How I Thought to Ask About My Kids’ Sleep Apnea

Social media is a common villain these days. Truth be told, it does cause a lot of distraction, fear of missing out or FOMO, and can potentially hurt one’s mental health.

But, for all its shortcomings, it was social media that led me to investigate my kids’ sleep issues and, from there, led to my kids, now 5 and 7, being diagnosed with sleep apnea.

What are signs of sleep apnea in kids?

I saw an article with a click-bait headline along the lines of, “Babies who sleep with their mouths open are not okay!” My babies slept with their mouths open! I clicked the link and found out that mouth breathing while sleeping might be an indicator of sleep apnea.

Other boxes my kids ticked included snoring, irritability, daytime sleepiness, and behavior issues. They were hyperactive, inattentive, and impulsive during the day, which seemed to be a big indicator. I thought sleep apnea had to do with being obese, which my kids are not, but I found that little kids can have sleep apnea without obesity.

Snorts and snores during sleep

I’d never heard them stop breathing in their sleep and, as an anxious parent, I’d spent a little too much time listening to their breathing on postpartum nights. I had heard them wake themselves up with a snort, though, which could have been a short pause in breathing.

Both of my kids had eczema as babies and I had pretty severe seasonal allergies, so it was on my radar that nasal congestion from allergies could be the cause of the snoring, which may or may not have been associated with sleep apnea. The fact that my kids seemed to snore regardless of snot levels led me to think their sleep issues were not solely because of allergies.

Down the Google rabbit hole

The fact that my kids had several symptoms gave me pause. I fell down the Google rabbit hole and found that sleep apnea in kids can be really scary.

The worst-case scenario was, of course, death, which freaked me out to the point that I made an appointment with our doctor, who confirmed my suspicions that my kids had some sleep issues and assured me they were unlikely to die because of them.

Social, physical, and mental health

Other concerns I had about my kids’ sleep apnea was it leading to social and physical issues. I didn’t want my kids to have learning issues, true, but, mostly, like all parents, I wanted my kids to be happy. As it was, my children were potentially not as happy as they could have been.

Being sleepy during the day meant that they were cranky and sometimes had a harder time sleeping at night. Feeling like they weren’t successful in school didn’t help their mental health, and I worried about them feeling out of place, depressed, or anxious. Knowing what was contributing to these issues helped me make some changes at home to help promote healthier sleep patterns.

The more you know

While I’m not happy my kids have sleep apnea, I’m glad I found that sensationalized article on social media. It helped me get some guidance as to what was going on with my kids and put me on the path to helping them get better quality sleep.