Should you be taking your child’s snoring seriously?
| Updated: Jul 6, 2018, 13:35 IST
In children, snoring could just be a symptom of the flu or a virus or even just a cold sometimes. However, when it persists and children have difficulty sleeping, parents should take their children to a doctor to look for signs of more serious conditions. “It is recorded that snoring occurs in about 20 per cent of children and is most common among children between 2 and 6,” said Dr Marcel Deray, a pediatric neurologist and director of the sleep disorders centre at Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami. The expert also added that 10 per cent of children who snore suffer from sleep apnoea, a sleep disorder that leads to pauses in breathing throughout the night.
"That's the peak time that kids have enlarged adenoids and tonsils, which is the main cause of snoring and sleep apnoea," Deray said. Besides loud snoring, children may seem restless in their sleep, talk in their sleep and even sleep in abnormal positions or sleep-walk. Children may also begin wetting the bed again after not wetting the bed for months. All these symptoms are signs that children need to be taken to a doctor about the issue. And during the daytime, this issue results in the child being irritable and tired all the time. Environmental factors too could contribute to your child snoring. Children with Down Syndrome or facial abnormalities are more likely to suffer from sleep apnoea because they have a greater chance of having a collapsed airway. Obese children could suffer from snoring too.
"Some risk factors (for snoring and sleep apnoea) may be kids that are overweight, so kids that have a body mass index (BMI) over 26. You want to be a little more proactive in screening for sleep apnoea," said Dr Leonardo Torres, a pediatric sleep specialist at UHealth-the University of Miami Health System.
"That's the peak time that kids have enlarged adenoids and tonsils, which is the main cause of snoring and sleep apnoea," Deray said. Besides loud snoring, children may seem restless in their sleep, talk in their sleep and even sleep in abnormal positions or sleep-walk. Children may also begin wetting the bed again after not wetting the bed for months. All these symptoms are signs that children need to be taken to a doctor about the issue. And during the daytime, this issue results in the child being irritable and tired all the time. Environmental factors too could contribute to your child snoring. Children with Down Syndrome or facial abnormalities are more likely to suffer from sleep apnoea because they have a greater chance of having a collapsed airway. Obese children could suffer from snoring too.
"Some risk factors (for snoring and sleep apnoea) may be kids that are overweight, so kids that have a body mass index (BMI) over 26. You want to be a little more proactive in screening for sleep apnoea," said Dr Leonardo Torres, a pediatric sleep specialist at UHealth-the University of Miami Health System.