worried about sleep apnoea

[wem]

Sorry, it's quite long

this may be pure first time mum paranoia (plus middle of the night fretting), but...

dd (6 weeks old) has never slept well, but it has got a lot worse over the last week or two.

She will sleep happily on me or dh (tho often snores, is doing so right now in fact), in the buggy and in the car seat.

She will not sleep lying down in cot/moses basket/our bed.

She will, however, lie on her back awake happily for quite a while, as long as she is entertained.

She is quite windy and quite sicky, but doesn't show signs of distress I would expect from reflux - plus she is ok on her back while awake. I have started giving infacol, which does seem to bring up wind easier.

When I put her down to sleep it usually lasts a couple of minutes then she starts making a loud squeaking noise - sounds like it's through her nose, rather than vocal cords, iykwim. this carries on, on and off, til she wakes up crying.

Very occasionally she will sleep soundly for longer, in these cases it lasts exactly 20 mins every time.

Theory is sleep apnoea in deep sleep is waking her up.

She sleeps in buggy/car as the movement/noise stops her going into a deep sleep. Sleeping upright on me/dh keeps her airways open.

The times I've put her down and she's slept for 20 mins is because I've caught her in light sleep and she goes through one cycle of light sleep before going into deeper sleep and then the same thing happens.

Does any of this make sense? Am I overthinking it? If I'm in any way on the right track, is there anything that can be done about it??

The latest theory of SIDS is that it is sleep apnoea that they do not wake out of. If you have any reason to believe your lo is suffering from apnoea, tell your HV. This link from a US site may help you: yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/sleep-apnea-in-newborn.html

ah ches, I hoped I might catch you, have spotted you on the sleep threads at this time of night.

so do you think it might be apnoea? I#ll have a look at the link...

that's a scary link

doesn't give any description of what it looks like tho

bump now there are a few more people around...

thanks, I'll speak to somebody today. GP rather than HV you think?

ok, I've called the gps and got an appt for this morning.

Glad your dd was fine

well, i've come away from the docs with some saline drops to clear her nose with as my gp thinks she could just be stuffy from a bit of a cold but also that she didn't have any other concerns

wem I would still talk this through with your hv. my son suffered from sleep apnoea and its scary. I was given a monitor that a material Velcro strap with a small probe went round his belly and a alarm would go of if his breathing became shallow or stopped breathing altogether.

thanks sunshineday. the gp passed on my concerns to the hv. she called me but said it's difficult to get allocated a monitor unless you've had a previous child die from sids. not very comforting. she suggested I buy one.

what did it look/sound like when it happened to your son? The gp asked about turning blue, which thankfully has never happened, but had a scary moment earlier. I had put her down asleep but it was only a couple of minutes before she started squeaking as normal. I left her as I wanted to see if she would still settle as she does occasionally, but she didn't. She then made a couple of noises like there was fluid in her throat (sick/reflux?) and opened her eyes and looked distressed and like she was trying to cry.

I picked her up, but she didn't calm down. She was very red in the face and wasn't breathing through her nose, just crying out once or twice, but not inhaling again. It was only a few seconds before she breathed in shallowly once or twice through her nose again, and then a few more seconds before she was breathing normally, but it was scary, like she'd forgotten how to breathe through her nose.

The gp said babies generally breathe irregularly, and will often pause and then take quick breaths to catch up, but she looked so distressed with it.

Sorry, I also meant to ask - how long was it a problem for your son? Did he just grow out of it?

It's back to middle of the night fretting for me

I could always tell with my son when his breathing had slowed down /stopped. The color would drain from his face and would be a horrible pale/yellow color and if not picked up quick enough would start going gray. only once did he go blue and lucky for us he was in hospital at the time. His problem turned out to be very severe reflux but instead of being sick he was aspirating(everything was going in to his lungs). He finally had to have a fundoplication.

is it possible that your lo could be bring acid up that is burning her throat?? my elder child also had reflux and for the first 9 months slept in a baby chair in his cot and when he was to big for that we had to raise one end of the cot mattress up to keep him at a angle to sleep. (put a rolled up quilt or pillows under)

Thanks again sunshineday, it must have been an awful time for you. It doesn't sound quite the same as what's happening with dd. I've got my 6 week check on Tuesday and the hv is coming round on Wednesday, so I'll bring it up with both of them just to check again.

givethedog - my mum and dad had a baby girl who died of cot death almost exactly a year before I was born. It was something I always knew about growing up, but it wasn't talked about ever. It's been a big fear of mine, even to the extent of worrying about adults I've been sharing rooms with - boyfriends or just friends sleeping on the floor after a night out. I'd look over at them to check they were breathing.

I realise this highlights the fact that I'm probably worrying about nothing with dd. I said before she was born that I wasn't going to sleep for the first six months. I was mostly joking, but it seems like it's playing out that way...

the fact that you had a sibling that died of cot death should mean they take your concerns seriously. Can you afford to get the monitor?

I did tell the gp about my sister but she didn't seem to think it was significant. I'll push it again at my 6 week check (with a different doctor) and the hv.

The respisense does look good. Probably more use when (if??) she starts sleeping by herself.

Having a bit of a tough night. It seems much more like reflux tonight. I've tried putting her down a couple of times but she woke up immediately. I put a dvd on to watch with her propped up on my chest and I just realised I've missed about half an hour of the film. I must have fallen asleep. Quite scary but she hadn't shifted position at all.

Sorry, didnt read all the responses, but could you use a raised matress.

Not a pillow under the sheet, but a mattress like a sleepcurve, or maybe blocks underneath the feet of her bed. This will raise her head.

I caught my DD stopping breathing a couple of times, and took her to the docs and they couldnt find nothing wrong. I would blow in her face really hard to make her take a breath without giving her a shock. I dread to think of the amount of times I didnt see this, and it used to really scare me.

Take care.
Shelly

my dd has sleep apnea, due to reflux, most often it only happens when the reflux is bad. she will always wake up coughing when shes had an apnea, and has only had a couple of times where shes not come out of it on her own both where when i was awake thank goodness. its definately worth getting a monitor, for peace of mind if nothing else! hope she improves soon