# food allergies and night waking



## nichole (Feb 9, 2004)

hello

i keep seeing mentioned that sometimes night waking is the only sympton of food allergies. i think my son (10 months) might have a food allergy or maybe teething is just really bothering him. last night was just awful. no sooner had he fallen asleep, he would start crying or crawling-all night long. he also woke up w/ a rash on his face this morning. he has had this rash before but i just can't figure it out. i know it could be teething and he is learning to walk, but he has been sleeping poorly for hmm months now i think. ppl are like man i am so tired, my baby woke up 2x last night. and i'm like um, ok my baby wakes up at least every 2 hours. he can't be hungry- he eats A LOT in the day, and patting his back or rocking works but i'm just too tired to do that at 2am or whatever. oh yeah we also have a cold. so i guess that could be it but still there is the rash w/ it's unknown cause. there is so much going on as you can see and that is why it is so hard to figure out! oh and let's not forget seperation anxiety. who knows?!?!

so i was wondering if you guys could share info on nightwaking and how it relates to allergies. does anyone have any links or info? i can easily find a list of foods that are common allergens, but is there a list that is more likely to cause night waking?

i am doing a food journal. starting today! more like a sleep journal. any tips?

i'm sorry this post is all over the place. in my heart i feel something is bugging my son and i want to figure it out. you guys are the experts.


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## stafl (Jul 1, 2002)

allergies can affect the skin, even without a rash, it might be itchy and owie. I, myself, can't sleep when I itch all over (and I have lots of allergies, certain foods, anything with artificial fragrance in it, most soaps, shampoos, lotions...)
It almost sounds to me that the drool from his teething is reacting with maybe your laundry detergent to cause a rash on his face. And that same detergent might be making him itchy all over, keeping him up at night. Or maybe it's whatever skin care products you use on him.

the food journal is a good idea. I would also recommend you switch to an unscented laundry detergent and no fabric softener, just in case. Oh, I'd also probably skip soap and shampoo and lotion (or use something natural and unscented) when you bathe him, in case that's contributing to the problem.









Dr. Sears on nightwaking:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/t070400.asp
Dr. Sears on allergies:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/t080500.asp
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t041800.asp


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## canadiangranola (Oct 1, 2004)

you might want to do a food journal for yourself as well, assumign you are still nursing, it may be somehting you are eating that is upsetting his little tummy.
I amso wanted to say that it seems to me that waking every two hours at night is not uncommon (although it sucks) for co-sleeping/nursing 10 month olds. (just my observtions, from the number of people i have talked to for whom it is/was a concern at that age. I know it was for us too.

Sleep and rest to you and your babe,
anno


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## nichole (Feb 9, 2004)

hey stafl

i'm still reading and thinking about the links you provided. i switched to an all natural soap for him a while back and switched detergents. but just in case i am going to switch to allen's naturally detergent for a while. we use it on the diapers anyway and have no probs there. i wonder if it is just from drool, but it is worth a try.

i started the food journal- more like a sleep journal. i haven't seen any relationship to food yet. i am still trying to figure it out. one weekend we kinda just coslept and conapped the whole weekend until i caught up on my sleep and i don't know if it was a coincidence but he started sleeping better after that. not great but we are at least getting 2 hours in a row. i tried conapping more but i just couldn't fall asleep and he didn't sleep that long so i put him in his crib the next few days for naps and he napped great. like 2 hours in a row w/o me soothing him back to sleep. if something was bothering him don't you think that he would not nap well and he would be cranky during the day too?

i know some babies don't sleep well, but i would hate for him to be physically hurting and i didn't at least try to figure it out. every once in a while someone comes on here and says oh my dc was allergic to wheat and once we figured that out they started sleeping through the night. or once we got warmer jammies or a humidifier or whatever! so maybe he just isn't a good sleeper and i feel like i'm being a little neurotic trying a million different things. at least it is a little better for now


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## nichole (Feb 9, 2004)

canadiangronola

thanks for the reply. i wasn't very clear that the most we slept was 2 hours in a row when i wrote that message. sometimes we were up every 30 mins- an hour. but that has seemed to pass and *for now* we get like 2 hours or more in a row which is really nice. so maybe there is nothing wrong at all and he is just a normal ten month old.







i really try not to look at the clock, but i could just tell before that it was not normal. it seemed like as soon as i drifted off, he was up again. omg, it was torture. thanks again.


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