Hi all! This is my first post here, though I'm active on a number of pregnancy/parenting boards. I'm looking for some opinions about my 27 month old DD. Sorry for the length, I'm just not sure what is most important so I want to include a good amount of background... First I should note that I was diagnosed with hypothyroid in late 2003. It's mild, I'm on Levoxyl 50 mcg and have been pretty much since diagnosis, including through my pregnancy with my DD and through my current pregnancy, 30 weeks along now.
My DD was a poor sleeper until 9 months and slow gainer her entire first year, even though she nursed and ate constantly. After a year she continued to nurse and eat constantly. She also gained like mad -- 5 1/2 pounds from 12 to 18 months, another 4 1/2 from 18 months to 2 years. At the same time her height dropped off. At a year she was 1st percentile for weight and 60th for height, but at 2 years she was 38th percentile for weight and 35th for height. And she stopped sleeping at a year -- she was up 2 to 7 times a night and took two half-hour naps until she spontaneously started to sleep through on her own at 22 1/2 mos. That's also when she consolidated to one nap, but it only lasted 45 minutes to an hour. That's where we are now, generally she sleeps 11 to 12 hours at night and takes one 45 to 60 minute nap.
I started seeing excessive daytime sleepiness around a year too. The pedi tested for anemia and ruled that out, so she blamed the sleepiness on the nightwakings. When I continued to complain at her 2 year appt, a different pedi also tested for and ruled out anemia, and blamed it on her needing more sleep than other kids. Nice idea, but she can't seem to sleep enough. She is often overtired and fights sleep even though she is groggy all day. She seems ready for a nap just a few hours after waking up. She asks to go home from the playground because she's tired, pretends to nap everywhere, often wants to just sit and read books all day, etc. She still eats more than any toddler I know, and even though she eats tons of beans, fruits, and veggies, she is sometimes constipated.
My DH and I are at the point where we have a referral to a sleep center and will probably go, but I noticed something else this morning. It was about 55 degrees outside and 60 inside (we're trying to avoid turning the heat on this early!). She was wearing a long sleeve shirt and heavy sweater. When we came in from playing, she was shivering, had blue lips, and continued to shiver for a good 20 minutes.
So now I start putting it together -- daytime sleepiness but poor daytime sleep, constipation despite a high-fiber high-water diet, eating and gaining like crazy, inability to warm up within a reasonable amount of time... Sounds a lot like me when I was diagnosed. Am I reading too much into this? Anyone heard of hypothyroid spontaneously appearing in a child this young?
