If you’re like me, you may have found yourself noticing that these days, many children seem to have food allergies and food sensitivities. SO many of my sons’ friends have milk allergies, or gluten allergies, or nut allergies. In fact, I sometimes wonder to myself, “Is it just me, or do far more kids have food allergies today than they did when I was young?”
Turns out that my speculation is, in fact, correct. It doesn’t just seem like way more kids have food allergies and sensitivities today than they did 25 or 30 years ago; they actually do. A 2011 study in the journal Pediatrics revealed that food allergies are on the rise among children.
Today, it’s estimated that 8% of children under 18 suffer from food allergies; that percentage used to be closer to 2%, just a decade or two ago. And while experts believe that about 6 million children under 18 have food allergies today, just 3 million suffered from food allergies and sensitivities in 2007.
Given those statistics, we know that it’s likely a fair number of you, our readers, are struggling with food allergies and sensitivities in your own home. For that reason, we’re dedicating today’s article to the topic of food allergies — specifically, how your baby or toddler’s food allergies may be affecting her sleep.
Food Allergies and Food Sensitivities: Some Background Information
This article is mainly about how your little one’s food allergies and sensitivities impact sleep, so we won’t get into a lengthy discussion about the details of food allergies and sensitivities here. For detailed information about signs of food allergies, types of food allergies, substitutes for common allergens, and tips for managing food allergies and sensitivities check out this series.
How Food Allergies and Sensitivities Affect Your Baby’s or Toddler’s Sleep
Some symptoms of food allergies are so extreme, they’re hard to miss: vomiting, wheezing, widespread rash, etc. Other times, however, (especially when it comes to food sensitivities) the symptoms are far more subtle. And since food sensitivities sometimes cause delayed reactions, your child may not necessarily show any symptoms for hours, or even a day or two, after eating a particular food.
Sleep symptoms definitely fall into that second category. They’re not nearly as obvious as vomiting or wheezing, but sleep problems are a definite side effect of food allergies and sensitivities. Specifically, sleep problems that stem from food allergies will show up in two big ways:
Daytime Drowsiness:
It might be odd to consider drowsiness a problem for babies and toddlers; I know many of you would love it if your little one were nice and drowsy at naptime or bedtime! But the kind of drowsiness that a food allergy or sensitivity produces is more of a “brain fog” kind of drowsiness. You may notice that your baby seems especially sluggish, or that your toddler seems “fuzzy” and unable to focus. And this “brain fog” may not manifest until hours after mealtime.
Nap Time / Bedtime Sleeplessness:
Usually, the lack of sleep related to food allergies or sensitivities can be traced to digestive issues — gas, or indigestion, may make your baby or toddler too uncomfortable to relax and fall asleep. Food allergies and sensitivities can also cause other problems, like ear infections, that can then produce sleeplessness.
While sleeplessness is a common side-effect of food allergies and sensitivities, we often don’t recognize it as such. We tend to chalk sleeplessness in our babies and toddlers up to problems like teething, or sleep associations. And while those are definite causes of nighttime waking and nap time drama, it’s helpful to remember that food allergies may be at the heart of a baby’s or toddler’s sleep problems.
Case in point: a UK study revealed that in a group of 13 month old babies who were waking often at night for no apparent reason, the majority of them slept significantly better when they were taken off cow’s milk and milk products.
Interestingly, one of our very own readers sent us an e-mail recently and confirmed that her experience was similar to that of the parents whose babies participated in the UK study. Jen says this:
Hi Nicole! I have been reading your newsletters and using your site for a few months. It really does help (especially in the middle of the night) to know that others are having the same problems. My son, who is now 7 months started to become a difficult sleeper around 3.5 months- overnight and at naptime. I nurse him to sleep and was having to do so every couple of hours. He would also only nap if I was holding him or walking him in the stroller.
After he had a reaction to eating yogurt, we discovered that he is allergic to milk. While he was not having severe symptoms from the milk products in my breast milk, such as blood in stool and rashes, it seems he was becoming very gassy and likely had stomach pains. Since I have removed dairy from my diet, he has been exponentially better at sleeping. I can put him down awake in the crib and he will nap for 2 hours! Twice a day! The best surprise came last night when he slept for 9 straight hours! It is very difficult to avoid dairy- it is found in surprising places. We even discovered that the infant toothpaste we were using on him twice a day contained milk products!
While I know that this is not likely the case for everyone, I thought I would share with you. Maybe even one other sleep deprived mom could benefit.
