Children’s Sleep and Breathing Disorders in Kansas City & Leawood
Does your child snore, breathe through their mouth or wake up tired? Poor sleep and breathing can affect how children grow, learn and behave, and it’s not something they should just put up with.
At Herre Holistic Dental KC in Leawood, we screen children for signs of sleep-disordered breathing, look at how their jaws, tongue and airway are developing, and work alongside pediatricians, ENTs and sleep physicians to get your child the right diagnosis and care.
What Are Sleep-Disordered Breathing Problems in Children?
Sleep-disordered breathing is a range of problems where a child’s airway narrows or partly closes during sleep. It runs from regular snoring at the mild end to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), where breathing repeatedly pauses or becomes very shallow through the night.
Around 1 in 10 children snore regularly, and according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, an estimated 1 to 6 percent have obstructive sleep apnea. Common causes include enlarged tonsils and adenoids, allergies and nasal congestion, a narrow jaw or palate, and low tongue posture.
Deep sleep matters for growing children. It’s when the body releases growth hormone and does much of its repair work, so broken, poor-quality sleep can show up in growth, mood, focus and learning.
Signs Your Child May Have a Sleep or Breathing Problem
Some signs show up at night, others during the day. One sign on its own isn’t always a concern, but several together are worth getting checked.
Nighttime Symptoms
- Snoring three or more nights a week
- Pauses in breathing, gasping or snorting
- Breathing through the mouth while asleep
- Restless sleep, tossing and turning, or sleeping with the head tilted back
- Teeth grinding
- Bedwetting after being dry at night
- Night sweats or frequent waking
Daytime Symptoms
- Mouth breathing or resting with the mouth open
- Waking up tired, grumpy or hard to wake
- Dark circles under the eyes
- Frequent congestion, allergies or swollen tonsils
- Crowded or crooked teeth, or a narrow upper jaw
- Speech issues, a strong gag reflex or trouble swallowing
- Morning headaches
How Poor Sleep Affects Behaviour and Learning
Children who don’t sleep well often don’t look sleepy. Instead, poor sleep can show up as hyperactivity, irritability, trouble concentrating, mood swings or falling behind at school.
These behaviours can look a lot like ADHD. Sleep apnea and ADHD are separate conditions that can exist together, but disrupted sleep can make attention and behaviour harder. If you’re worried about your child’s behaviour or they’ve been diagnosed with ADHD, it’s worth asking whether sleep is part of the picture. Learn more about childhood growth and development.
When Should You Worry About Your Child's Breathing at Night?
Speak to your pediatrician if your child snores most nights, or if you notice pauses, gasping or struggling to breathe while they sleep. Call 911 straight away if your child is struggling to breathe, turns blue or gray around the lips, or is hard to wake.
| What you notice | What to do |
|---|---|
| Struggling to breathe, blue or gray lips or face, can’t be woken, long pauses in breathing | Call 911 now |
| Pauses, gasping or choking in sleep, loud snoring most nights, daytime sleepiness, behaviour changes or slow growth | Book a pediatrician appointment soon |
| Occasional snoring with colds, mouth breathing, crowded teeth or a narrow jaw | Mention it at the next checkup, or book an airway screening with us |
We screen for airway and jaw development concerns, but we’re not an emergency service, and a dental screening can’t diagnose sleep apnea. For a non-urgent assessment, contact our Leawood office.
Can Children Outgrow Sleep Apnea?
Sometimes. Some children with mild symptoms improve as they grow, especially as their tonsils and adenoids shrink with age. Many don’t, and untreated sleep apnea can affect growth, behaviour and learning in the meantime.
Whether to treat or monitor depends on:
- Severity: how often breathing is disrupted, measured in a sleep study
- Cause: tonsils and adenoids, allergies, jaw structure or tongue posture
- Daily impact: how it’s affecting sleep, behaviour, school and growth
- Age and growth stage: younger children have more growth still to come
A decision to wait and watch should be made with your child’s doctor, not by assuming they’ll grow out of it. See more answers in our FAQ.
