How to Survive Your Child's Sleep Study

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  On Valentines Day, I had a date with my little guy at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for a sleep study. My dad had had one so I was somewhat familiar, but it was my two-year old undergoing the study and I was still somewhat nervous. I asked some friends in a Facebook group to which I belong for some advice. The following are their tips, coupled with a few of my own.

  • If this is your 1st sleep study, sending you lots of love
  • Make sure he is good and sleepy so he falls asleep fast
  • Your child will hopefully sleep, but you prob won't sleep a wink
  • Once you arrive and he's hooked up,  you stay in the room until he wakes the following morning
  • Some say don't let them nap the day-of, others say keep their routine
  • Take a DVD player to distract your child while they were hooking him/her up
  • You'll get woken up at about 5 or 6 pm to leave
  • It is always much worse getting everything off in the morning, it's hard to get the goop out 

  • You'll want to go straight home to a bath
  • If he flips out when getting the leads on, ask if they will wait until he falls asleep and then they put everything on him and hook him up.
  • Or Have the tech put all the leads and tape and such on you as well 
  • Wear warm clothes
  • Bring a glass of wine so you can sleep
  • Have your ipad so you can  dim it down and watch a Netflix movie with some earphones if needed
  • Their faces can react to the tape and glue remover so test a small spot before you wipe him down with it
  • Use tons of conditioner in your child's  hair, use a comb to get the glue off the hair and scalp
  • Bring your own snacks and drinks 
  • Consider going to sleep when your child does, you'll get woken up to have him or her lay down or fix a lead several times throughout the night
  • Arrive in sleepwear
  • Don't forget the favorite blanket or stuffed animal 
  • Bring a hat for your child to wear home over the sticky, goopy hair!
  • Good luck!

  Our sleep study went pretty well. We arrived at 7:30 p.m. and checked in along with a few other families. We were ushered to our room and went about the bedtime process. I  brought my iPad so my son could watch Cullens ABC videos while all of the leads were put on his head. I had to hold his arms and it took a few tries to get everything in place. He gave us the most trouble with the lead that sits right at his nose to measure oxygen. Once the leads were in place, they wrapped he head like a mummy. By that time, we were past his usual bedtime so he was ready to drift off to sleep.

  I got myself ready for bed and had planned on reading but decided to get some sleep in while I could. It was a good thing. My son moved all about his bed and sat up in his sleep a lot! Each time I had to get up and lay him back down. He awoke for about an hour and a half and I had to hold him some, which is not typical. Thankfully, we were the last of the sleepover patients to be processed so Joey got some extra sleep. It was 6 a.m. by the time we got all the leads off and I had used baby wipes to try to get as much of the goop off his head as I could. So we survived and I am hoping the results will enable to get the best care possible for our little man.

  If you have survived a child's sleep study, please share your tips!