any experience with floppy larynx with 3 year old?

[mad4myboys]

ds1 is 3 next month and has sleep apneoa which he has had since he was born. Nothing was ever done about it as he was ok. for the last 6 months or so he has been waking in the night crying, about 3 times and i can never work out what is wrong, also asking for a drink most of the time. was told his age etc etc however sunday i was beside him and he was asleep and he stopped breathing, woke up taking in a huge gulp of air (like when you've been holding your breath too long underwater) then he started crying (like at night) so went to gp again today (saw her 2 weeks ago about it) and she says he has no signs of enlarged tonsils etc and that it may be floppy larynx. He has been referred to an ENT specialist. Any aadvice?

bump

You need elibean. I will direct her this way.

thanks, was hoping she was lurking somewhere!

Directed myself, hello Jabber

Hi mad4, I'm so sorry to hear ds1 is having sleep apnoea problems now - I think an ENT referral is definitely the way to go, and I would ask them (if they don't talk about it anyway) about the possibility of large adenoids even if tonsils are fine. If he is mouth breathing at night, he will be thirsty - goes with the territory.

If he has a floppy larynx, it will always have been floppy - is he a noisy breather? Does he make squeaking/barky noises when breathing in at night? Did he ever? I don't know what the signs are if the 'floppiness' is further up or down than the larynx, thats something else ENT will be able to tell you about. All I can say is that dd2 is still noisy at night, when she has a cold (most of the time, being 2.5 ) but no longer gasps and wakes up, since tonsils and adenoids came out. The ENT surgeon thought her adenoids were even more to blame than her large tonsils, hence checking those out in their own right, iyswim.

Hope you get an appointment asap. If he does have floppy larynx, it would fit with the reflux he had as a baby, btw.

How is ds2?

when he was a baby he would stop breathing and just told he had apneoa etc and he had severe reflux (projectile every 2 hours etc) anyway, he does and always has slept with his mouth open (not sure about mouth breathing at this age) and is loud but not raspy i dont think, he does snore. The other thing is that he has a constant 'cold' not sure if its related or a new allergy which he is seeing an allergy specialist for next month...

ds2, still a mare, being referred to GOSH as he has numerous probs with his tummy which they dont know what it is... he doesnt seem to stop breathing as much but he still snores, snorts, goes from having huge hard bogeys covering his nostrils to yellow (tmi) streaming snot! He too is being referred again to ent (the same specialist) my dh has sleep apneoa and snores and gp said may well be heredity... so fed up with it all. ds2 is 6 months now!!

So...3 snoring males

You do sound fed up, and I don't blame you one bit. Its hard work having just the one LO with similar issues, can't imagine two...really hope ENT are helpful. The sleep apnoea is the most disturbing part, I think, because it does have repercussions for them if it goes on long-term - no idea if floppy larynx alone could cause it (didnt' with dd2, only when her tonsils and adenoids grew, iyswim). She's not raspy, exactly, its hard to describe - just noise on the in breath rather than the outbreath.

She also has seemingly non-stop cold, and we've wondered about hayfever etc but nothing seems to make any difference. She's coping much better with it all since her op, though.

Speaking of which, she's snoring rather loudly just now - going to go and check on her!

it really is getting b2 much. just want to enjoy my boys

And you should! They are still your lovely boys, ENT issues and all....but I do understand the exhaustion and depression that go with reflux/worrying/endless hospital appointments.

Let us know when his apt. comes through?