If a child is struggling to breathe, is floppy or will not wake, or their skin, lips or tongue look blue or grey: call 999 now. Colour changes are harder to see on brown and black skin, so check the palms, soles, lips and tongue. If you are worried but it is not an emergency, call NHS 111. In Northern Ireland use your GP out-of-hours service.

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Snoring and sleep apnoea

The signs parents do not expect, and the referral route.

The short version

  • Snoring most nights, with pauses or struggles for breath, is worth taking to a GP. Obstructive sleep apnoea affects 1 to 3% of children.
  • Diagnosis is not guesswork: an overnight sleep study is the main way it is investigated, and the commonest cause is enlarged tonsils or adenoids.
  • Signs parents miss: waking tired and unhappy or refusing breakfast, sleeping in an unusual position, poor growth, and hyperactivity or aggression in younger children.
  • Risk is higher with obesity, sickle cell disease, Down's syndrome or cerebral palsy. Your GP can refer to ENT and a paediatric sleep service.
  • For an autistic child, snoring loudly, choking or appearing to stop breathing while asleep is a reason for specialist referral.

The rest of this page explains where this comes from. You do not have to read it tonight.

About 1 minute to read

Snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea in children

Snoring most nights, with pauses or struggles for breath, is worth taking to a GP. Great Ormond Street Hospital says obstructive sleep apnoea affects 1 to 3% of children, and that the most common cause is enlarged tonsils or adenoids. We use GOSH here because the general NHS page on sleep apnoea is written for adults.

Some signs are the ones parents expect. Several are not.

The risk is higher in children who have obesity, sickle cell disease, Down's syndrome or cerebral palsy. Diagnosis is not guesswork: GOSH says an overnight sleep study is the main method of investigating it. Treatments range from surgery on the tonsils and adenoids to breathing support such as CPAP.

The route is your GP, who can refer on to ear, nose and throat services and to a paediatric sleep service. For an autistic child or young person, guidance is explicit that snoring loudly, choking or appearing to stop breathing while asleep should prompt a specialist referral. NICE's site blocks automated checking, so we hold that point second hand, and we have left out any threshold for when surgery is offered because we could not verify it.

Where this comes from

  • NHS (nhs.uk) bronchiolitis, sepsis, croup, colic, anaphylaxis, fever and baby weight guidance, for the 999 and 111 criteria, croup, colic, the crying advice and the centile rule. These pages are cited by name; we have linked the ones whose exact addresses we hold.
  • NHS, reflux in babies, for posseting, the timescales and the instruction not to raise the head of the cot or Moses basket.
  • Great Ormond Street Hospital, obstructive sleep apnoea, for the child-specific signs, the 1 to 3% figure, risk groups and the overnight sleep study.
  • ICON, the UK infant crying programme, for the crying curve, the four ICON messages and the walking-away instruction.
  • Cry-sis, for the helpline number and hours and the average two hours of crying a day.
  • The Lullaby Trust, Baby Check app, for the 17 checks for babies under six months.
  • The Sleep Charity, National Sleep Helpline, for the hours, the age limits and what the service cannot cover.
  • Sheffield Children's Sleep Service and the GOSH Respiratory Sleep Unit, for how tertiary sleep services take referrals.
  • NHS, postnatal depression and Samaritans, for the parental crisis red flags and the 116 123 line.
  • Allergy UK, for the IgE and non-IgE timings, the symptom groups, the over-attribution caveat and the 01322 619898 helpline.
  • NICE guidance on referral for snoring and for autistic children, reproduced second hand: nice.org.uk blocks automated checking, so we have avoided quoting any threshold from it.

Last checked 1 August 2026. This page is general information, not medical advice. If you are worried about your child, speak to your health visitor or GP.