How Are Sleep and Breathing Problems in Children Assessed?
Step 1: Health History and Symptoms
We’ll ask about your child’s sleep, snoring, breathing, behaviour, school, allergies and general health. You may be asked to fill in a short sleep questionnaire before the visit.
Step 2: Dental and Airway Screening
We check the width of the jaw and palate, how the teeth fit together, crowding, tonsil size, nasal breathing and where the tongue rests. We also check for tongue-tie or lip-tie with a functional assessment.
Step 3: Pediatric and Specialist Referral
If the screening suggests a breathing problem, we’ll refer you to your pediatrician, an airway-focused ENT or a sleep physician, and share our findings with them.
Step 4: Sleep Study and Diagnosis
An overnight sleep study measures breathing, oxygen levels, heart rate and sleep stages. It’s ordered and interpreted by a physician [confirm referral protocol], and the results show which treatment is right for your child.
Treatment Options for Children's Sleep and Breathing Problems
The right treatment depends on what’s causing your child’s breathing problem. Many children need more than one approach, and some need medical treatment we refer for rather than provide.
|
Treatment |
Helps with |
Provided by |
|---|---|---|
|
Tonsil and adenoid removal |
Enlarged tonsils or adenoids |
ENT (referral) |
|
Allergy and nasal treatment |
Congestion and allergies |
Pediatrician or allergist (referral) |
|
CPAP |
Sleep apnea when surgery isn’t suitable or symptoms remain |
Sleep physician (referral) |
|
Jaw expansion |
Narrow jaw or palate, crowding |
Herre Holistic Dental KC |
|
Myofunctional therapy |
Mouth breathing, low tongue posture |
Herre Holistic Dental KC |
|
Tongue-tie or lip-tie release |
Restrictive ties |
Herre Holistic Dental KC |
Medical and ENT Treatment
Enlarged tonsils and adenoids are the most common cause of sleep apnea in children, and removing them is often the first treatment recommended. Allergy and nasal treatment can help when congestion is the problem. CPAP, a mask that keeps the airway open during sleep, may be recommended when surgery isn’t suitable. We work closely with ENTs and sleep physicians for these treatments.
Jaw Development and Early Orthodontics
For children with a narrow jaw or palate, removable or fixed expansion appliances can widen the upper jaw, make room for adult teeth and may help nasal breathing. This is often called Phase 1 orthodontics.
Jaws grow fastest in early childhood, so we can assess children from around age. Early treatment aims to reduce the need for longer orthodontic treatment or tooth removal later. If a Phase 2 is needed, it’s usually shorter and can use braces or Invisalign. Expansion isn’t right for every child, and we’ll explain why if it isn’t suitable. Learn about airway-focused orthodontics.
Myofunctional Therapy
Myofunctional therapy uses simple exercises to teach your child to keep their lips together, rest their tongue on the roof of the mouth and breathe through their nose. It’s often used alongside other treatment to help results last. Learn about myofunctional therapy.
Tongue-Tie and Lip-Tie Assessment
The tongue helps shape the palate as a child grows. If a functional assessment shows a tongue-tie or lip-tie is restricting movement, Dr. Herre can release it with a CO2 LightScalpel laser, usually alongside myofunctional therapy. Learn about tongue-tie treatment for children.
No single treatment works for every child. We track progress at follow-up visits and adjust the plan if symptoms don’t improve.
What to Expect at Your Child's First Appointment
Your child’s first visit is relaxed, gentle and focused on listening.
- Before the visit: fill in a health history and short sleep questionnaire.
- Your concerns: we talk through what you’ve noticed at night and during the day.
- Gentle exam: we look at your child’s jaw, teeth, tongue, tonsils and breathing. Nothing is painful or invasive.
- Your plan: we explain what we found, whether a referral is needed, your options and the costs.