What To Do About Your Baby’s or Toddler’s Food Allergies and Sensitivities
Again, this article is mainly about sleep, so we won’t get into all the ins-and-outs of managing food allergies here. For details about how to handle your little one’s food allergies and sensitivities, check out this article.
What we will tackle in this article are a few general pointers about what steps you can take if you suspect that your baby or toddler is suffering from food allergies / sensitivities that are affecting her sleep. Those steps include…
- …switching to a new formula. If your feed your baby formula, and you suspect that she may have a milk allergy or sensitivity, you can switch to a hypoallergenic formula. However, make sure that you discuss any formula changes with your baby’s healthcare provider before taking action. A doctor will be able to provide recommendations that are tailored to your baby’s unique needs.
- …modifying what you eat, if you breastfeed. Remember, the foods that you eat pass into your breast milk. If you suspect that your baby has an allergy to a specific food (like dairy, for instance), remove that food from your diet. Read more information here.
- …trying an elimination diet. This will work for toddlers, and for babies who are eating solids. If you think that a specific food is causing sleep problems, eliminate that food and then watch your baby or toddler closely to see if his sleep improves. It’s also important to note that it may be difficult to test for a food sensitivity which is why an elimination diet can be helpful in finding out what foods your baby or toddler might be sensitive to and which they may outgrow as they get older.
Remember, before taking any of the steps listed above, you should talk to your baby’s healthcare provider.
Of course, a food allergy may not be to blame for your little one’s sleep issues. If that’s the case, we can help with that, too! If you need help getting your baby to sleep through the night, or help teaching your toddler better sleeping habits, we’re here for you. Same goes for naps — we have the resources you need to get your baby or toddler on a good daytime schedule.
Does your baby or toddler struggle with food allergies or sensitivities? How are you managing them? Any tips to offer other parents?
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Emily DeJeu says
@ Sara – well said! Thanks for sharing the details of your experience. Will be very helpful to moms in similar situations 🙂
@ Jennifer – so sorry to hear your little guy is struggling! I’d recommend taking him to see a doctor, so that you can get a proper diagnosis. We really can’t offer any medical advice, since we’re not healthcare professionals, and since we don’t know your situation. Best of luck to you, Jennifer!
@ Erin – way to go! Glad you were able to figure out exactly what your little one’s food issues were. And thanks for sharing these details; I think info like this is so helpful to other parents.
Emily DeJeu says
@ Jill – wow! So glad you got this figured out, and that your daughter is sleeping better now. Thanks for sharing this story!
@ Erin – oh, man, eating a restricted diet must be tough for you :(. But I’m glad you’re starting to figure this out! Hope that you get the allergies sorted out soon, Erin. Thanks for commenting!
@ Susan – I’ve never heard of this, so thanks for sharing this info! Very helpful. And so glad you stood your ground with the doctor, and got your daughter tested. Thanks for sharing your story, Susan!
@ Elizabeth Tapp – I was surprised to find, in my research, that so many odd symptoms are connected to food sensitivities and allergies. Makes them that much tougher to diagnose, as you’ve no doubt discovered! Good luck to you, Elizabeth. And thanks for commenting!
@ Rebecca B – yes! I totally agree. There’s no easy way to diagnose food allergies and sensitivities, and much of the burden falls on parents to figure it out themselves. So glad you were able to sort out your little one’s issues! Thanks for commenting, Rebecca.
Erin says
My almost 1 year old daughter has had painful gas at night since about 3 weeks old. I ended up cutting dairy, egg, onions, broccoli, peppers, and anything spicy out of my diet. That reduced the problem. We then got her on a probiotic. That reduced the night screaming even more. We also used Colic calm anytime she woke screaming and gassy. That helped her settle quicker. When she turned about 9 months old and we had started her on solids, I noticed she was spitting up after eating puffs when she hadn’t spit up in a couple months. We then tried a barley cereal on her and she threw it all up an hour later. So we decided to stay on oatmeal. I had to get a different oatmeal because they were out of our original brand and after starting her on that she got diarrhea and was up all night again. We discovered the new oatmeal had wheat in it! I cut that out and the diarrhea and up all night stopped again. So now I know she has a dairy, gluten and egg sensitivity for sure if not allergy. I am going to ask her doctor about it when we go in for her 1 year appointment. Hopefully our discoveries will help others who are encountering the same thing! She only wakes 1 to 2 times a night now and it’s obvious she is hungry because she eats and goes back to sleep. She doesn’t fuss for anything else and can fall asleep on her own when she wakes in the middle of the night and isn’t hungry. I’m still nursing so I’m hoping when we get her on coconut milk she will sleep through the night like my first did (she woke twice a night to eat till she was on coconut milk. It seemed to stay with her longer than breast milk).
