sleep related breathing disorders (srbd) in children

Sleep related breathing disorders are essentially any disruption that isn’t normal breathing. Common disorders are snoring, upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS) and obstructive sleep apnea(OSA). Sleep apnea in young children is a sleep disorder in which your child’s breathing is partially or completely blocked repeatedly during sleep. The condition is due to narrowing or blockage of the upper airway during sleep.

does your child suffer from any of the following?

• Snoring at night?
• Have “bags” under their eyes?
• Waking up frequently during the night?
• Suffer from ADHD-like behavior?
• Tired during the day?
• Difficulty paying attention?
• Teeth grinding at night?
• Mouth breathing?
• Night panics?
• Bed wetting?

palatal expansion can help

Rapid Palatal Expansion (RPE) widens the upper jaw by opening the palatal suture. The benefit to this type of expansion is that it quickly develops the bone of the upper jaw and greatly improves airway, allows room for the tongue and also allows for proper development of the lower jaw.   Depending on your child’s palate width, it may require correction when your child is young – as early as four to seven years old – in order to accommodate the proper development of his or her teeth while opening up nasal passages.

A 2012 study, published in the journal Pediatrics, followed more than 11,000 children for six years, starting at age 6 months. Children who had SRBD were 40 to 100 percent more likely than kids without breathing issues to develop behavioral problems similar to ADHD by the age of 7. If your child is exhibiting ADHD-like symptoms, or has been diagnosed with ADHD,  you may want to consider whether interrupted sleep might be the issue.