Open mouth breathing/Large adenoids and sleep apnea

[Carleton8]

Hi
My son is 4 and has just seen an ent consultant who's confirmed large adenoids as the cause of his open mouth breathing whilst asleep and night sweat at the onset of sleep. He said he most likely has low grade sleep apnea which causes the sweating as he drifts off. The sweating doesn't go on throughout the night just as he first falls asleep. The consultant recommended watching andwaiting another year before surgery to remove the adenoids as they do start to shrink after age 5. This makes sense but he starts school in September and I worry he won't be getting good quality sleep due to the apnea. He seems OK tiredness wise in his mood but always falls to sleep on car journeys that are more than 30 mins long. Does that sound normal for a 4 year old? He sleeps between 10 and 11 hours at night, we don't notice any gasping for air or stopping of breathing due to the apnea, just open mouth breathing some snoring and sweating at the start of sleep.

If he were to have adenoids removed we worry about post op pain etc at 4 years old.

Anyone who's child been through the same? What was the outcome ?

Thanks

My DS had this and had tonsils and adenoids out and grommets inserted aged 2y8mo. Best thing we did and I wouldn’t wait if I had the choice. A couple of his classmates have had it done recently (KS1) and I think it’s more painful for them.

personally I’d want it done before school start.

Elder dc had sleep apnea and had them removed along with tonsils and grommets just before he was 4. He was poorly for a few days but bounced back very quickly. In the end it was the sleep apnea that speeded it all up as he stopped breathing regularly in his sleep and it was scary. He also had very poor hearing. Having the operation made a massive difference and he was so much better.

Thanks for your replies. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who chose to watch and wait, did they improve, if so at what age?

Thanks

Bump

You need to ask for a sleep survey. They just attach a little monitor to the toe while the child sleeps. That will determine whether or not your child has sleep apnoea.

If so then they absolutely should have tonsils and adenoids removed before school. It’s a pretty minor op, a couple of weeks of pain that calpol can help with. They’ll be out the same day.

If your dc has sleep apnoea it’ll hinder their performance at school and growth.