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Sleep habits and food allergies

861 views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  JaneS 
#1 ·
I've seen the connection between food allergies and sleep habits here before, but are they always related? My dd is 9 mo. and still takes really short naps (30 minutes or so, 2x a day). She sleeps with us for about 12 hours at night, waking 2 or 3 times. She also sometimes get really red cheeks during the day and after nursing...could that be a sign of an allergy? Can anyone help or show me any links that connect food allergies and sleeping? I didn't get any ideas when I posted at Life with a Babe.
 
#2 ·
There might have been a connection between my DD's food allergies and her sleep. Then again maybe not. I never found any studies that confirmed it.

She had a hard time sleeping. She wouldn't sleep any longer then 2 hours. Her whole 1st year of her life. I was one tried mama. She wanted to nurse every time after wakening too. She would not go back to sleep unless she did.

Once we found her allergies (at 12 months old) and was able to get it all out of her diet and mine (this took some trial and error) she became a great sleeper. If she messed up, I noticed she didn't sleep as well at night.

The thing is just sleep alone I don't thing would be enough to make me think food allergies. If there was other signs then I might think they were linked.

Oh besides the sleep issues, my DD had stopped gaining weight, and got a rash around her mouth when she had any contact with milk. Blotchy little red marks. They would fad in an hour or so.

How is her diaper and bowl movements?
 
#3 ·
Thanks for your thoughts.


Her stool seems normal, and I guess she has sensitive skin because just holding her, pressing against her skin leaves a red mark.

I guess I was just looking for an explantion to why she has such short naps, but sleeps pretty long stretches at night (6 hours or so). Her dad has some allergies, so I've been very conscious of noting any allergy-like symptoms.

Maybe I should move this to Sleep Problems...
 
#5 ·
I noticed a huge difference after we took out the allergens. He used to only take little cat naps and would often wake up in the middle of the night thrashing around crying. After we removed the foods he started taking a 2.5-3 hour nap and no more night thrashing. I notice when he eats something bad he's thrashing around kicking and screaming.
 
#6 ·
I have experienced my ds sleeping better after we removed allergens, as well as experiencing a growth spurt. Now we know when he has eaten an allergen in that he doesn't sleep well and he is also more aggressive.

The flushing of the cheeks IS a signal of an allergen... as well as lots of other things... Like soft squishy or multiple poops in one day, and a red sunburn looking around the anus.

From what I know, it seems like your daughter wouldn't necessarily have the same symptoms as your dh... but it's very important that you keep watching her for signs of allergies because it's very likely she has them... so you could keep them from becoming severe perhaps.

Many people do elimination diets to try to find out for themselves what it is that your baby is responding to. Generally, they say there are 6? foods that cause a majority of the allergies... those are Dairy, Eggs, Wheat, Soy, and ??, ?? Try eliminating these things one at a time and seeing if there is a difference. It could take up to a week to notice a difference... If after a period of time you don't see a clear difference you may want to consider that there is more than one allergy. If you have the resources, you might consider seeing a pediatric allergist.

We found ds had several allergies, including one to garlic.

I have more resources if you're wanting more feel free to pM me.
 
#7 ·
We also saw a huge improvement in dd's sleep after we started removing allergens. We discovered an allergy to gluten around 8 months and within a month of removing it from her system, she was doing alot better. Not perfect by any means, but much better. We recently have been dealing with bad wakeups again and have eliminated dairy from our diets. Low and behold, almost 3 weeks later, she's sleeping better again.

ITA with what JaneS says above.

My acupuncturist asked me if there seemed to be a pattern to dd's wakeups, and there is, usually they are the worst between 10-12pm and 3-5am. Apparently these time periods are associated with the large and small intestines, indicating issues with digestion and irritation in those systems. We weren't even talking about food allergies and she asked me if dd was allergic to anything because that was likely causing the problem.

Dd's more of a rashy type with her allergies so I don't know about the red cheeks. However, I notice that her cheeks get really flushed when she's teething. Teething can be a difficult time on the gut, as well as a baby's entire system; it may be that you see more allergy-related problems while a baby's teething because their whole system is under stress.
 
#8 ·
My dd (12 mos.) has slept 12 hours at night and only catnaps during the day since she was born.

I just eliminated dairy due to a persistant rash thats she's had for months.....it was gone in 4 days. Then I slipped (had a milk chocolate bar, duh) and it flared up again.

I havent yet noticed a change in her sleep habits, though we do EC and she's been peeing a lot less. I think thats because she's been finally eating some solids and nursing less.
 
#9 ·
Wow. Here I thought i was doing good with his allergies... I think im going to have to do an elimination diet for us.

For the past week or so hes been pooping nearly black stuff and his little bum is red where the poop touches it starting today.

I was just starting to worry about it and i stumble over here!

Ce la via
 
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