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My Daughter Turns Into Brutus At Night! Helppp

by Ally
(California)

My daughter is 4 and she has been the worst sleeper since the day she was born. She talks in her sleep, she moves around forcefully, wakes up crying about every 4 hours and now I'm starting to worry it's her breathing.


Last night I kept listening and she was snoring. She would stop and then get loud kinda gasp and then start again. I don't know if it's a cold related thing, maybe she's coming down with something, but there is literally no sleep happening for me because I worry about it.

She's the most obnoxious sleeper. We co-slept with her until 3 and now she is in her own bed on our floor because she is terrified to sleep alone in her bed because we are going thru a "I'm scared of everything" stage. Would love to get some insight if anyone has a child like this? Or should I request a sleep study?

Kevin: Hi Ally, Thank you for writing in and sharing your story. Based on your description of your daughter's snoring, with pauses and gasps, I would say that checking her out for sleep apnea should be a very high priority. Snoring is an increased struggle to breathe and when it is followed by a pause and a gasp, it means that an apnea (or cessation of breathing) has occurred.

The end of the apnea (the gasp) typically also involves a micro-awakening, where the body wakes up very briefly just to breathe. These micro-awakenings can trigger instances of sleep talking, movement, sleepwalking, etc., so it is possible that the other sleep drama your daughter is experiencing is also tied to the apneas.

I wish you all the best. And feel free to follow-up in the comments section below.

Warmly,
Kevin


(Please keep in mind that I am a student of sleep science and not a medical doctor. Please take any thoughts I give with my background in mind.)

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