Food Sensitivities

amackattack · November 2014

Hello! I am a FTM to an almost 5 month old. Lately, we have been having tons of sleep issues with my babe. Last night she was up about every 25 minutes screaming in discomfort. I am convinced it's discomfort and not a behavioral problem. She falls asleep with almost no effort after being propped up, she doesn't like to suck her paci laying down, even if we bring her to bed she wakes screaming about every half hour. She is congested, and has had ear infections before. I could feel her tummy rumbling angrily through the night.

We EBF. My thought is, could she have a food sensitivity to gluten or dairy? I read that these sensitivities could cause cold symptoms and lead to ear infections. I'm wondering if the sensitivity is causing tummy issues and could even be causing congestion. Has anyone had any experience with similar symptoms, and giving up dairy or gluten?

Thanks for reading!

surpriseaddition · November 2014

At 5 months, it could also be teething. I know all of my kids tended to get runny noses, red cheeks, and slept really poorly when they were coming through. That wouldn't explain the stomach noises unless LO isn't eating as much as usual due to mouth pain. I would check her gums, and maybe start recording what I ate just in case, to try and see a pattern.

amackattack · November 2014

@surpriseaddition she does have two bottom teeth that already broke through the skin. Could teething seriously cause that much discomfort that it wakes her up repeatedly even when she's exhausted??

surpriseaddition · November 2014

OMG....yes! My LO is 18 months, and she got up at 11pm, 1am, 3am and up at 5am for the day just last night. She is teething her 4 eye teeth right now and I don't know who is more miserable....her or me! She's exhausted, cranky, but just can't sleep.

I have 2 kids who actually have food allergies (this LO has egg, and my older DS has peanut/nut). Food sensitivities usually show up earlier, with things like mucus in the stool, etc. I'm not saying it can't be a food issue, but if teething is going on, you may just want to try some Motrin before bed and see if LO sleeps any better. I'm not a doctor (of course) so check with your ped if you aren't comfortable giving medicine.

(Edited because in my sleep deprived state I don't know the difference between am and pm) hence.....the OMG at the beginning, aimed at my LO, not you!

amackattack · November 2014

@surpriseaddition well isn't that horrible news!!! I would rather give up all the foods I love than be stuck with this situation for the forseeable future. Although, of COURSE I don't want her to have food sensitivities.

What gives with the not wanting to be laid down though? Could that have to do with teeth? Could that even have to do with an upset tummy?

ETA: H is with her at the pedi now. Although this same thing happened a few weeks ago and I took her to urgent care and she was diagnosed as a fussy baby (no ear infections or other visible problems)....this was before she was even teething which makes me wonder again about the possibility of a food sensitivity.

surpriseaddition · November 2014

@lcgroenewe how did the doctor's appointment go? Like @casey78 above, my LO also had multiple bouts of ear infections and ended up with tubes. That's why I know the other night wasn't her ears since she wasn't having any discharge from the tubes. Luckily she woke only once last night for me. I'm hoping the same for you. Like my original response, I'd probably start a food journal to look for patterns. GL!

amackattack · November 2014

Thanks @surpriseaddition and @casey78 it's so good to hear that others have been there and come out alive! My H took her to the pediatrician yesterday...no ear infection. This is the second time she's acted just like she had another ear infection and we took her in to be told she doesn't have one. The doc thought it was just teething related and maybe the congestion and the teeth combined was enough to throw her over the edge. The doc said she didn't think it could be a food sensitivity because she thinks we would have seen signs of this way earlier. My fear is that it'll be like @casey78 says and I will realize she has food sensitivities in a few months. She does have congestion but none of the other symptoms, and she goes to DC so she gets the snuffles a lot. I will likely try cutting dairy and see how that goes. I am also so scared that this is just her personality now and she's realizing if she wakes up and cries we'll get her. Last week she was putting herself to sleep at night and sleeping for 6-7 hours. This week is completely different. She refuses naps in the evenings unless I nurse her and hold her...I work full time but yesterday H stayed home for the holiday and she pretty much refused naps as well. At DC she takes a 3 hour nap and a 1 hour nap just fine...I asked them how they did it and they said, we just put her down and she goes to sleep within 5 minutes! This makes me wonder is she waking herself up multiple times a night on purpose?? She even wakes frequently when we're sleeping in the bed with her (which, on really bad nights, we do), so it's not like she could be snuggled any harder at that point!

