Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

8 month old baby with strange breathing behavior at night

We are extremely concerned with an unusual breathing behavior that our 8 month old daughter often displays while sleeping.  To date no doctor has been able to give us a clear diagnosis.  The behavior is similar to the gasping a baby might do after intense crying, as is she was trying to catch her breath.  However, our baby will periodically exhibit this breathing while sleeping, with no apparent cause.  This breathing behavior usually wakes us up out of a sleep as it is so loud we can hear it over the monitor.  It does not appear to wake our daughter up, but she is observed to gasp, whimper and let out brief cries throughout the episode.  We have never witnessed any significant color changes, so we assume she is getting enough oxygen, but her breathing does appear to pause for approximately 4-5 seconds in between the quick breaths. Sometimes the breaths are so intense she starts to snort and it is very frightening to watch.  It rarely will stop on its own and usually my husband and I have to go to her and intervene.  Usually we start by rubbing her back or changing her position (both of which rarely work), but we eventually resort to picking her up to wake her.  Sometimes she wakes easily, but, often, our attempts to intervene agitate her and she starts to cry- sometimes hysterically. However, once she is fully awake, the breathing behavior stops and she is happy, quiet and back to our sweet little girl.  We usually get her back to sleep soon after the behavior stops and she tends to have a restful sleep the rest of the night.  We have videotaped the behavior and shown it to several doctors including her family doctor, 2 pediatric neurologists, an ENT, and we have had a sleep study (which came back completely normal).  Unfortunately, no one can tell us definitively what this behavior is, but several theories have been given including obstructive sleep apnea,  GERD, dreaming/night terrors/nightmares, seizure activity, or just a normal part of REM sleep.  However, none of these seem to fit the bill completely as 1) no physical obstruction has been found that would cause obstructive sleep apnea (e.g., enlarged adenoids or tonsils or some kind lesion) and apnea was not seen during the sleep study, 2) our daughter does exhibit mild reflux symptoms (i.e., occasional gagging, spitting up, choking) and we have tried prescription Prevacid, but this did not eliminate the behavior.  We actually took her off the medication thinking that perhaps the medication was causing the symptoms as one of it's rare side effect is abnormal dreaming (see #3)  3) for a while, we were thinking that maybe dreaming or night terrors were to blame secondary to the hysterical crying upon trying to wake her and the immediate restoration of happiness only after fully waking, but many doctors have said she is to young to have such dreams  4) an EEG has been done both on its own and during the sleep study which did not show any abnormalities that would suggest seizure activity and 5) all babies and adults go through REM sleep so, if it is simply a symptom of that, then why isn't this behavior more widely described?  Any information that can be given would be greatly appreciated as we have had so many sleepless night worrying about this and we are exhausted.  We and our doctors have seem to hit a brick wall as far as diagnosing this problem and we feel as though all we are left with is to "go home, manage it as best we can, and hope she grows out of it," but, as loving parents, that is very hard to do as all the "what ifs" come to our minds.  We feel that this website may be a ray of hope as last night I read 3 postings from parents that have experienced something similar with their children but no follow up was ever given.  I sent messages to these individuals to learn about their experiences; however, I'm not sure my efforts will be successful as these postings were written several years ago.  Does anyone have any other thoughts?  

33 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
Avatar universal
My daughter is 8 months old and does this, randomly, for the past month and ahalf. She double bresths, snorts, whimpers, then starts screaming. Screaming like I have never heard before.. Its horrible. I pick her up and try to calm her but she screams and starts flailing her arms and starts screaming "mama,mama"so I have to turn on a light, sit her facing  me, hold her little head- in my hands and make her focus on me. As soon as she focuses, she stops crying, smiles, and gives me a kiss. I have used soy since we found her dairy intolerance and she was on gas drops. I noticed that she started having these episodes as we were weaning her off gas drops so I feel it really does have to do with has as well as reflux. I really hope others have found a better answer but for those of you reading this in 2018, our Dr said it's normal, it happens, and as long as their breathing is not "laboured" and they are able to be calmed and no discoloration , we have to wait for her to grow out of it.
