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N in young children?

Posted by FourPeas on January 21, 2004 at 18:08:39:

This is my first post here, although I've occasionally lurked for a few weeks now. I took a sleep test a week ago and received a call from the dr.'s office yesterday saying he wanted to schedule an appointment ASAP. It usually takes 2-3 weeks; my appointment is tomorrow. I'm rather floored, as well as somewhat anxious. But, on to my question....

It appears I have some sort of SD; given my nap attacks and the fact I dream w/in 5-10 minutes of falling asleep and during naps, I'm guessing it's N. I have a 5yo son who sleeps from 8pm to 7:30am and is visibly tired by 10am every day. His tiredness (and behavior) gets worse during the day. Being a young child, when he gets tired he gets wired, behaves badly, is impulsive and generally nuts. He can't slow down enough to sleep, but badly needs it. His behavior is so bad, that we see a behavioral psychologist for him this week, but now I'm beginning to wonder if what we're seeing isn't the result of a sleep problem.

We've struggled with getting him enough sleep since he was around 2 years-old. This past spring we started giving him melatonin to get him to sleep and it helped some. Previously, it took him until 10 or 11pm to fall asleep, but he'd never sleep any longer in the morning. With the melatonin, he goes to sleep between 8 and 9, but he still badly NEEDS a nap. He's still visibly tired by 10am.

A few weeks ago, I reluctantly started giving him Benedryl before nap time. I absolutely hate the idea, but without it he's miserable and so is the rest of the family. With it, he seems to get a good, restful nap and awakens an entirely different boy (read: in control, behaves well, is lucid and not mean) after a Benedryl nap.

Because small children behave differently when they're tired/over tired, I was wondering if anyone has experience with a young child with N. In discussions with his ped, he's agreed that the symptoms my son is showing are those of being tired, but I've not spoken to him since having the sleep study. Once I have results, I'll speak with him further, but any information on N in small children (there's surprisingly little on-line that I can find) is appreciated.


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  • Sleep Deprivation due to Sleep Apnea and insufficient sleep are common and can present as insomnia, narcolepsy, or idiopathic hypersomnia. In infants and children sleep problems commonly present themselves as ADD or ADHD.


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