During your appointment
Assessment appointments for new patients in our children's sleep clinic are usually 1 hour long, with one of our senior members of the sleep team.
You may see more than 1 member of the team.
We'll ask for a detailed history of your child's health and circumstances, with particular attention paid to the sleep problems they are experiencing.
At the end of the appointment, we'll discuss our impression of your child's sleep problems and make recommendations for tests and treatment if appropriate.
As we're a teaching hospital, students and visitors may be observing the team. We'll always ask your permission for them to observe your appointment.
Observers are usually consultants from other hospitals and services gaining experience of children’s sleep problems. They may also include other professionals (for example, specialist nurses, psychologists), doctors-in-training ('junior doctors') or medical students.
Experience gained in this way is an important part of training other doctors and healthcare professionals to look after children with sleep problems.
After your appointment
We'll often give you written information to take away with you after your appointment, including both general information about children's sleep and information specific to your child.
After your appointment (usually wihtin 1 month), we'll send a detailed letter to the doctor who referred your child to us.
We'll also send a copy of this letter to you, your child's GP, and any other doctors or professionals involved in your child's care. This may include your child's school (with your consent).
Follow-up appointments
If we offer you a follow-up appointments, this will usually be shorter than your first appointment. Follow-up appointments are often with parents and carers alone, or by telephone if this is more convenient.
Further investigations
We may recommend further tests and investigations for your child. These are usually 'sleep studies', carried out on a separate date within 4 to 6 weeks of your appointment. We may also ask for your child to have a blood test or X-ray.
A small number of children may be recommended to have other investigations such as MRI, electroencephalogram (EEG) or lumbar puncture.
Treatments
We'll usually recommend a treatment that includes behavioural changes. This is because good routine and habits are key to managing sleep problems in children. We'll talk to you about this during your appointment, but may also refer you to local support services or our advanced sleep workshop.
Other recommendations for treatment, depending on the problem identified, may include:
- a referral for potential surgery, for example, adenotonsillectomy for obstructive sleep apnoea
- weight loss
- medicine or the use of equipment to support severely abnormal breathing in sleep , or example, non-invasive ventilation like continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP)
Where possible, we will treat your child's sleep problem without medicine. When we do recommend medicine, we'll usually let the referring doctor know and they'll be asked to prescribe the medicine if they agree.
In a small number of circumstances, we'll recommend your child starts their medicine on the same day of their appointment. In this case, we'll provide a small initial supply of medicine from our hospital pharmacy.