Jennifer says
Hi, i have a three year old son. He is growing so well and there is something that I’ve noticed about his stomach, its growing big and it is so strange. sometimes he suffers from stomach ache. he is asthmatic, one it attacks his then he has constipation and rash, temperature rising. please help me because I don’t know what is wrong with him. he sometime wakes up at night crying and says he feels some pains in his stomach. Jennifer
Sara says
I have two boys, and both have acid reflux, however our second also has multiple food intolerances including milk and soy protein intolerances. He would wake all night long sometimes less than once a sleep cycle. He isn’t a cryer, but would wriggle, grunt, squirm, whimper, pass wind and spit up.
This is not normal behaviour, I fought for 8 months of his life to finally have him healthy once taken off almost all solids, on amnio acid formula and supplements to help heal his damaged gut. Within days of these changes his sleep would improve from 10 + night waking to 2 (one 6 hr + stretch) intolerances and digestion sensitivities are hard to diagnose, and often are mistaken for structural reflux, colic and/or constipation. Trust your gut mummas I’ve learnt it’s rarely wrong.
Rebecca B says
My son, now almost 14 months has cow dairy, wheat gluten and egg yolk sensitivities plus a few others. We fund this out at around 9 months. Before this he was waking every 1-2 hours at night screaming in pain. Our Dr said it was reflux or bad sleep habits etc but my husband and I were not convinced so we did our own research and tests. After changing his and my diet (i am still breastfeeding) he is sleeping much better. Still waking 1-2 times a night for some refreshments but does not scream in pain all night long anymore. Thank goodness! If only. more drs would look into this before just assuming reflux or sleep associations etc.
Elizabeth Tapp says
I’m a dietitian and my daughter broke out in bad eczema at 3 months. I removed so much from my diet and it was gone until a round of antibiotic for an ear infection. I found it fascinating that this article linked them to ear infections! I just ordered some bloodwork and plan to follow a very customized diet for food allergy/sensitivities and inflammation. Oh,,,it’s been so rough. This really is true, at least in our case, that she will wake often appearing for no reason. I know she can’t feel good although she acts as though she doesn’t notice the eczema at all.
Susan says
We also had difficulties with my daughter’s sleep, which got a lot worse after starting her on solids. It was a baby food blog that led me to the discovery that there is a condition called fructose malabsorbtion, which has similar symptoms as lactose intolerance. Her body lacks an enzyme to absorb fructose, a simple sugar found in fruits, but sucrose (regular granulated sugar) also breaks down into fructose and glucose. The symptoms are tummy aches, gas, and diarrhea. Since her intestines are irritated by the fermenting sugars, it also leads to vitamin deficiencies, in her case vitamin D and iron, which lead to delaying teething and slow hair growth. Although her doctor doubted that she had any serious problems, we got a refferal to test her, and she indeed turned out to have fructose malabsorption. We had to start her on a very restricted diet after the diagnosis, basically no fruits or sweets, but it paid off, she sleeps much better, has been steadily sleeping through the night for months now. Her teeth grew out rapidly after the new diet, and her once almost bold head is now full of gorgious hair.
Erin says
Oh your article just confirmed my suspicion! Everytime I had dairy on my diet, my baby would be very unsettled at night and have nappy rash the next morning. The worst offender was cooking cream! She could wake up every half an hour screaming and crying in pain.
The same thing happened when I had fresh fruit juices and smoothies (even though I substituted the dairy with soy milk). Certain fruits trigger her reflux so badly that now I can only consume banana and pear.
Bee says
It may not be the fruit that is a problem. Soy is not normally an appropriate substitute for cows milk if your little one has milk protein sensitivity as soy has a similar protein.
jill says
We have struggled with our daughter’s sleep since day one. By the time she was almost one, she was still waking up every 2 hours all night long. We got a sleep plan from Nicole, and implemented the strategies. Some of them seems to help as far as getting her to sleep, but she would still wake up throughout the night, some times staying awake for up to 4 hours at a time! We were all exhausted. We tried revamping our sleep plan, but it did not seem to help. It was at that point that my friend suggested that perhaps my daughter had a food sensitivity that was affecting her mental state, keeping her overly energized and awake. we did an elimination diet, and realized that my daughter is sensitive to gluten. she does not have an allergy, she just gets very hyperactive, and will not sleep, if she has any more than a tiny amount of gluten in her diet. after 2 weeks of being gluten free, she was sleeping through the night, and falling asleep easily. it was like a light switch went off. I’m so thankful that we figured this out, or we would probably still be getting zero sleep to this day!