All Children’s Hospital Los Angeles locations are open.
Emotional Support Phone Line for Current Patients, Families and Team Members:
323-361-1121 (no texts)
8 a.m. - 7 p.m.
The Sleep Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is one of the region’s largest, most experienced centers diagnosing sleep disorders in children. Our center’s accreditation from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) reflects our decades of experience performing thousands of sleep studies each year. We’re dedicated to helping your child get the restorative sleep they need to grow and thrive. With our care, you’ll sleep better, too.
Pediatric sleep medicine is a specialized offering at CHLA. U.S. News & World Report ranks our pediatric pulmonology and sleep medicine services among the country’s best. We offer expert care for all types of sleep disorders, including sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome and more.
Our pediatric Sleep Center offers:
We diagnose and treat common and rare sleep disorders in infants and children, including:
Your child’s care begins with a sleep disorder evaluation. Our sleep specialists perform a physical examination and review your child’s medical history and symptoms. Based on these findings, our team may recommend a sleep study at our Sleep Laboratory.
We perform all types of pediatric sleep studies:
A sleep study (also called a polysomnogram) monitors and records different signals from the body as your child sleeps. This includes heart rate, breathing patterns, and stage of sleep. These studies take place in our sleep laboratory, one of the few in the country developed specifically for children.
Each of our Sleep Laboratory rooms features a bed and pillow for your child. They can also bring whatever helps them sleep at home, such as a stuffed animal or blanket. A parent or guardian can stay with their child and sleep in a reclining chair. Video and audio equipment enable our team to monitor activity and sounds in the room during the test.
During a sleep study, a registered sleep technician places sensors (small stickers) at various places on your child’s body, such as their head, chest and legs. A wire connects the sensors to a computer, that monitors and records metrics related to your child's sleep including:
We require a physician to refer you for a sleep study. Your referring physician’s office must send us a complete packet before we can schedule an appointment.
Our team uses the sleep study findings to customize a treatment plan for your child. At CHLA, we can refer to all the specialists your child needs to treat a sleep disorder and improve slumber.
Children with severe obstructive sleep apnea may need surgery to remove enlarged tonsils (a tonsillectomy). Enlarged tonsils can block your child’s airways when they sleep, leading to snoring and pauses in nighttime breathing. Your child receives expert care from our ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctors. Learn more about otolaryngology (head and neck surgery).
Positive airway pressure (PAP) improves the breathing and slumber of children who have sleep-related breathing disorders. Your child may need this treatment if they have any type of sleep apnea, such as obstructive sleep apnea or central sleep apnea.
Your child wears a mask over their mouth and nose while they sleep. Flexible tubing connects the mask to a PAP machine. The machine delivers a gentle stream of air into your child’s airways and lungs. The increased pressure keeps your child’s airways from closing so they don’t have momentary pauses in breathing during sleep.
Your child receives specialized care at our dedicated pediatric PAP clinic. Your family has access to a sleep medicine doctor, respiratory care practitioner and clinical psychologist. It can take time to adjust to sleeping with a PAP machine. Our team helps address any issues to ensure treatment success.
Depending on the diagnosis, your child may need:
Children with sleep disorders receive complete care from a team of experts. In addition to pediatric sleep medicine doctors and registered sleep technicians, your child’s care team may include:
Our expert team of pulmonology and sleep medicine specialists diagnoses and manages all types of breathing, lung and sleep issues in children. Learn more about our leading-edge Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine services.
Pulmonology and sleep medicine experts at CHLA welcome new patients, referrals and second opinions. Please contact us: