Is it genetic?

[yippiehippie]

I've had very mild insomnia on and off for my adult life, but it turned much worse after having kids. Both of my kids have issues sleeping (DS1 was awful sleeper until almost 2 and is now fine, DS2 is constantly tired from lack of sleep).

I just keep thinking what did I do??? Why do both of my kids have these issues and how did I contribute? I know everyone says some just sleep better than others but I just don't buy that, there's got to be a reason!

I'm thinking it's in our genes. I'm also a type A, and have a hard time relaxing, so I don't know if that just rubs off.

DS1's sleep got better around the time he weaned...is that a factor maybe? I'm gonna try transdermal magnesium (only tried ingesting extra), hoping that's it, but would love any other thoughts, advice, whatever. I'm going crazy here, I've turned into the strange monster I remember being when DS1 was around this age and don't think I can take another year of this:(

[BabySmurf]

I know that some people think that food allergy is over diagnosed, but for me, changing my diet makes an huge difference in my anxiety levels and sleep habits. 

In terms of sleeping, removing dairy was the biggest factor. I too had an anxious personality and would wake up often regardless of whether or not DS did, and it would usually take me a long time to fall asleep, even when I was exhausted.  After removing dairy, those symptoms went away, along with a few others I didn't realize I had.  I didn't feel great though, until I started eating a more ancestral diet, then my entire world changed.  It was amazing.  Now we do a Paleo/GAPS type hybrid, with the most important things being that we don't eat grain, corn, or dairy.  It was a life changing thing for us.

Weaning in and of itself does help some kids sleep better, but the fact that he sleeps better could also mean that there were triggers in your breast milk that were causing wakefulness in him.  I say that experimentation with the food can't hurt, and can help a lot. GL!
 

[Mulvah]

Originally Posted by yippiehippie 

I've had very mild insomnia on and off for my adult life, but it turned much worse after having kids. Both of my kids have issues sleeping (DS1 was awful sleeper until almost 2 and is now fine, DS2 is constantly tired from lack of sleep).

I just keep thinking what did I do??? Why do both of my kids have these issues and how did I contribute? I know everyone says some just sleep better than others but I just don't buy that, there's got to be a reason!

I'm thinking it's in our genes. I'm also a type A, and have a hard time relaxing, so I don't know if that just rubs off.

DS1's sleep got better around the time he weaned...is that a factor maybe? I'm gonna try transdermal magnesium (only tried ingesting extra), hoping that's it, but would love any other thoughts, advice, whatever. I'm going crazy here, I've turned into the strange monster I remember being when DS1 was around this age and don't think I can take another year of this:(

I don't have sleep issues, myself, but I make the crappiest babies in terms of sleeping.  My toddler is now a fantastic sleeper, but was horrible for the first year.  He night-weaned around that time, too.  Hmm....  My baby is a crappy sleeper, too.  I feel like it's something I'm doing wrong or eating, but I am too exhausted to play around with it all.  I already avoid certain foods and with some major life changes happening around here (in the midst of the exhaustion), I feel like this is the best I can do. 

From one monster to another, we'll make it through this.  Right?  Right? 

[IshaMT]

I have argued this point with my husband and others who feel that I may have contributed to my DD's horrible sleeping due to co-sleeping and not CIO. I have been a horrible sleeper most of my life. My mom loves to talk about it being payback time for what I put her through when I was a baby/kid. I remember having insomnia early on as a kid, and lots of anxiety related to sleeping. There were many nights with little to no sleep at all. This lasted through my life until I had my daughter, and was constantly so exhausted I rarely had trouble sleeping at night whenever I had the chance. My dad has also had insomnia throughout most of his life, and I believe my paternal grandmother did as well. So yes, I strongly believe genetics plays a huge role. My DD was two in June and has finally begun sleeping better. She still wakes up at night twice on average, but it's much better than it had been. I also have a four month old son, and he wakes every two to three hours, but this is normal I feel. He is already a MUCH better sleeper, and will hopefully be sleeping for longer stretches soon, and will take after his father who is a great sleeper!
 

[To-Fu]

Originally Posted by BabySmurf 

I know that some people think that food allergy is over diagnosed, but for me, changing my diet makes an huge difference in my anxiety levels and sleep habits. 

In terms of sleeping, removing dairy was the biggest factor. I too had an anxious personality and would wake up often regardless of whether or not DS did, and it would usually take me a long time to fall asleep, even when I was exhausted.  After removing dairy, those symptoms went away, along with a few others I didn't realize I had.  I didn't feel great though, until I started eating a more ancestral diet, then my entire world changed.  It was amazing.  Now we do a Paleo/GAPS type hybrid, with the most important things being that we don't eat grain, corn, or dairy.  It was a life changing thing for us.

Weaning in and of itself does help some kids sleep better, but the fact that he sleeps better could also mean that there were triggers in your breast milk that were causing wakefulness in him.  I say that experimentation with the food can't hurt, and can help a lot. GL!

 

I second the food angle! It really can't hurt to do an elimination diet and just see if it helps. If not, on to other things. Cutting out gluten was such a game-changer for our family in terms of sleep, which is why I mention it.

[yippiehippie]

I definitely agree w/the food angle too. We eat very healthy, are on a traditional foods/WAPF diet. However, I'm not nearly as careful what I eat as what I feed my little ones, so I wonder about that and the weaning. Maybe he was getting stuff in my milk I wouldn't give him. My older son now has been feeling cruddy and zoning out a lot the last couple weeks and, w/me and the babe sleeping so bad we're really trying to work on eating even better (like, no cheats - absolutely NO gluten/wheat, tho there was so little of that before). I'm to the point we're almost entirely grain free and everything's organic. But, like Mulva says, it's soooo hard to do this when you feel like a zombie (not to mention recently starting my own business so extremely busy and stressed, but I know whole foods will help that!). The other change is I've been doing more cow's milk. We normally get raw goat milk, but the supply is low this time of year, so we're subbing w/non-homogenized, pasturized cow milk. Ugh, guess I'll try to avoid that now:(

To-Fu - how long did it take after going completely GF to see a change in sleep??

[To-Fu]

Originally Posted by yippiehippie 

I definitely agree w/the food angle too. We eat very healthy, are on a traditional foods/WAPF diet. However, I'm not nearly as careful what I eat as what I feed my little ones, so I wonder about that and the weaning. Maybe he was getting stuff in my milk I wouldn't give him. My older son now has been feeling cruddy and zoning out a lot the last couple weeks and, w/me and the babe sleeping so bad we're really trying to work on eating even better (like, no cheats - absolutely NO gluten/wheat, tho there was so little of that before). I'm to the point we're almost entirely grain free and everything's organic. But, like Mulva says, it's soooo hard to do this when you feel like a zombie (not to mention recently starting my own business so extremely busy and stressed, but I know whole foods will help that!). The other change is I've been doing more cow's milk. We normally get raw goat milk, but the supply is low this time of year, so we're subbing w/non-homogenized, pasturized cow milk. Ugh, guess I'll try to avoid that now:(
To-Fu - how long did it take after going completely GF to see a change in sleep??

It took a few weeks for it to work itself out of his system. There were little improvements right away, but we remember a few weeks after cutting it out when we just realized it wasn't so bad anymore.

I mean, he's still an intense guy about sleep, but it's sooo much more deal-withable.

If you really want to go all the way, you have to eat the same things your son is eating or your breast milk will definitely keep on transferring those things that aren't good for his gut. :/