Helpful - 0
4 Comments
I am always amazed by how noisy babies are sleeping.  They churtle, snorkle, and make all sorts of sounds.  But you are saying this is new for her?  definitely, re-flux can cause strong tummy pains.  I had great success with my first born with the drops you add to bottles or put into the side of their mouth.  Do you have a vaccine appointment coming up?  Or is your doctor like mine where you can call the office and chat about a concern?  I would do that and tell the pediatrician the situation to see if they feel this is okay.  This is a bad habit to get into and will prolong the process of your baby sleeping through the night.  By 8 months, they could be.  And by a year, they need to be.  talk to your doctor and I'm sure you are tired mama!  Hang in there and let us know what the doctor says!
Thank you for your response. I have spoken with her Dr about it when it first started happening a month and a half ago... I am lucky to be able to call and discuss concerns. He said it's something babies do sometimes.  It could be from reflux, gas, dreams.. as long as her color is ok and it's not laboured breathing, then she is ok. I was extremely concerned about the screaming crying and he said that she is at the prime time for separation anxiety. She is with me 24/7, she is even able to go to work with me everyday, so he said that the only time I am not "there" is when she is sleeping and that may be the cause of the screaming then crying out "mama". She has never been a good sleeper and as I said, this happens randomly.. so hopefully she will grow out of it.  Good Luck to others.
Hey, thanks so much for the update.  To give you hope, lol, my second son was a horrible sleeper and completely dependent on me for any and all soothing.  I was so sleep deprived, I can't tell you (also had a one year old too).  But at 16 weeks, he slept through the night for the first time out of nowhere.  And he has been an awesome sleeper ever since!  Get some rest mama!  good luck
I know this is very old now, but my son is doing this. Did yours grow out of this? :(
Avatar universal
I know this is an old post but there seems to be some recent activity so I'll share my experience. My son is now 10 months old and has been doing this since he was a few months old. He was diagnosed with silent reflux around 5 weeks and also displayed signs of dairy intolerance. He does exactly what is described in the initial post. He begins double breathing in his sleep as if he has just cried for an hour straight. Sometimes he does not wake up from it but when he does he seems to still be sleeping but screams his head off. I hold him and eventually he calms and usually transitions right back into a deep sleep. I have been told that this is caused by his reflux and happens during sleep because of acid backing up while he is laying down (same thing that happens to adults with reflux). His reflux pain in combination with being in REM sleep turns into the episode that everyone has described. It still scares the crap out of me but he never changes color or shows signs of respiratory distress. Obviously I continue to look up if others have found a more definite cause but my research has come up with the same results as everyone else. The common denominator seems to be reflux or dairy intolerance. Please remember that reflux does not always include throwing up. My son has never projectile vomited which is the hallmark of most babies with reflux. Silent reflux can be tough to diagnose and incredibly painful for babies as the acid continues to burn their throats without coming completely out of their mouths.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Sorry not an answer but a question.Can i ask if you had any results back on this. Seems very much like an issue we have with our 1 year old. Any feed back would be much appreciated
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
Did you ever hear back from her? We have a similar situation as well
Avatar universal
Hi I'm Eva-Monae I posted about two years ago about my first son. He grew out of it I would have to say well before his 2nd birthday. But now my second son 11months old just did the very same thing. I feel like it may be gas related both of them seemed to be gassy before bed and then the episode would occur . I just started transitioning him to regular milk, specifically organic whole milk. The weird part is that he does not do it every time he drinks the regular milk, it happened completely randomly. Maybe he burped AnD acid came up which burns his throat which causes the crying and the small jerks I feel is from the discomfort. It's so weird that both my children have done the same exact thing around the same time it has to be something causing it. My bet is on the MILK. or something in the diet. Yesterday he didn't do it and he had one bottle of regular milk. Today he had regular milk, formula, and juice at some point during the day. I will try to keep you guys updated, sorry it took so long.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Here is a video of my son.  https://youtu.be/gbXrNGVxioY  
He has been doing this since he was 2 months old.  He is now 4 and we are still trying to find answers.  If your child does this or something similar, please contact me.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi! My 8 month old has been doing this since the day he got his two month shots aka the first time he ever took Tylenol aka the first time he ever really zoned into REM sleep I think. We ended up in the ER but we didn't get it on film so they knew nothing. We visited an ENT who MISdiagnosed him with laryngomalacia, visited another ENT who confirmed he does NOT have that. He does have reflux and has been on Zantac and nexium since 2 months as well.  Since have gotten a video of him, no physican can diagnose anything- ENT, pulmonologist...no one. He doesn't change color but the noise is awful. It's hard to wake him from it. I find that it happens a few times a night/week for a while and then doesn't happen again for a bit. Sounds as if he's double breathing after crying...but no crying. Any answers yet? My big thing is he's an awful sleeper- and we have been advised not to let him cry it out yet as we are unsure what this breathing thing is...but his sleeping habits are getting worse and worse. Does anyone's child have this but also is a bad sleeper? Any suggestions? We have a sleep study scheduled for end of August (they didn't think it was high priority so no need to rush...) but I know it's not going to occur the night i am there...I am sure...would love some insight!