What to bring: a list of symptoms, any medications, results from previous sleep studies, and a short phone video of your child sleeping or snoring if you can. Videos are one of the most useful things you can share.
What to Expect at Your Child's First Appointment
Your child’s first visit is relaxed, gentle and focused on listening.
- Before the visit: fill in a health history and short sleep questionnaire.
- Your concerns: we talk through what you’ve noticed at night and during the day.
- Gentle exam: we look at your child’s jaw, teeth, tongue, tonsils and breathing. Nothing is painful or invasive.
- Your plan: we explain what we found, whether a referral is needed, your options and the costs.
What to bring: a list of symptoms, any medications, results from previous sleep studies, and a short phone video of your child sleeping or snoring if you can. Videos are one of the most useful things you can share.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is snoring normal in children?
Occasional snoring during a cold is common. Snoring three or more nights a week isn’t normal and should be checked by your pediatrician.
Is sleep apnea normal in a 2-year-old or 7-year-old?
No. Sleep apnea can happen at any age and should never be dismissed as normal. It’s most common between ages 2 and 8, when tonsils and adenoids are largest compared with the size of the airway.
Can children grow out of sleep apnea?
Some mild cases improve with age, but many don’t. Your child’s doctor can tell you whether monitoring or treatment is the right choice.
Can sleep apnea cause ADHD-like behaviour?
Yes. Disrupted sleep can cause hyperactivity, poor focus and irritability that look like ADHD. The two are separate conditions that can exist together, so a child with ADHD symptoms may benefit from a sleep assessment.
Will a special pillow help a child with sleep apnea?
No. A pillow can’t treat sleep apnea and isn’t a substitute for assessment or treatment. Pillows aren’t safe for babies under 12 months.
Do you diagnose sleep apnea?
No. We screen children for signs of sleep-disordered breathing and refer to your pediatrician, an ENT or a sleep physician for diagnosis. Sleep apnea is diagnosed by a physician, usually with an overnight sleep study.
Schedule a Children's Airway Evaluation in Leawood
If your child snores, breathes through their mouth or never seems rested, let’s find out why. We’ll look at how your child breathes, sleeps and grows, and help you get the right care, whether that’s with us or a trusted specialist.
Call us on 913-491-4466 or schedule an appointment online. We see families from Leawood and across the Kansas City area.
Our Breathe.Grow.Thrive. Approach to Children's Airway Health
Breathe.Grow.Thrive. is our approach to children’s airway health. It looks at the whole child, not just their teeth, and brings together the right specialists so you’re not left to piece care together yourself.
Harness the Body’s Growth Potential
Jaw Growth Correction
We use removable and fixed appliances to further help with jaw expansion. This is often called phase 1 of orthodontics. By intervening with treatment early in life, our goal is to minimize the need for lengthy orthodontic treatment or the need to have teeth removed. If needed, a phase 2 of orthodontics is usually less invasive and can be done with braces or Invisalign. We also screen for inflamed tonsils and adenoids, which can cause mouth breathing, narrow jaws, ADHD, and crooked teeth.
Holistic Solutions
Collaborative Care
We work with a trusted network of practitioners, including an airway-focused ENT, sleep physician, myofunctional therapist, speech therapist, chiropractor, physical therapist and nutritionist. We’ll guide you to the right people and coordinate with them on your child’s care.
We use removable and fixed appliances to further help with jaw expansion. This is often called phase 1 of orthodontics. By intervening with treatment early in life, our goal is to minimize the need for lengthy orthodontic treatment or the need to have teeth removed. If needed, a phase 2 of orthodontics is usually less invasive and can be done with braces or Invisalign. We also screen for inflamed tonsils and adenoids, which can cause mouth breathing, narrow jaws, ADHD, and crooked teeth.
Location
11201 Nall Avenue
Suite 120
Leawood, KS 66211
Hours
Tuesday: 8:00am - 4:00pm
Wednesday: 8:00am - 4:00pm
Thursday: 7:00am - 3:00pm
