The child's breathing freezes in his sleep. Five ways to diagnose apnea in children and how to deal with this insidious disease. Learning to determine type

If children hold their breath in their sleep, this cannot but alert parents. Statistics show that more than 17% of guys experience this. In such a situation, their parents also do not get enough sleep.

Of course, it is important to take timely measures to prevent the baby from lagging behind in development.

Note to parents!

Standards permissible frequency breathing: for newborns - from 39 to 62 breaths per minute, at one or two months - 33-48, for three-year-old children - 27-36, up to 9 years - from 23-32, up to 12 years – 17–21.

Sources of sleep disorders

It should be immediately noted that most often periodic breathing appear in infants who are not yet six months old. For such babies this is quite normal. Doctors' intervention is not required here, even if up to 7-8 percent of the night time is paused. In the case of sleep apnea, it must be treated immediately.

As for older children, uneven breathing may appear in the following situations:

• Lack of oxygen when there is possible cyanosis of the extremities, as well as the skin of the body and around the mouth. This is what people usually suffer from one year old children and younger. The picture is like this: the baby is gasping for air, it is difficult for him to breathe fully.
• Diseases of infectious etiology . Children also add whistling and heavy snoring, and even gurgling. If present inflammatory processes in the lungs, the rhythm of inhalation and exhalation often increases.
• Increased performance body temperature : the rhythm is lost, there is shortness of breath, which can also occur with heart problems.
• Bronchitis with obstruction and croup , which is called false. The rhythm also becomes disrupted, noisy and loud exhalation appears, and the child coughs.

In addition, adenoids and obesity may be the basis for respiratory disorders, diabetes And nervous diseases, heredity and birth trauma.

Types of respiratory disorders

• Stopping breathing suddenly indicates a cyanoid type of disorder. In such situations, cyanosis spreads quickly.
• The second type is less noticeable to parents, because it only causes pallor, as blood flows from the skin, but can threaten the child with loss of consciousness and convulsions.

Treatment strategy

After comprehensive survey A therapeutic program is developed for the child. Taking into account the severity of the violations, the following technologies are often used:

• Rinsing the nasal passages and prescribing special medications.
• Creating positive pressure on a continuous basis in the airways to air flow continuously supplied to the body. This CPAP technique is safe for children.
• Removal of tonsils, that is, adenotonsyllectomy, used for pathology and diseases of the ENT organs.
• Therapy npositionallywow type, that is, treatment through changes in body position.
• Treatment surgically, on medical language this is Y Vulopalatopharyngoplasty. Its goal is expansion respiratory tract, When soft fabrics partially removed.

Preventive measures

To prevent breath holding, it is important to follow these rules:

• The room needs regular ventilation.
• Very important colds to finish treatment.
• On routine examinations Tell the pediatrician the nuances of your child’s well-being, and also tell him in detail about his complaints. If necessary, the doctor will write a referral for Doppler testing.

Remember that it is correct to assess conditions airways, blood vessels and heart can only be done by a doctor.

Is your child holding his breath in his sleep? Is it serious? The breathing rate of children in a state of sleep is constantly changing: they suddenly begin to breathe quickly, then the rhythm slows down and stops for a few seconds.

After such changes, everything stabilizes and everything returns to normal. Sometimes it is enough to change the sleeping position, and his breathing evens out.

Parents who are catastrophically sleep-deprived are increasingly faced with sleep disorders baby sleep. They are observed in 15% of children.

In every 6th family, a child sleeps poorly. In order to prevent delays in the baby’s development, not only specialists, but also parents should know about sleep problems in children.

Causes

One of the ways to assess the level of functioning of the respiratory system is to count the frequency of its rhythm. Thanks to the special structure chest The breathing of infants differs from that of adults; newborns show signs of arrhythmia.

Regular monitoring of the rhythm makes it possible to notice deviations in time and recognize the onset of the disease.

In medicine, there is a special term for this phenomenon - periodic breathing. For babies who are not yet six months old, holding their breath is the norm. If the 6-month mark is long past and the problem remains, you should consult a doctor.

