Sleep Deprivation EEG for Child-- Any Insights?

My son had one done at around 2 years old. He was given a cocktail to drink to calm him that he refused to fully finish. He was also given an IV to sedate him during the procedure. My child has a sleep disorder to where he would not willing sleep even after 2 days of sleep deprivation. Yes, I did do this on our doctor's recommendation. Our procedure lasted about an hour from start to finish. I remained in the room the entire time both before and after said procedure. Once the procedure was finished he awoke within minutes and was quite groggy. He of course was also unsteady on his feet. Prior to leaving it was imperative that he take in fluids so I already had a sippy cup with apple juice for him to drink.

Our case isn't typical. My son is autistic and at the time was nonverbal. It was not a traumatic experience and he did not even fight the IV. It was more nerve-wracking for me. All in all it isn't what I would consider a horrible procedure.

Best of luck to you and yours.

Our son had an EEG done before starting neurofeedback for his ADHD.

The experience isn't easy. A lot of electrodes are placed on the child's head just so. Our son was 9 when he had it done and it was extremely hard for him to sit still (of course, he was also off his ADHD medication and so it was particularly hard).

They were able to get readings in short bursts of inactivity. If the child moves at all, you have to try again. It took a second appointment for us to get sufficient readings.

Also, don't plan on going anywhere directly after the appt. Your child's hair will be a mess of goop used with the electrodes.

I had one as a child, probably about 7 or 8 years old. Since it was, like, back when the dinosaurs walked the earth, things might have changed a bit. ;)

For me, a long-haired girl, getting the goop out of my hair afterwards was definitely the worst part of the test, though I've heard it's not as bad now as it was then. What made the test pretty tolerable was that my mom made it seem like no big deal. She told me a little about what was going to happen & why (I had some crazy fainting spells & they were trying to determine the underlying cause). She was very matter-of-fact in an age-appropriate way. She didn't make a big deal of it and didn't offer an abundance of reassurance (not in a cold way, but more in a relaxed, there's nothing to worry about way). She made it clear that there would be no needles involved and nothing painful AND that I'd get a day off from school. A big win, in my book!

Like I said, this was a ka-jillion years ago and obviously it made an impression because I still remember it but I don't recall being at all traumatized by it. I strongly believe our kids pick up on things from us. We need to pay attention and be aware of what our children need to help cope with a given situation, but frequently if we relax, so will our child.

Good luck!

My son had one when he was 12 or so. He endured it. He was probably mostly bored, and found it difficult to sleep. Dad was with him so I don't know that much about it.

Mine had the sleep deprived EEG done at ages 1, 2 and 3 as he was prone to febrile seizures back then. The hardest part was keeping him awake on the 30 minute drive to the appointment. I brought my Mom with me and put her in the backseat with him to keep him a awake while I drove. I kept him up the night before until about 10:30/ 11 pm, and then woke him about 6:30. Appointment was usually around 10 am. He did not like having to sit still for the electrode placement(this is what takes the longest), but he did fine otherwise. He did not have an IV or a sedative. For the MRI brain scan they did put him under thru an IV and that was scary to have to go through that, but the EEG was not bad. Good Luck!

My son had one at age 8 for his epilepsy. It is all around, not a very nice experience for anybody. Of course don't tell your child that!
the staying awake was not too hard for my son, he is a night bird anyway, and we let him watch movies and play video games.
The electrodes on the head was the worst thing for my son. There must have been 50 of the dang things, and they have to rub the scalp with a toothpaste like substance first to remove oil so that they will stick. What I would recommend, if you have a boy, is to cut his hair pretty short beofre the appointment. The less hair the better. I kid you not.
Well lo and behold after staying up all night my son could not sleep during the actual EEG. They said it didn't matter too much, as long as he was almost asleep. They got the results they wanted anyway. The actual study is easy for your child, if a little boring. And if he can sleep, not boring at all! Theeeen they have to take off all those electrodes, they are stuck to your childs hair (again, I hope you have a boy) and they pulled out a bunch of my sons hair when they did this. His hair was a mass of glue afterwards and it was hard to wash it all out.

Hi.
My 2 year old daughter had one done.
She was sleep deprived, but didn't sleep a wink through the whole thing.
They put the metal wires on their head and wrap it really tight.
Her being freshly 2 years old, screamed the entire time.
I was super nervous that the tests would not work because of this, but found out it was very common for them to react this way. The doctor was able to read the results fine.
What I would have done differently if I had known better, would be to demand a better sleep enviroment for her. They made her sit in my lap in a very umcofortable chair and try to sleep.
I found it comical, knowing my daughter, that anyone would expect a toddler to sleep on your lap like that.
I fully expected her to be comfortable and it was a joke. I should have rescheduled until the "Childrens hospital" could find a suitable room for this.
But, like I said, the results still came back accurate so I guess that's the most important part.
Good luck!

My SN child has had two sleep studies with partial EEG's and we had that done at Childrens Hospital. We have a 24 hour EEG scheduled for next month at our house! Yes! They are coming to our house! I pushed and pushed for this to happen vs at a hospital because it would be more of a relaxed setting for my child. I am pretty sure the nurses and doctors do not like me because i was such a pushy mom but i just cannot fathom having a 24 hour one done at the hospital. The overnight sleep study was bad enough, so hopefully we will see how that works out!

My son had to have one almost 2 years ago when he was having "episodes". The hardest part for me was making sure the daycare lady understood that he could not take the mid-morning nap before his appointment. Since I couldn't take off, I had to let her know how imperative it was. She was not thrilled but understood. When I picked him up, he was cranky, very cranky. I was able to keep him up on the ride to Cook Children's, and he ended up falling asleep on the table. That one didn't show anything. A week later we were sent for a video EEG and were there for 2.5 days and finally got his diagnosis of epilepsy. The video EEG was the hardest because the day before we went, he had 22 seizures in one day. And when they were attaching all the leads to his head he had one and they didn't do anything (not in a bad way, they just knew they had to let him go through it). The hardest part was watching it......it killed me. But 2.5 days later, he was on meds and has THANKFULLY been seizure free for almost 2 years (April 13 will be his 2 year anniversary)!!!!

Good luck and hugs!