Sleep apnea

Why are naps important for your child? What are small sleep problems encountered?

Naps are essential. The child needs energy which is what naps give. Growth spurts depends on an increase in total hours of sleep as well as an increase in the number of daily sleep bouts which are timed from the start of sleep until awakening. It occurs at around 3 weeks, 6 weeks, and 3 months when the baby needs to suckle more often to meet the growing appetite.

- Getting up too often
Sometimes you get up very often during night. The reason behind this can be multiple like hunger, over filled tummy, insects, stuffy nose, bed wetting, excessive activity, scary movies or a new baby.

- Bed wetting
Toddler or small children sleep too soundly and they do not feel the urge to go to toilet. It is not their fault instead limit the intake of liquids in evening and make sure that the kid goes to the bathroom before going to bed. Consult a pediatrician because sometimes frequent bed wetting can be a urinary tract infection.

- Sleep walking
It is more common in children of age group 3-7 years old. It occurs early in night. Room should be kept safe for sleep wanders. One needs to guide the child back to bed without waking because if you wake the child, it can give the child a shock. This problem runs into families but it can indicate the presence of problem such as sleep apnea.

- Nightmares
Frightening dreams can wake up your child very often. Reassure the child that it is just the dream and she should not worry until she goes back to sleep.

- Night terrors
It is the condition in which the child is not fully awake and not aware of your presence. She screams and she is covered with perspiration and heart beats are increased. The child settles down after 15-20 minutes and then goes back to sleep.

Lack of sleep can cause inattentiveness at school, poor memory skills, inconsistent academic performance, irritability, susceptibility to colds and flu, under eye circles, accidents, use of stimulants as sleep substitutes.

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Characteristics of Sleep Apnea and Snoring and Restless Legs Syndrome(RLS)

Snoring occurs when the breath moves through a passage that is too small. When you are sleeping, the throat muscles relax and the tongue falls backwards. The walls of the throat becomes floppy so they vibrate when you breathe. If something like tongue, enlarged tonsils, deviated septum in nose narrows the passage in throat, snoring occurs.

It is not necessary to take snoring as a health risk. The problem arises when there is not enough air that can get through nose or mouth and your breathing stops for few seconds – a condition that is called sleep apnea. This condition signals the brain to wake you up to get your breathing going again. May be you are not aware of this condition of yours but your body is. As a result, most people with this disorder are sleepy during the day. There is a higher risk of stroke and death to people who suffers sleep apnea. Sleep apnea increases the number of inflammatory mediators in the body that are associated with heart disease and diabetes. Before menopause, the risk of developing sleep apnea in women is 10 to 50 percent less lower than a man’s. It goes up after menopause. The reason behind this is probably estrogen is a stimulant that encourages breathing. When estrogen level decreases after menopause, so does this breathing boost. The hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy increases chances of developing snoring and sleep apnea.

Some things that you can do are:
- Spend a night at sleep center where your sleep pattern is observed.
- Lose weight.
- Be a side sleeper.
- See a dentist.

Restless Legs Syndrome(RLS)

- Restless Legs Syndrome is a neurological disorder.
- RLS causes itchy, crawly, tingly feelings in legs.
- There is a strong genetic component to RLS.

Some things that you can do are:
- See your doctor for an evaluation.
- Get your iron levels checked.
- Consider medication.