Periodic breathing accounts for 5% of the time a baby spends sleeping. If mom had premature birth, then this figure doubles.

The delay may be accompanied by a bluish discoloration of the skin around the mouth and bluish discoloration of the extremities. Such signs are quite common, but if the blueness spreads to the baby's forehead and body, this may indicate oxygen deficiency. The baby becomes lethargic and lacks breath.

If there is concern that the baby is not breathing, you need to wake him up with gentle touches. If there is no reaction, this may mean breathing has stopped, and an urgent call to the doctor is necessary.

The baby's intermittent breathing does not give cause for alarm. But children with repeated stops are at risk for complications and sudden death.

Rhythm disturbances may be accompanied by symptoms: whistling, wheezing, gurgling. These are characteristic of infectious diseases. An increase in rhythm is one of the criteria for diagnosing pneumonia, which is often asymptomatic in children.

Children hold their breath and then pant rapidly if they have a fever. When shortness of breath is observed in parallel, these are signs of pulmonary or cardiac pathology that require inpatient treatment sick.

Acceleration also occurs when false croup: The baby often coughs, exhaling air noisily. Attacks of obstruction during bronchitis occur with an acceleration of the breathing rhythm.

Slowing down (bradypnea) is less common in infants and is a symptom of serious brain damage (meningitis).

Increased respiratory oscillations that occur when strong emotions or physical activity, does not require observations. If the baby is interested in something and gets carried away, he may breathe frequently.

Running, jumping, outdoor games, and vigorous walking also speed up the breathing rhythm. If this rule is violated, the child must be examined.

Periodic breath counting is especially necessary in early childhood, when many pathologies are asymptomatic, and respiratory rate can become an important tool for identifying disorders in the early stages.

Apnea

A pause in the breathing process during sleep is called apnea. Sleep apnea manifests itself as blueness, oxygen deficiency, disruption of the cardiac system.

At mild form illness, breathing returns automatically, but than more blood saturates carbon dioxide, the more the brain suffers from lack of oxygen.

This situation threatens to turn off consciousness. If the victim is not provided with urgent qualified assistance, he may die. Deaths Most often recorded at night, when it is more difficult to control the infant's breathing.

The causes of childhood apnea are problems with the central nervous system, overheating due to a violation of the thermal regime. If apnea is suspected, the frequency of breathing and the duration of pauses should be recorded.. You should show your observations to your pediatrician, who will select a specific treatment.

There is a concept of sudden infant death syndrome, when infants unexpectedly die in their cradle. Big influence Heredity plays a role in this matter: according to statistics, brothers and sisters are at risk.

Special studies have shown that children with breathing pauses during sleep have difficulty waking up during the slow-wave sleep stage.

Prevention

To avoid the consequences of holding your breath, it is important to follow preventive measures:

1. Regular ventilation of the room, comfortable temperature, humidity.
2. Lack of a pillow in the baby's crib; do not place the baby on his stomach.
3. Constant monitoring of the baby's health in the first year of life.
4. If respiratory arrest is recorded, it is advisable to examine the baby in a hospital.
5. It is important to fully treat colds, since they are often the cause of apnea.
6. During routine examinations, it is necessary to inform the pediatrician of all the nuances of the baby’s well-being, including his complaints. To reassure you, you can do an ultrasound of the brain (Doppler).
7. Give correct assessment only a doctor can examine the state of health after examining the respiratory tract and heart. Sometimes he recommends purchasing a device for artificial ventilation lungs.

Why does a child hold his breath in his sleep? The reason is a complete or partial obstruction that traps air and prevents it from entering the baby’s lungs. This leads to insufficient oxygen saturation of the blood and decreased muscle tone.

A similar difficulty may arise due to growing tonsils or adenoids; you should check with your otolaryngologist.

The list of obstacles can be continued with respiratory allergies, infections of the nose, ear, throat, and obesity. The appearance of obstructive syndrome sleep apnea contribute to the structural features of the nose and throat. For all symptoms of nervous and endocrine systems s do not have a special effect on the development of apnea.

