Snoring
Laboured breathing during sleep
Excessive sweatiness and/or restlessness during sleep
Excessive day time sleepiness and/or morning tiredness or head aches
Pauses in breathing and/or choking/gasping/snorting during sleep
Awakening due to bad dreams and/or sleep walking
Positions (sleeping in unusual positions; eg. extended neck, sitting up)
Nasal obstruction and mouth breathing
Overweight or underweight
Enuresis (bed wetting)
Attention/learning/behavioural problems
The above handy check list is a great tool you can use for a physical examination to judge the potential your child could be at risk of obstructive sleep apnoea.
Children may stop breathing 40 to 50 times an hour every hour during sleep which can then cause the brain to starve of oxygen, which can than lead to difficulty concentrating at school.
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is caused by a blockage of the airway, usually when the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses and closes during sleep. In central sleep apnoea, the airway is not blocked but the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe. Mixed apnoea is a combination of the two. With each apnoea event, the brain briefly arouses people with sleep apnoea in order for them to resume breathing, but consequently sleep is extremely fragmented and of poor quality.
