Have you ever waken up from a snoring partner? But, parents are astonished when the snoring noise is coming from the children’s room. Snoring is a sleep disturbance – but not only of adults. Almost half of the children snore occasionally. About nine per cent of all children snore every night and about six per cent of all infants make snoring noises. The frequency of snoring increases with age. Other causes of snoring in children:
Often, snoring is triggered by a cold. The parents of a snoring child should closely watch their snoring child. Because, snoring also might be a symptom of obstructive sleep apnea. Here, short breathing stops occur during sleep. Even if you don’t hear your child snoring at night it still might suffer under snoring resp. under an oxygen deficiency.
Symptoms of an obstructive sleep apnea
- breathing through the mouth instead of the nose
- severe night sweats
- very restless sleep
Causes of snoring in children
- Brief illness and allergies: Are children snoring temporarily, a respiratory infection, a blocked nose or an allergy are the most common triggers.
- Polyps or enlarged tonsils: Often, benign growths in the nose (polyps) or enlarged tonsils lead to a limited breathing. Most of the time they are surgically removed to open the airways.
- Passive smoking: Due to passive smoking, children of smoking parents suffer the risk of snoring during sleep.
- Sleep apnea: The obstructive sleep apnea is characterized by nocturnal breathing stops. An obstructive sleep apnea has to be accompanied by a doctor.
The possible consequences of snoring you will find in the next article.
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