Zzzz: Is your child’s snoring affecting their behaviour?

Is your child a snorer?

If so, you might want to read the following as some research reveals that children who snore loudly at least twice a week, are more likely to misbehave during their waking hours. Yes, really. It's been reported that children who snore from an early age are more at risk of being hyperactive and badly behaved as they get older. According to Dean Beebe, a neuropsychologist from Cincinnati, this is because breathing difficulties and poor sleeping patterns could be playing havoc with your child’s behaviour. Dr Beeb lead the first study ever which examines the relationship between snoring and bad behaviour in pre-school children, and according to his findings 1 in 10 children tend to snore as they drift off to sleep. The study, published in the medical journal Pediatrics, found that children under the age of five who snored loudly at least twice a week tended to have the most behavioural problems in later life. These problems included hyperactivity, inattention and, in some cases, depression. “A lot of kids snore every so often, and cartoons make snoring look cute or funny. But loud snoring that lasts for months is not normal, and anything that puts young kids at that much risk for behavioural problems is neither cute nor funny,” said Dr Beebe. “That kind of snoring can be a sign of real breathing problems at night that are treatable. I encourage parents to talk to their child’s doctor about loud snoring, especially if it happens a lot and persists over time,” he added. Dr Beebe’s findings also revealed that breastfeeding children, especially over longer periods of time, actually seemed to protect them against persistent snoring. So mammies, what do you think? Does your child snore? Do you believe that it can affect their behaviour?