Snore

Many babies with delay symptoms also snore – intermittently and quite loudly. Pauses during breaks can be up to 30 seconds. Such children sleep restlessly: they cry out, wake up, rush around in bed, and fall asleep again in the most atypical position - head down.

At an unconscious level, they are trying to get rid of the obstacle that makes it difficult for air to enter the lungs. With this problem the phase deep sleep practically inaccessible to them.

If the baby makes noises in his sleep different sounds, you can check with your pediatrician about the optimal sleep position for him. Often mucus collects in the baby's nasopharynx, causing snoring.

If whistling and wheezing are observed after past infection, this could mean that Airways have not yet returned to normal.

Unclear breathing is caused by bronchiolitis, a viral infection that fills the spaces in the lungs with mucus. A snoring child, entertaining and touching his parents, causes horror among doctors.

One of the reasons for children's snoring is new fashion on conservative treatment tonsils Specific children's menu(soda, chocolate, fast food) is another cause of sleep disturbance.

What to do

If pauses in breathing during sleep exceed 15 seconds, it is necessary to urgently prepare the baby for hospitalization. Before the ambulance arrives, the baby needs to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation so that the baby can breathe again.

If the child begins to hold his breath while not sleeping, doctors will recommend removal of the adenoids and tonsils. Consult with an ENT specialist, a neurologist-somnologist, or a pediatrician.

Every sixth child today has sleep problems. The baby may be bothered by insomnia and drowsy state, nightmares and enuresis, headache and weather dependence, dry mouth and increased sweating, motor disinhibition and fast fatiguability, snoring and apnea.

All of the listed problems that negatively affect the baby’s body are associated with the characteristics of his breathing. Expert opinion on new methods of treating childhood sleep disorders in this video

Experts call walking or singing at night in children 2-4 years old the norm; the main thing is to protect such a child during sleep, without putting him on the bed. top floor bunk bed.

Rule out childhood epilepsy and others serious violations Polysomnography, a method for studying the sleep process, will help. 18 sensors monitor all processes in the body: heart rhythm, breathing rate, brain function.

Measuring respiratory rate for children

In infants, breathing is shallow, jerky, with an alternately slowing and accelerating rhythm. Uneven breathing is normal for a newborn baby - both for those born on time and for those who are premature.

During the first month of life, the baby's breathing evens out and gradually completely stabilizes.

Calculate the baby's breathing rhythm when he is absolutely calm. In infants, it is convenient to observe the chest. To listen to breathing, doctors use a phonendoscope, but if you simply put your hand on the child’s chest, you can record all its fillings.

The baby must be distracted so that he does not get scared and interfere with the counting. The norm for infants up to one year old will be 50-60 breaths per minute, from one year to 3 – 30 breaths, 4-6 years – 25. When the number of sighs significantly exceeds the norm, we can conclude that there is shallow breathing with all the ensuing consequences.

Breathing is one of the main vital functions person. If it seems completely ordinary, it’s worth hiding it for half a minute to realize its true value.

Holding your breath and oxygen starvation may cause another delay - in development. This is expressed in hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder. The baby is unable to sit still and cannot perceive information. All this creates problems with his education, the child grows up mentally retarded.

Conclusion

Russian psychologists do not support the advice of their Western colleagues not to pay attention to the crying of their child. This parental behavior strengthens and develops the baby’s fear. If a child holds his breath in his sleep, doctors recommend sitting with him for half an hour before bedtime. Then the night will be calm, including for the parents.

What is the reason for holding your breath during sleep in children? While the baby is sleeping, the rhythm of his breathing changes. The baby may suddenly begin to breathe rapidly, then begins to breathe more slowly. There may then be a delay of fifteen seconds. After this, breathing stabilizes, and the baby breathes calmly and evenly again.

Doctors gave this phenomenon a name - periodic breathing. This type of breathing is typical for babies who are not yet six months old. It is worth talking to a doctor if the toddler is already more than six months old, but the breathing rhythm remains the same.

Such breathing takes up to five percent of the baby's sleep time. The surprising thing is that if the baby was born earlier due date– then such breathing can take up to ten percent of his sleep time!
When a child holds his breath during sleep, it happens that the skin around the mouth turns blue, the legs and arms turn blue. This is quite common. However, if the baby’s torso or forehead turns blue, this is a sign that the baby does not have enough oxygen.

