Snoring in infancy linked to impaired cognitive development

Two studies from Australia associate snoring in the first year of life to impaired cognitive development. Researchers suggest that lower cognitive development could become worse in these infants with age.

In the first study, 16 infants who started snoring shortly after birth were compared with 88 babies who did not snore. Infants were determined to be snorers if their snoring occurred three or more nights a week. Snoring because of a cold did not count. The results found that cognitive development was reduced in frequent snorers from the first month of life to six months.

The second study looked at 13 infants who snored frequently from the first month of birth to 12 months. These babies had significantly lower cognitive scores when compared with 78 infants who did not snore frequently.

Both studies were conducted through the University of Adelaide and University of Australia in South Australia. The research was published in the December edition of the journal Sleep Medicine.

Learn the facts about young children and sleep and about snoring. Additional stories about children and snoring are available on the Sleep Education blog.

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Online Toolset Helps Young Children and Their Parents Find Sleep

Sleep-deprived new parents may want to put down the baby books and turn to the internet for help. A new study in the April issue of the journal SLEEP shows internet-based interventions work wonders reducing infant and toddler sleep disturbances.

Mothers in the study used Johnson & Johnson’s Customized Sleep Profile, an online program that compares a child’s sleep to other children of the same age. Parents enter details about the child’s sleep habits, such as position, sleep environment and bedtime routine and times awoken per night.

The program uses an algorithm to generate a summary of the child’s sleep habits and generates customized recommendations. A child can be an “excellent, good or disrupted sleeper.”

A group of 264 mothers were randomly assigned to an internet intervention group or a control group. Following an internet intervention, parents reported a 50 percent or more decrease in the number and duration of night wakings. Children took less time to fall asleep and had a longer total sleep time at night. As a result, the mothers slept better and had notable improvements in levels of tension, depression, fatigue and confusion.

Johnson & Johnson’s Customized Sleep Profile seems to be an effective place to start if your child is a disturbed sleeper. The algorithm gives at least some useful advice that benefited the mothers in the study.

Similar internet interventions are available from other online sources. It’s too early to know that the other programs work, because the study only examined the effectiveness of Johnson & Johnson’s Customized Sleep Profile.

Sleep problems are common among young children – as many as 30 percent of infants and toddlers have disrupted sleep. Young children have a form of sleep apnea, which would require treatment. If you believe your child’s sleep problems may be serious, skip the internet intervention and see your family pediatrician instead.

Read more about Sleep & Young Children.

Infant Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea is common in adults; OSA also occurs in children, especially in preschoolers. Central sleep apnea is most common in middle-aged and older adults. But did you know that infants can have sleep apnea too?

Primary sleep apnea of infancy is most common in small, preterm infants; it is rare in full-term newborns.

During the first month after birth it may occur in about 84 percent of infants who weigh less than 2.2 pounds. The risk decreases to about 25 percent for infants who weigh less than 5.5 pounds.

Apneas that occur in larger premature infants and full-term infants tend to be “central” apneas. These apneas occur when the body decreases or stops its effort to breathe.

The majority of apneas that occur in small, premature infants are “mixed” apneas. These breathing pauses involve an obstructive apnea that directly follows a central apnea.

An obstructive apnea involves a halt in airflow despite an ongoing effort to breathe. It occurs when soft tissue in the back of the throat collapses and blocks the upper airway.

Primary sleep apnea of infancy may be a developmental problem; it may be related to the immaturity of the brain.

It also may be caused or made worse by a variety of medical problems. These include anemia, an infection, acid reflux and chronic lung disease.

In most cases short-term treatment is required. The good news is that primary sleep apnea of infancy tends to go away as the child grows and matures. Long-term complications are rare for most children with primary sleep apnea of infancy.

Learn more about primary sleep apnea of infancy on SleepEducation.com.