Snoring in kids is not normal: what parents should know

Adults joke about snoring. In a child it is a different matter: habitual snoring, most nights without a cold, is one of the main signs of sleep-disordered breathing, and it is worth a proper look.

Why it is not normal

Snoring is the sound of air squeezing through a narrowed airway. In a child the usual narrowing points are enlarged adenoids behind the nose, enlarged tonsils, a narrow upper jaw and nasal floor, or a lower jaw and tongue that sit back. A child who snores is working harder to breathe in sleep and often sleeping less deeply, which shows up in the daytime.

Signs to watch for

• Snoring three or more nights a week, or loud snoring
• Pauses in breathing, gasps, or very restless sleep
• Sleeping with the neck extended, or in unusual positions
• Sweating heavily in sleep; bedwetting past 6 or 7
• Mouth breathing day and night; dry lips; dark circles
• Hard to wake, tired or irritable in the morning
• Hyperactivity, poor concentration, behaviour or learning difficulties, which in children are more common signs of poor sleep than sleepiness is
• Teeth grinding

Who to see

Your family physician first: they examine the tonsils and adenoids, consider allergies, and can arrange a sleep study or ENT referral. Enlarged tonsils and adenoids are the most common cause and may need to be addressed. An orthodontic assessment alongside checks the width of the upper jaw and the position of the lower jaw, which are the parts of the airway an orthodontist can change during growth. At myORTHODONTIST Maple Ridge, breathing and sleep are screened at every evaluation, and where a narrow palate is part of the picture, expansion is considered as part of the overall plan with the medical team.

What to bring

A short phone video of your child asleep, with sound, is the single most useful thing. Note how many nights a week the snoring happens and whether it changes with colds or seasons.