Does it seem like your baby has stopped breathing? Touch the baby or gently wake him up - You should check: does the baby have a reaction to your touch? If the baby does not react in any way, then it is quite possible that breathing has stopped, or in another way – apnea. Call an ambulance immediately!

Intermittent breathing in toddlers should not be a cause for concern for parents. However, it is worth saying that babies who have experienced such a delay associated with breathing several times are much more at risk of developing long-term complications or sudden death. When a toddler stops breathing, the baby becomes very lethargic, he turns blue and suffocates.

Sudden death syndrome

There is even a special sudden infant death syndrome, when babies suddenly die in their cribs. It is worth saying that it has a significant impact hereditary factor– because, based on statistics, siblings are at greatest risk. Studies have been conducted that have confirmed that children who often stop breathing during sleep have a very difficult time waking up from the slow-wave sleep stage.

Apnea

At night the baby sleeps differently. Sometimes even healthy people apnea occurs.
The main reason for this phenomenon is that there is a complete or partial difficulty, which prevents the flow of air from entering the baby's lungs. Thus, there are various types breathing stops - and this leads to a deterioration in the oxygen supply to the blood. It is also worth taking into account that children’s tonsils or adenoids grow - and they block the flow of air into the children’s lungs. Muscle tone decreases. You may need advice from an ENT doctor. Other reasons may be respiratory allergies, infections of the throat, nose, ear infections, obesity. The occurrence of apnea is also sometimes influenced by the structural features of the nasopharynx. But diseases of the nervous and endocrine systems do not have such a strong impact on the occurrence of the disease.

Snore

It is worth saying that children who suffer from holding their breath experience snoring. Usually such snoring is fitful and quite loud. He is accompanied long periods silence - they reach even thirty seconds. It often happens that children can rush restlessly in bed, cry out, wake up and fall asleep again in unusual positions - unconsciously they want to reduce the obstacle that stands in the way of air access. For example, a child may fall asleep with his head hanging down. It is worth saying that with such a problem, the stage of deep sleep practically disappears.

Your actions

If a child suddenly holds his breath, you should immediately call an ambulance and, in the meantime, perform CPR on the little one (or, in other words, cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
You should carry it out until the doctors arrive or until the baby begins to breathe.
If such pathology is well expressed, then it will be necessary surgical removal tonsils and adenoids. Such an operation can give excellent result. However, permanent cure similar problem she can't. It is worth knowing that any operation involves frequent occurrence other health problems. If you have any suspicions, make an appointment with an ENT specialist, a pediatrician and a neurologist-somnologist.
Children may also experience nightmares, drowsiness, enuresis, headaches, dry mouth, excessive sweating, motor disinhibition, fatigue; loud snoring, which is interrupted by pauses in breathing; inattention, weather dependence - all this is connected with the child’s breathing. Having discovered some of listed symptoms, we can say that the absence normal sleep provides Negative influence on the child's health.

Newborn babies for a long time adapt to life outside of mom's tummy. Their organs and systems are not fully developed and continue to form, so in some cases parents notice changes in the condition of their babies and begin to panic. In particular, infants' breathing can cause anxiety. Mothers notice that it is radically different from their own breath and suspect something is wrong. However, you shouldn’t immediately sound the alarm; first, you should figure out why babies breathe differently than we do.

Features of the respiratory system

Infants do not know how to fully control even their innate instincts, because they are just beginning to master them. In addition, the organs are not fully formed and continue to develop. This is also reflected in breathing. The newborn can take very deep breaths - as if the child is trying to capture as much oxygen as possible. This happens because the babies’ respiratory organs are not yet fully developed. They have the following features:

• the upper and lower airways are too small, which prevents deep breathing;
• narrow nasal passages and nasopharynx;
• narrow lumen of the larynx.

All these features make babies vulnerable to even such a small thing as household dust. Microscopic particles can settle on the mucous membranes, causing swelling and hypersecretion, which leads to disruption of normal breathing.

