Baby sleep apnea occurs when the child stops breathing momentarily while sleeping, resulting in a decrease in the amount of oxygen in the blood and brain.It is most common during the first month of life and particularly affects premature or low birth weight babies.
Its cause cannot always be identified, but in all cases, whenever this happens, the pediatrician must be notified so that tests can be done to identify the cause and initiate appropriate treatment.
- Some of the signs and symptoms of sleep apnea in infants.
- Also known by the acronym ALTE.
- Can be identified when:.
In general, short respiratory stops do not affect the baby’s health and may be considered normal, however, if the child does not breathe for more than 20 seconds and/or if this is common, the child should be taken to the pediatrician.
Causes are not always identified, but sleep apnea may be related to certain situations such as asthma, bronchiolitis or pneumonia, amygdalas size and adenoid vegetation, overweight, cranial and facial malformations, or even neuromuscular diseases.
Apnea can also be caused by gastroesophageal reflux disease, seizures, cardiac arrhythmias or brain failure, that is, when the brain stops sending the stimulus to the body to breathe and the latter cause cannot always be identified, but the pediatrician reaches this point when the baby has symptoms and no changes in tests are found.
If there is a suspicion that the baby is not breathing, check that the chest does not rise and fall, that there is no sound or that it is not possible to feel the air output by placing the index finger under the baby’s nostrils.You should also check that your baby is normally colored and that your heart is beating.
If the baby does not actually breathe, an ambulance should be called immediately, calling 192, and the baby should be tried to wake up by hugging and calling it.
After sleep apnea, the baby should resume breathing only with these stimuli, as breathing usually stops quickly; However, if the baby takes too long to breathe on its own, mouth-to-mouth breathing can be performed.
For the baby to breathe mouth-to-mouth, the person who will help the baby must place his or her mouth over the baby’s mouth and nose at the same time.Because the baby’s face is small, the open mouth should be able to cover both the baby’s nose and mouth.It is also not necessary to breathe deeply to provide a lot of air to the baby because the baby’s lungs are very small, so the air inside the person’s mouth who will help him is sufficient.
Also learn how to do a heart massage on your baby, if your heart doesn’t beat either.
Treatment depends on the causes of interruption of breathing, but can be performed with drugs such as theophylline, which stimulates breathing, or with surgery such as the removal of tonsils and adenoids, which improves and usually cures apnea, thus increasing the quality of life of children.but this is only indicated when apnea is caused by the increase of these structures, which is not always the case.
Childhood sleep apnea, when left untreated, can cause many problems in children, such as brain damage, developmental delay, and pulmonary hypertension, for example.
In addition, there may also be a change in the growth of children, due to a decrease in the production of growth hormone, as it is during sleep that occurs and, in this case, its production is decreased.
After all tests have been performed and it is not possible to identify the cause of the interruption of breathing during sleep, parents may be more rested because the baby is not at risk of death; However, you should pay attention to your baby’s breathing while sleeping and take all necessary precautions so that everyone at home can sleep peacefully.
Some important steps are to put the baby to sleep in the crib, without pillow, stuffed animals or blankets, if it is cold you should choose to dress your baby in a warm pajamas and use only a sheet to cover it, taking care to secure it.all over the side of the sheet under the mattress.
The baby should always sleep on his back or slightly on his side and never on his stomach.
Your baby may need to be hospitalized so that doctors can observe in which situations he or she stops breathing and perform certain tests such as the blood formula, to rule out anemia or infections, as well as serum bicarbonate, to rule out metabolic acidosis and other tests that your doctor may consider necessary.