Anyone have a toddler with sleep apnea?

[InMediasRes]

We're looking at possible sleep apnea or some other sleep disorder for DS, 2.75yo. He's always been a very poor sleeper. At the moment we are also pursuing an SPD/ASD evaluation, but there are a few other things that seem to be affecting his sleep.

He snores. He is fitful in his sleep. He has an obsession with feeling someone's hair while sleeping.

We have tried all the stuff they say to help clear up his nose, but I think it is just dry here. The humidifier makes it worse.

He also still uses a binky, and no, that is not going away anytime soon. I think he would sleep better without it, honestly, but we're not ready to make the leap to not having it.

He seems tired. All. day. long. He is a miserable crank. Part of this is sensory related, but I think he would just be much easier to handle if he was well rested. He also wants a 3-4 hour nap at the end of the day that I usually push through because otherwise he'll stay up until midnight. Yep, back up at 6:30 the next day. If I don't let him nap, he is awful at night but he sleeps a good 12 hours at night.

I don't know if any of this makes any sense. I just wonder if anyone has any experience with this, what to ask the doc about, what else to look for, and what the treatments are like.

TIA.

[jnet24]

My toddler is almost 3 and had obstructive sleep apnea. He has NEVER slept through the night, even counting waking a few times and going right back to sleep without really disrupting his sleep pattern. He always would jerk when he woke up, like if you felt like you were falling and jerked awake. At 2 he has ear problems, and was very behind in speech, so he had tubes put in. The ENT asked us a bunch of questions about sleep and snoring and such and said he needed his adnoids out. His tonsils are fine at this point but can cause sleep apnea as well.

My DS also still uses a paci, has an obsession with my skin to fall asleep, and was evaluated for SPD, and fell just out of range for SPD. (He is a seeker so really it is hard to diagnosis.) My son takes FOREVER to relaz enough to sleep and then only sleeps for an hour if I am lucky at a time. At night is still up about 4 times a night, before he had his adnoids removed he woke 7-10 times a night.

[InMediasRes]

Wow, thanks for the info.

My son does that jerk awake thing too. We know for sure that at least one of his wakings per night is to pee (and we take him), but he also usually wakes another 2-3x/night. At least once a week, he wakes at 3 AM and doesn't go back down.

DS is also sensory seeking and auditory overresponsive, so we know these are issues. I'm considering trying a weighted blanket before we do anything drastic about sleep apnea, but I think the snoring is something.

He just seems so tired, even after sleeping 7-7 (albeit with the nightwakings) or taking a long nap.