My eldest child has just been definitively diagnosed(via sleep study) as
having sleep apnea.  Here's what I've learned about the condition thus far:

Sleep apnea in children manifests differently than in adults.  It is often
correlated with snoring, but not as precisly as with adults.  Children tend
to have more episodes of partial airway obstruction, vs adults who will have
more complete airway obstruction -followed by loud gasping snores that signal
efforts to reopen the airway.

Kids with sleep apnea don't necessarily have the same patterns of daytime
sleepiness as do adults.  More typically you will see emotional upsets(anger,
tantrums, weeping), especially as the day wears on.

In otherwise healthy children, sleep apnea is often associated with swollen
adenoids and tonsils.

Sleep apnea can also have a neurological component, especially for children
with other neurological issues.

Breast-feeding related:  My sample of 1 was breastfed well into toddlerhood.
I'm familiar with the effects of breastfeeding on palatal development and on
the development of the lower face, particularly muscle tone and mandibular
development.  I'm not familiar with research describing  more directly
breastfeeding's affect on pharyngeal dimensions.  I'm thinking that the
antero-posterior dimensions of the pharynx may be most relevant, but soft
tissue structures really change in the supine, relaxed state of sleep.
Anyone in lactnet land have information regarding this?

Missed the start of this thread, but I would say that any child who is
snoring and is showing difficulty in sustaining attention would be
well-served by having sleep apnea rulled out as a possible contributing cause.

Karen Kavesh in Philadelphia
Speech Pathologist, mom of 2
breastfeeding advocate :)

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