So my oldest son never was a great sleeper. He would party at night all the time. We would end up locking our bedroom door and just putting on a low simulate show in our room. Bedtime would take 1-2 hours. We would dread bedtime and the battles we knew we would face. We went through a driving him to sleep. I never realized how bad it was until we had our second. Sleep comes easy for him. Yes he still has parties but never to the extent his brother did. Which lead me down a path.
Back story
When my oldest was 1 years old, he had his first ear infection of many. For over a year he had fluid in his ears and needed tubes. Then had allergy attacks. Our doctor refused to send us to a specialist until it kept happening. Thank goodness I push it. He’s allergic to ibuprofen and dust. About 6 months ago we started seeing a chiropractor and massage for him to help with sleep. They diagnosis him as a mouth breather. Now everything makes since. Why sleep was so hard, why staying asleep was challenging for him. At his follow up ent appointment, the doctor said the mouth breathing is probably due to his dust allergies.
Now we are working with a naturopath to help get him more restful sleep. It’s been a long road. Mouth breathing can cause a lot of issues. Bedtime now takes 5-10 mins and no battles to get him to sleep. He still wakes up most nights but my husband gets him back to sleep and he goes right back to sleep. I am very thankful I stuck to my gut.
I wish I found out sooner and got him the help he needed sooner. I hope my story helps another family struggling with their child who isn’t properly sleeping. You aren’t alone.
I had no idea mouth breather was a diagnosis and now I’m wording if I’m the same way or if it’s just in my head . Either way I’m happy your on the road to a better understanding that’s one step closer to better sleep
I’m so glad y’all were able to find the culprit! Who would’ve thought mouth breathing could be so detrimental? I’ll have to keep an eye on my daughter. She wakes up every 1-2 hours since she was born, and she’s 16 months old now. She has a really difficult time getting comfortable when I nurse her to sleep at bedtime…sometimes taking over an hour. She takes about 20-30 minutes to nurse to sleep the rest of the night unless she’s having a bad night, which happens half the time. On a bad night, when she wakes up between 1-3am, she’s up for 1-2 hours squirming and unable to get comfortable enough to fall asleep. All the pediatrician tells me is that it’s normal for some babies to be like that. That’s all the explanation I get!
I’m sorry she isn’t sleeping well. It’s rough when they are constantly waking up like that. It’s hard to function. It’s super easy to check. When she’s sleeping open her mouth if her tongue is on the roof of her mouth she does not have it. If her tongue isn’t against the roof of her mouth there are specialized Massage Therapist who can help relax the jaw muscles especially early on. My family doctor said something similar.