Helpful - 0
2 Comments
I have read something about this and dr are saying not to wake up baby because it will get confused and start crying even louder. It's similar to sleep walking, brain is still developing so I guess is something that medicine doesn't know well yet. Our son who is 5 m also has that issue during night. What helps is going and putting my hand on his back( he is sleeping on his tummy) and basically doing almost like calming him down without talking or waking him up.
You don't have to let him cry it out to sleep train him.  A great book that I used was the "No Cry Sleep Solution".  Hope it helps!
Avatar universal
No answers yet?  I just caught my sixth month old doing this. Freaked me out a little, I thought she was choking, from what I seen on the monitor.  We went in there, heard snorting and rapid breathing, figured she was having a bad dream, so I rubbed her back and it didn't stop. So I rolled her over and she started screaming hysterically. I picked her up and she continued to scream. I couldn't calm her. So my husband made her a bottle and she finally went back to sleep.  Very weird? I have an appointment on the 11th. I will ask Dr then.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Any updates yet? My 18month old has just done this for the second time in around 2 months I left him to wake up from it himself. He has stopped now and seems to be breathing normally again!! Really freaks me out ! Gonna book in to see the doctor! But we have a long wait for appointments please someone update us
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Any answers? Or negative/positive outcomes from this? My daughter started this. It scared me so much and took a lot to wake her... I'm hoping it was a bad dream and she was in a deep sleep.. however we have had a friend whose baby passed recently from SIDS and he was the same age of my daughter so I'm very anxious about night time as it is. Talking to doctor tomorrow.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
All 3 of mine have done this, it freaked me out with my first, I thought she was having a seizure!! But now I've seen it happen with the second and third, as I'm writing this holding my son who has just done this a few moments ago, it's like a more intense version of what they do as new borns, when they open and close their eyes, smile over and over again really quickly, it's still scary to witness, hence why I'm back here googling and reassuring myself that it's normal, then remembering once again that yes it is lol. It sounds like he's sobbing, whimpering and rapid breathing, I rub his back and say shhhhhh, but the only real way to calm him is to wait until her wakes himself up, then cuddle him.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
My 13 month old has been doing this for the past month or so, maybe twice a week, He is in a very deep sleep and then his breathing changes almost like he is having a hard time (no discoloration) and then he whimpers I usually move him a bit but most of the time he wakes up screaming and there is nothing I can do to calm him. Eventually he settles down and falls back into a deep sleep, he never opens his eyes during these episodes..I have explained this to the doctors and no one seems to no whats going on. This is really stressing me out, I am currently pregnant and the lack of sleep is not helping. ANY UPDATES? ANY ANSWERS YET?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
My 7 mo old did this tonight. I was concerned so i paged a doctor. She said that its normal as long as she isn't sick (could cause  difficultly breathing), doesn't have any labored breathing and if there isn't any discoloration. That helped calm me.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
My 8.5 month old started doing this around 5 months. I mentioned it to her doctor and she said it's from dreaming.  It stopped again shortly after but now suddenly it's started again.  In the last week it's happened at least three 3 times.  I was finally able to catch it on camera and will be showing it to her doctor soon.  One thing I noticed is it happens during REM sleep and she is near impossible to wake up.  I can turn the lights on and pick her up and she doesn't even flinch.  It tends to last about 15 minutes with intervention.  I'm not sure how long it would go otherwise.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
My 7 1/2 month started doing this tonight I'm to scared to fall asleep I woke him up earlier because I started to panic but he just started playing and laughing like nothing was wrong with him. Is this just a phase babies go through?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have an 8 month old daughter who does the same thing. She just had one 20 minutes afo and its very scary not knowing what's going on. Would really like to know if anyone has found any answers.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
