Not a real fever. I gave him a second at-home test, feeling kinda silly for wasting one of our precious few. It was positive right away.

I texted his dad, whose first response was, “You should text the mom from the playdate today. That’s gonna be awkward.” Indeed, but I was worried now.

Bedtime fears

We made it to bedtime and I tucked him in. I tried propping his head up on his pillow, and we attempted to blow his nose but the mucous was way in the back of his sinuses. As he fell asleep nearly instantaneously, his breathing did not inspire confidence. I went and read to my daughter, hearing my child in the other room cough in his sleep. I went downstairs and tidied up but kept hearing him cough.

I was scared. This kid is the king of secondary infections. He’s been hospitalized for RSV and needs an inhaler because of getting it more than once. He got pneumonia right before the 2020 shutdowns, freaking us all out. And he has mild sleep apnea.

His breathing made me nervous

I tried to go to bed early because I was so, so stressed I was giving myself a headache. I’d tested with our last home kit and was negative, but I knew what was coming for me with a positive case in the house.

More than the stress of having to inform everyone and test everyone, I was nervous about my son’s breathing. I went into his room and he was snoring, but I listened carefully to make sure he wasn’t stopping breathing or wheezing. I wasn’t sure.

Getting through the night

I moved him into my bed and propped him up with pillows. He woke up long enough to ask for water in the most pathetic little voice and then went back to snoring and coughing. I was awake until 2 AM listening to him and finally decided he was not having sleep apnea and was not wheezing or having stridor. I moved him back to bed and got a couple hours of sleep.

He was already a little better the next day, and I was thankful he was old enough for a vaccine, as it probably helped my little dude keep the COVID symptoms to a minimum. We didn’t end up needing the inhaler, and he didn’t have any more nighttime breathing issues. Phew.