Should I be concerned? apnea or reflux?

[indigo99]

When DS2 was smaller, I noticed that a few times he'd be asleep and suddenly gasp for air as if he hadn't been breathing. Sometimes he'd also cough right after, but not always. He did it while I was holding him upright or when sleeping on the bed. I never remembered to ask the Dr about it though.

When he started sleeping in his own room, I forgot about it because I'm not around him while he sleeps. Then recently he fell asleep in the car a couple of times, and we heard him do it (suddenly take a huge breath in). It was the 1st time DH had heard it, and it really concerned him. I asked the doctor at his last apt, and she said that it's probably his reflux - kind of dismissing it as a non-issue. Any BTDT advice?

[megs4413]

i don't know if I can be any help here. My DS did have sleep apnea and it was pretty scary, but he was older so it was obvious. Maybe you could have someone sit next to him in a car ride sometime and when he falls asleep have them watch for the rise/fall of his chest and count his respiratory rate....that way you would know if he really is experiencing a pause in breathing (apnea) or if it's something else.

another thought is that if he is coughing pretty regularly in sleep, then you might be looking at asthma or reflux. I'd investigate both if he was coughing pretty much every night/nap.

[indigo99]

I don't think he coughs while sleeping. I never hear that and we did cosleep for months (still do for naps). He doesn't do this often enough to watch him for it to happen, unless you're saying that he might be doing it without the gasping. It sounds like someone coming up for air after holding their breath underwater.

[Simon]

Ds1 had this and we took him to the ENT (after reading about it here on the BBB!). With some other factors too (snoring, a lot of sleep disruptions, etc), he had both his tonsils and adenoids removed and the apnea went away! I wish we had caught it sooner. Personally, I would not dismiss it so quickly as your ped. was ready to. OTOH, Ds3 has had similar gasping moments (stops breathing) but with him it is related to congestion vs. Ds1 where it happened during sleep, regardless of illness.

ETA: when we described all of Ds1's symptoms, the ped. was concerned and supported going to the ENT right away. In fact, everyone was quite concerned. With Ds3, he actually did his gasping with a ped in the room (awake and congested) and the ped said it was nothing to worry about. So I can understand why you might hear "don't worry" but since it is happening during sleep, while healthy, and there is a history of it, I wouldn't dismiss it so quick.

[hillview]

Does he snore? DS2 had sleep apnea and snored. We had his tonsils and adenoids out and he is much better. It also improved his sleep and tiredness level. Might be worth getting an ENT to take a look at tonsils/adenoids.

[indigo99]

Does he snore? .

Nope. No snoring. Other than the reflux and a couple of colds that lasted only a few days, he's been a very healthy baby. He does still wake several times at night, but I suspect that will end once I stop nursing during the night (which I've done to keep up my supply but will be ending very soon).

[hillview]

Honestly if your child appears to stop breathing I'd get a second opinion. With DS2 I spent a night (a few hours not the whole night) in his room reading my kindle and listening to him sleep to get an sense of how bad his apnea was, it was bad enough to freak me out and get him to an ENT. I would sit there in a small panic waiting for him to breathe (please breathe!)! The ENT offered to do a sleep study or just do the surgery -- sleep studies in small children is often inconclusive and DS2 had HUGE (the X-ray tech gasped) tonsils so surgery made easy sense to us.

Good luck.

[Melbel]

My son has had episodes of "air hunger" as well. For him, it was part of his Lyme infection which caused low oxygen levels. This condition is also prevalent with Babesia, another tick born illness that is similar to malaria. DS also has asthma and had to get his tonsils/adenoids out because they were huge.

I would try and video tape an episode and consider getting an opinion from an ENT.