Babies cannot breathe fully, but parental help will quickly improve this process. The best prevention against diseases and a means to stabilize breathing will be massage and gymnastics.

How do babies breathe?

If a newborn breathes frequently during sleep, and no symptoms of pathology appear, this is absolute norm. This happens due to the physiological immaturity of the upper and lower respiratory tract. The baby’s body must be fully saturated with oxygen, but do deep breath the baby can't. Rapid breathing- This is a compensatory function that newborns use. Due to the fact that the air supply has not yet been fully adjusted, small children may breathe unevenly.

The breathing rate is also different from that of an adult. Most often, babies take two or three short breaths, and then one long one. This process is normal for children from birth to one year; over time, the rhythm of inhalation and exhalation will become more even.

Absence of signs such as wheezing, open mouth, muscle tension and moaning in a dream is a sign of absolutely normal condition baby.

Finding out your breathing rate

A newborn can breathe quite frequently when calm. It is difficult for parents to determine whether such a condition is within the normal range or beyond it. To confirm or refute irregularities in the child’s breathing rate, it must be measured. This is done using a phonendoscope. Its membrane is preheated with your hands and applied to the baby’s chest. If you don’t have a special device, you can simply put your hand on the baby’s chest and monitor the number of times it rises for one minute.

In pediatrics, there are regulated respiratory rate indicators for children of different ages:

• from birth to two weeks of age - the norm is 40-60 breaths per 1 minute;
• at the age of two weeks to three months, the norm is 40-45 breaths;
• from four to six months - 35-40 breaths;
• from seven months to one year - 30-36 breaths.

If the indicators are within the normal range, the child has no signs of infectious and inflammatory diseases, he is gaining weight steadily, you don’t have to worry about his breathing. Over time, all organs and systems begin to function correctly, breathing becomes uniform and less frequent.

Learning to determine type

Not only the frequency of inhalation and exhalation can become an indicator of the baby’s health, but also the type of breathing itself. It determines how well the lungs and upper respiratory tract will be ventilated, what the quality of gas exchange in the tissues will be, and how quickly the brain cells will be saturated with oxygen.

To find out your child's breathing type, just look at which parts of his body are movable during inhalations and exhalations.

In total, it is customary to distinguish three main types:

• The first is the chest, we can talk about it if, when inhaling air, the baby’s chest actively works, it rises and falls rhythmically. This type results in insufficient ventilation of the lower part of the lungs.
• If there is movement abdominal wall and diaphragm, then the child abdominal type breathing. When it occurs, the upper respiratory organs experience a lack of oxygen.
• If both the diaphragm and the chest work simultaneously, this indicates mixed breathing. This type is the most useful and allows you to completely saturate the body with oxygen.

Learning to recognize pathologies

A baby's rapid breathing during sleep can be a sign of many serious pathologies, therefore it is important that parents know how to correctly recognize them. If you notice that your baby has deviations from the norm, you should closely monitor him. The problem may indicate the following pathologies:

Normal for kids

The breathing of newborn babies can become quite rapid harmless reasons. If you do not see any changes in the child’s condition, then there is no reason to panic. Sometimes a disruption in the rhythm of breathing can occur due to the baby choking on something. Also, mothers can often hear bubbling in the baby’s throat, this happens if he does not have time to swallow saliva. This condition resolves over time and should not cause undue concern.

Temporary cessation of breathing also often occurs in newborns. If it does not exceed 10 seconds, then the baby’s condition is normal. The disorder goes away on its own when the baby reaches six months of age.

Respiration rate may also be affected environment, try installing a humidifier in the nursery and maintaining the humidity at 60-70%, and the air temperature at 18-21 ° C, this will significantly reduce the load on respiratory system child and will contribute to the normal saturation of the body with oxygen.

In conclusion

The infant's respiratory system is an imperfect and very vulnerable mechanism that cannot function normally. Rapid breathing during sleep is normal for newborns and should not cause concern to parents. However, if the baby’s condition worsens sharply and other symptoms appear, you should consult a doctor.

It is important to notice disorders in time, since in children they progress very quickly. Keep an eye on your children and seek professional help in a timely manner.