Nocturnal snoring
Nocturnal snoring, a clinical sign of a possible obstructive sleep syndrome, is insufficiently taken into account according to specialists, while a recent survey by the OpinionWay institute, carried out among a thousand parents, revealed a population 6% of snoring children.
“A child who snores is not normal,” says Patricia Franco, head of the pediatric sleep unit at the Woman Mother Child Hospital (HFME) in Bron, near Lyon. There may be occasional discomfort – a stuffy nose for example. “But if the child snores every night, in a prolonged and intense way, you have to think regarding sleep apnea”, insists the doctor, for whom “this message does not pass enough in the families”.
Harmful for learning
Often unsuspected in children, this pathology is very damaging, points out André Stagnara, rehabilitation manager at La Maisonnée, a pediatric follow-up care establishment located in Francheville (Rhône). “It is during paradoxical sleep (dream) that we record the learning of the day: the micro-awakenings will alter the psychomotor development of the child”, summarizes the practitioner. “You can’t imagine the lost potential”.
“To learn how to hold your spoon, articulate, tie your shoelaces, read, write, etc., you need quality sleep, so that the brain can do its job of sorting and archiving”, abounds Dr. Ellaffi. And “to sleep well, you have to breathe well. »
Besides snoring, restless nights, difficulty waking up, dark circles in the eyes, pale complexion, fatigue during the day, lack of attention at school, hyperactivity or irascibility are other signs and disorders, in the child, which must encourage the parents to consult, plead the specialists.
Poser le diagnostic
Nose drops or anti-allergy treatment, removal of tonsils or hypertrophied adenoids, oro-maxillo-facial physiotherapy to reposition the tongue, nasal septum surgery or orthodontics, “continuous positive pressure” breathing apparatus… Responses to apnea of sleep, more or less heavy, vary depending on the case.
