Sleep Apnoea and behaviour

[OldBooks]

DD (2.11) has been snoring heavily at night. GP thinks her tonsils are 'chunky' and we have had a referral to ENT, waiting for the appointment. She will have 12 hours of sleep and come downstairs and lie on the sofa and say she is still tired, which I understand is a classic sign of apnoea. She will be hyper and then have a massive crash and just want to sit and watch TV.

Her behaviour has always been challenging, she is strong willed, but we are getting to grips with run-of-the-mill tantrums etc. Thing is, she has these epic meltdowns, more like night terrors than tantrums iyswim, where she just cannot calm down for ages, screaming, thrashing around etc. These seem to be triggered when she is overtired. I picked her up from nursery yesterday and was told she had an hour long meltdown that was so bad it nearly drove one of the nursery workers to tears, she just didn't know how to calm her down.

I just wondered if anyone has experience of behavioural issues caused by overtiredness from sleep apnoea? I suppose I am worried that these meltdowns are a behavioural issue that I am not addressing rather than being caused by the over tiredness.

I should add that we have begun to suspect that she has some degree of hearing loss - possibly glue ear - which if so won't be helping the behaviour if she can't hear well. Her speech is behind her peers at nursery and she struggles to express herself verbally.

[miwelaisjacydo]

Yes sleep apnoea can cause behaviour issues. Has she had a sleep study?

[OldBooks]

No study yet, we are still waiting for the referral appointment to come through

[stuckinny]

My DS used to snore like a diesel train. So much so I never used a monitor. His doc tried to tell me it was sleep apnea and I should see a sleep specialist. I knew deep down that he wasn't right. Once our insurance changed (I'm in the US) and we no longer needed a referral I took him to an ENT. He had both tonsils and adenoids taken out in April just gone. His tonsils were so big they were touching.

I can't begin to tell you the difference it's made. He sleeps better, he's calmer, has told me he can hear better. In hindsight I should have pushed and had it done earlier, he's 9 now.

[stuckinny]

I should add that he was wearing a fit bit for a while and I could see how many times he was waking in the night. Since the surgery he sleeps right through

[OldBooks]

Thanks for sharing your experience. It sounds very similar to DD - I can hear her snoring from my bedroom. Interesting idea to put a Fitbit on to monitor them.

[stuckinny]

Good luck. The tonsils/adenoids route is definitely worth pursuing.

[YoHoHoandabottleofTequila]

Just a tip, video her sleeping. We did this and it was really useful for the ENT consultant to see the apnoeas.