Sleep Center
CHAM's Sleep Center is the only full-service sleep laboratory and evaluation center dedicated exclusively to children in the New York metropolitan area. Our multidisciplinary team provides state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment of each child's sleep problems. Working closely with parents and caregivers in family-centered care delivers better results for our patients, and often allows parents and siblings to get more sleep as well.
Our primary goal when first meeting patients is to understand whether their disorder is caused by a physical condition like sleep apnea, or is more of a sleep-related, unconscious behavioral problem like sleepwalking or night terrors. We often ask them to come in for an overnight sleep study (polysomnogram) with their parents. Children can relax while playing video games and watching movies from their bed, while we continue to work on a diagnosis, discussing their symptoms in further detail with parents.
When patients fall asleep in our quiet rooms, we use the latest available noninvasive equipment to determine the cause of their sleep disruptions. We are able to simultaneously measure a child's oxygen, carbon dioxide, heart rate, movement of the chest and abdomen, and brain activity. It allows us to determine whether their brains are waking up, even when they appear to be sleeping soundly.
The sleep disorder center is one of only two hospitals in the region equipped to perform tests on premature babies and infants. Such early diagnosis and treatment can lead to better health much earlier in a child's development than ever before. We are also engaged in ongoing research into the relationship between obese children and obstructive sleep apnea, and how certain antibodies relate to asthma in children.