In the almost three years that I have had children, except for a yeast issue with Michael right after the twins were born and RSV with the twins and then one related ER trip months later, we have only needed to see the doctor for well baby visits. I have felt extremely lucky that we have not had more illness requiring doctor visits. Now I feel that we are having pretty significant issues, though not serious, may be impacting my kids more than I ever realized.
Since all three kids have had a significant speech delay, we have had them evaluated by early intervention. EI recommended that they all have a hearing test to rule out that hearing loss is an issue for the speech delay. All three kids speech delay is unrelated to hearing loss. I've already written about having Eva Rose evaluated for fluid in her ears. Now, I am thinking that Michael may need to see an ENT. Michael has never been a good sleeper. He snores louder than an adult at times. My husband, my mother, and I have all heard what we think is apnea. I mentioned this to his EI worker, who is a speech therapist, and she said that if he is having sleep apnea issues, which could be related to his adenoids or his tonsils or both, that could be affecting his speech. She said that if she knew about this issue early, she would have recommended an ENT eval months ago. I had no idea that this could be related to his speech. We are seeing the doctor tomorrow and I hope that she agrees that we should see an ENT. I absolutely want to rule out that Michael's sleep issues and speech issues aren't related to adenoids or tonsils or both!
I new that his breathing could be having an impact on his sleeping, but I never even thought about it being related to his speech and it make so much sense that it could. His EI worker said that every time we talk, we need to stop breathing. She said in kids with breathing issues, as a means of survival, they don't talk as much. Where he is so young, he probably isn't able to verbalize the issue. He certainly also seems congested at times, even during the day, but there is no other evidence of a cold. Michael is certainly improving with his single words, but has not really put two words together. If breathing is an issue, then I can certainly see why he is speaking in only one word sentences. If anyone has any information about sleep apnea in kids or enlarged adenoids and tonsils and how it relates to sleep and speech, I would appreciate it being passed on.
Amy
Interesting about the apnea and speech connection. All four of my daughters had speech issues, which have now been "corrected" (if that's the right word). I'm looking at a possible ENT evaluation for one of my girls, though, because she snores. a lot. Just like her dad who just started using a CPAP. At her last well-check the doctor put her on a nasal steroid to see if it would reduce the swelling of her adnoids. We'll find out in a few weeks if it worked. Good luck with your evaluation.
ReplyDeleteI know how busy you are!!!! I run a daycare and have four little ones in the same age range. I wanted to share with you a tool I found that I have been using for speech issues with 2 of my kiddos called Speechtails. I actually do it with all four of them together and have been seeing huge improvement from the two with delay and increased vocab from all of them. We love it. If you get a minute, check it out!!
ReplyDeleteGood Luck, Vikki B, Indiana