Snoring and Children

Infrequent snoring may be quite normal to kids and fresh research shows that 3 to12 percent of kids between the age of one and nine snore but the frequency doesn’t mean normality. Regular snoring can be the cause of difficult long-term medical conditions like sleep apnea (also known as obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, or “OSAS”).

Sleep apnea is indicated by loud snoring with infrequent breathing interruption. Short or sustained pauses may occur, usually lasting 5 to 30 seconds, throughout which the child cannot sleep and must continually switch positions in order to resume sleeping. Every night, more than once, they will cease snoring. After a pause, they’ll start again. Although this situation rarely appears on children, it is essential that parents should look out for signs that come along with it.

Signs of sleep apnea include poor language habits - speech that sounds like words uttered with a mouthful of hot potato. Children that endure sleep apnea expend more energy when they breathe during night. While they are eating they tend to eat very slowly because they find it hard to breath and chew both the same time. Lack of sleep can create sleepiness on kids throughout the day, so to stay alert, kids act madly or exhibit hyperactive behavior. Snoring interferes with sleep and kids can experience reduced functioning at school because they are tired and not able to focus.

When these signs are visible, it is essential for parents to take their boy or girl to a pediatrician and have them analyzed. A boy or girl can be happy and smiling when he is brought before the doctor and therefore, it is difficult to diagnose if he really has sleep apnea. Parents are advised to record their child’s snoring so that the doctor can analyze the situation.

Meantime, sleep apnea is not the only reason why kids snore, other causes include allergic attack, obesity, asthma, and enlargement of adenoids and/or tonsils caused by cold or tonsillitis. Some allergic attacks can cause swelling on the linings of the nose that can force the enlargement of adenoids and this keeps the child from breathing usually. When the allergic attack subsides, so does the boy or girl’s snoring. Obesity is a leading factor in snoring it has been discovered that 20 to 40 percent of obese children snore. Recent fields of study are establishing that snoring and bronchial asthma may go hand and hand and particularly in youngsters who are obese.

Recent research is showing that snoring and bronchial asthma may go hand and hand, particularly in youngsters. But, large adenoids and/or tonsils induced by cold or tonsillitis are another cause. While cold or tonsillitis can be remedied by decongestant and antibiotics, adenoid enlargement is handled by a surgical procedure to remove adenoids and tonsils.