What to bring to a sleep study

[JoyBop]

For those of you that have BTDT what is your advice for going to a sleep study with a 4 yr old girl? She was very freaked out by an EKG but we finally got through that. Should she wear a nightgown? Two piece pajamas? Or does she have to wear hospital Jammie's? I usually play music for her at night. Will that interfere? I bought a bunch of small toys to bribe her with but not sure if they will be too stimulating

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[911RN]

For those of you that have BTDT what is your advice for going to a sleep study with a 4 yr old girl? She was very freaked out by an EKG but we finally got through that. Should she wear a nightgown? Two piece pajamas? Or does she have to wear hospital Jammie's? I usually play music for her at night. Will that interfere? I bought a bunch of small toys to bribe her with but not sure if they will be too stimulating

Any advice would be much appreciated.

They should give you instructions on the type of jammies. I believe my son had to wear two piece. It is very boring and isolating. I don't think the music will be a problem but each facility may be different on their policies and practices. Bring LOOOTS of stuff to do fro both you and her. It was a very long day for us and being trapped in a bedroom with only a TV, bed and computer etc. There was a playroom that my son was allowed to go to during some of the awake stuff. The leads and attachments are very similar to EKG...only I think there were even more of them---if that's possible!! It has been several years since our study...can't remember all the details. However, the facility should give you a packet of info prior to test.

 

HTH

[JoyBop]

I just reread the instructions. It said two piece non silky pjs. We check in at 7:30 pm and get tossed out at 6am so I don't think there will be much time for boredom.

 

What things would you suggest we bring or not bring based on your experiences? Any tips or suggestions?

[PowPow]

Whatever you use for her normal bedtime routine, books, teddy.

These places are usually expert in kids, so it shpuld be fine.

My five year old had one, discovered OSA, retained CO2, PLMD(rls) & then had a T&A and iron suppplements. She was so much better after healing from the surgery. ADD & behavioral symptoms improved so much.

[911RN]

I just reread the instructions. It said two piece non silky pjs. We check in at 7:30 pm and get tossed out at 6am so I don't think there will be much time for boredom.

 

What things would you suggest we bring or not bring based on your experiences? Any tips or suggestions?

i thought the same thing...that we would be out in the morning but based on his night time testing they decided to do additional testing during the day to see if he had bouts of narcolepsy (he did not, they claim...although when he was "about" to fall asleep in middle of day the phone rang in the room and woke him up). Not sure how accurate the testing really was???? Anyway, at the time of the test he was on Intuniv. We stopped that and his day time sleeping went away. I think his problem was medication induced. Spent a whole lotta money on sleep study when we coulda just stopped a pill. Thankfully, insurance covered most of testing.

 

Just take your normal night time routine things and whatever games etc they might like to play with. I took computer so son could play computer games. Books, favorite toys etc.

 

We went to sleep center affiliated with large medical center accustomed to having children but I found it not to be very kid friendly at all. I'm sure every facility is different on their practices. We had to eat 2 meals there...no choices given. Meals/food my son did not like...I would also bring favorite snacks.

 

We had to stay in the room the entire day...made me a little claustrophobic. They would not let me leave to even walk outside. I had to stay with my child at all times. He was like 10 at the time. Not a baby by any stretch. I thought it was a little ridiculous but we made it through...it was only one day.

[JoyBop]

Thanks for all of your input. My DS is on intunive and will fall asleep if there is a lull in his day or he is in the car. It doesn't affect his sleep otherwise. DS is the one getting the testing tonight. I almost think its a waste bc I don't think she has apnea. But I have a great pandas saavy Ent who would live to have grounds to remove her extra large and scarred tonsils. I am going through with the study bc even though the surgery sounds appealing I don't want to put my daughter through anything that isn't medically warranted. She does mouth breath and snore but I've never seen her stop breathing. Two of my older kids did have horrible apnea and it was a no brainer. They never had sleep studies done. Luckily I have already maxed out my high deductible so we should be covered for the sleep study. It's at Mass Eye and Ear in Boston and they only do one child a night. Thanks for suggesting that I bring food! I wouldn't have thought of that.

[JoyBop]

Sorry I meant dd is the one getting tested tonight. She is only on Zithromax.

[911RN]

Sorry I meant dd is the one getting tested tonight. She is only on Zithromax.

Good luck! Keep us posted on results:)

[911RN]

Thanks for all of your input. My DS is on intunive and will fall asleep if there is a lull in his day or he is in the car. It doesn't affect his sleep otherwise. DS is the one getting the testing tonight. I almost think its a waste bc I don't think she has apnea. But I have a great pandas saavy Ent who would live to have grounds to remove her extra large and scarred tonsils. I am going through with the study bc even though the surgery sounds appealing I don't want to put my daughter through anything that isn't medically warranted. She does mouth breath and snore but I've never seen her stop breathing. Two of my older kids did have horrible apnea and it was a no brainer. They never had sleep studies done. Luckily I have already maxed out my high deductible so we should be covered for the sleep study. It's at Mass Eye and Ear in Boston and they only do one child a night. Thanks for suggesting that I bring food! I wouldn't have thought of that.

There were multiple rooms with multiple patients having sleep studies at facility we went to...adults and children. One child per night sounds like good individualized care. Or, at least, a smaller facility that may be more kid friendly. Food is good!

[Guest]

I was terrified to have my sleep study b/c I have horrible sleep phobias and anxiety with anything associated with sleep. But I was able to do it.

 

You can bring your own pajamas and pack them in a back pack. I insisted on having my own bathroom, so you can change whenever you feel ready. There are t.v.'s in the room, you can watch till 11 pm.

 

I also brought my medication and a snack so if I got hungry in the middle of the night (which I did), I could eat it.

 

You could bring an ipod no problem. I'm sure they'll let you stay in there for a little bit in fact they allowed my mother to sleep in an empty room right there at the sleep center b/c I was so anxious. You should ask about this.

 

Here in my city the rooms were like really nice hotel rooms, huge beds, nice pillows. Contacting them ahead of time is a good idea. I have terrible bladder problems and my main concern was getting up and down and having someone come in each time so they actually taught me how to take off the box and do it myself so I could go whenever i needed without interference. Very accommodating.

 

Hope that helps. Put everything in backpack. She can have toys, whatever will help her sleep.

[Guest]

P.s. I told them I play guitar before going to bed and they even said I could have brought that, haha. But I thought it was a bit weird.

[JoyBop]

Thanks for all that! We had the study and it was overall a great experience. I was impressed. There were only two rooms. They do one adult and one child per night. The tech was AMAZING with my child. She actually had fun and didn't want to leave in the morning. The only hard part was the mouth/nose piece. The tech tried at various time to put it on her during sleep but it didn't go well. She only had it on for a total of 2 hours. Im hopeful that was enough info bc its unlikely I will want to do that again. I didn't get more than 10 min if sleep bc I had to stay in her bed with her. The tech came in about every 10-20 min to fix something that came undone and if she startled and I wasn't there she would wake up screaming. The tech asked me to stay with her which I was happy to do. The adult that was there came an hour after us and left earlier so we never even saw them. There was only one bathroom to share and no shower but it was not a problem.

Now we have to wait an entire month for results. She didn't snore much and I'm doubtful she has apnea, but I am curious to see if there were any findings.