This just happened to my 11 month old for the first time. Scary! I woke him up and it continued for about 10 more min or so. I nursed him and it eventually stopped. I got online to look for clues and found this thread.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Any updates on the condition from anyone on the thread?  I'd love to be able to find more information on this!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Really wish someone had an update . My newborn has been doing this too awake asleep doesn't matter. It happens about 4 times in a 24 hour period where she takes a gasp of air. Seems mostly when she is asleep . My question is why are our doctors so incompetent to figure
out what the issue is. Anyway my daughter was born with a vascular loop which basically means one of the veins of the heart loops the opposite way and crosses her esophagus and can possibly cause breathing issues when asleep or eating. Not sure if this is what is happening but for all others you may want to have a 4d ultrasound of the heart as this was the only way to see this abnormality. Also this technology has only been around the past decade and when pregnant most doctors won't order the ultrasound unless they feel there may be complications with the pregnancy.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have 6 kids and none of them did this.  How normal is it? I hate when the doctors say its normal.  My son does this while he is awake or waking from sleep.  I took him to the er, they did an xray and said he had pneumonia.  Gave me meds.  The holding breath thing stopped.  Then like a month later it started again.  I go back to my doctor and he says nothing is wro g this is normal oh and he never had pneumonia.  What???  Well the meds they gave me coupled with the albuterol breathing treatments seemed to help.  He says, just a councidence. Prayer is not a last resort but right now its the only thing I can do.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
My 7 month old just started doing this and after a few times I woke in the middle of the night and had a 'light bulb' moment. I experience the exact same thing myself years ago after being vegan for 15 years and then going to a cheese festival and eating quite a bit if cheese. My friend told me I was having cheese nightmares. Had never heard if it before. Anyway my daughter is on solids (veg and fruit mostly as it's early days. When we go out I give take an organic squeeze pack for her to have. Some of the ones have cheese in it (potato, corn, cauliflower and cheddar or ricotta). I wondered if it was linked at all, so I made sure she had none with the cheese for a while and the breathing and whimpering didn't happen. Last night I have her some of the cheese one to aee what would happen and it happened again. Might be a coincidence but I thought I would let you all know. Maybe it's because her body is not used to dairy (same as mine after being vegan for 15'years). I can eat cheese now and I'm fine but at the start my body was obviously responding to it.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
My daughter just did this 10 mins ago and I had to intervene, didn't wake her but just moved her around a bit and robed her back. She's 11 months now. Just now I decided to look it up keeping in mind that my chances of getting anything was down to 0! So surprised to find your post.. It couldn't have been more exact of wat I feel. She has done this a few times before and it freaks me out cuz I wonder what if am not there to wake her cuz I feel like she's strees by doing so! She can't breath very well, it's like a combination of having a nightmare and gasping for air sound! i wanna know if this is normal or a pattern that leads to something else! God forbid!  I have never talk to her pediatrian about it thinking it was a one time weird thing but now reading so many of you having the same issue Ill bring it up just to see what he says! But it looks like it could be a normal thing. But then again my son which is 5 now NEVER did it!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Did you get any responses? My 10 month old does this and has since he was born. He has only done it 4 times (2 at night, 2 during nap).
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Has anyone figured anything out?  My 11 month old does this and has for sometime.  We have ruled out any obstruction of the airway and she is on an acid reflux medication.  It is only really late a night like 3 to 6 timeframe...is that when everyone else's is?  
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
Hi, My son always does this early morning hours like you stated.  Have you gotten a diagnosis?
Avatar universal
My almost 6 month old just did this about 20 minutes ago and it scared the heck out of me. Im so tired but I'm afraid to go to sleep because I fear that it'll happen again. The last time this happened was about two months ago. He goes to the doctor in two days, so I will definitely be asking the Dr about this.
Helpful - 0
2
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Sleep Disorders Community

Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Healing home remedies for common ailments
Dr. Steven Park reveals 5 reasons why breathing through your nose could change your life
Want to wake up rested and refreshed?
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.