Last night we loaded her up with Tylenol which she didn't have the night before. She's big enough now to get the higher dose the doc said. I guess that seemed to help....she still woke up I think a total of 7 times (I fed her 3 of those times....the rest we gave the paci and she conked back out) but had no trouble being put back down in her own bed. That may sound like a lot....but that is significantly better than the night before.

I know this is the breastfeeding board and I'm straying from that topic but I'm wondering since it sounds like both of you have gone through what I'm going through....did you ever let them cry it out? Or did you not have manipulative babies at naptimes like i do?! Did you continue to nurse at night as long as they were waking up, and if so, was your baby eventually able to sleep through the night?

Thanks for reading if you made it this far!

[Deleted User] · November 2014

For sleep issues with a 5-month old, I would refer to the No Cry Sleep Solution or The Sleep Lady book. CIO is not appropriate for that young of a baby, especially if she's also not feeling well.
Re: food sensitivities, I agree you would probably be seeing other symptoms aside from fussiness and congestion... and teething is a likely culprit. She could also just have a little cold. The pressure of the congestion probably feels worse when she lays down. You might check with your pedi about trying ibuprofen instead of tylenol. I think you are supposed to wait until they are 6 months old for ibuprofen, but maybe if she's big enough or something your pedi will give the go ahead. Ibuprofen worked much, much better for my LO's pain than Tylenol. You could also try propping her mattress up a little.
Babies are hard to figure out sometimes. My DS also slept better for other people than for me for a long time. And every week being different is normal.

You guys might be waking her up at night if she's sleeping with you. At this age babies start becoming more aware of their surroundings. You might have more success putting her in her own room, maybe with some white noise. GL!

surpriseaddition · November 2014

I agree with PP. Sleep is always hard with babies. Please don't feel you won't get a good night's sleep for another year based upon my baby teething at 18 months. The teething goes in cycles....and the worse nights are right around when the teeth break through. Maybe that was the first time you took the baby to Urgent Care a couple weeks ago and they just said she was just fussy? Moving LO to her own room may help with night time disruptions like PP said. I've had many nights where LO has slept a good 10-12 hour stretch so it can be done. However, if you are having multiple nights of no sleep, maybe trade off with DH each taking a long nap on the weekend (one of you gets Saturday and the other Sunday). That has always helped us during the rough patches. I know my LO was constantly sick and congested after starting DC....that's just how it works until their immunities build up. Personally, I'm not a believer in CIO at any age - I just have waited until my LOs could sleep on their own. I know right now it seems like this stage will never end, but in the lifetime with your child, this is just a bat of an eye. My older two are 16 and 14, and I can barely remember getting up in the night for them. GL getting some sleep!

amackattack · November 2014

Thanks everyone! Lots of people on my month board have been having great success with Sleep Easy and I've been avoiding it and I think that was making me feel like we were really behind on the sleep thing and I was being too coddling or something. I just feel like I never know what I'm doing and I never know if I'm doing the right thing. Very glad to hear that what we're going through is normal, and it's likely not a concern with my milk.

Thanks again for the responses!

[Deleted User] · November 2014

Lcgroenewe said:

Thanks everyone! Lots of people on my month board have been having great success with Sleep Easy and I've been avoiding it and I think that was making me feel like we were really behind on the sleep thing and I was being too coddling or something. I just feel like I never know what I'm doing and I never know if I'm doing the right thing. Very glad to hear that what we're going through is normal, and it's likely not a concern with my milk.

Thanks again for the responses!

You might feel more at home on the Attachment Parenting board. Sleep Easy does not work with all babies, and it can be dangerous with an exclusively breastfed baby. All babies are different, some are good sleepers and some aren't, and they change.

I felt very unsure of myself as a new mom too. You are doing a great job just by paying attention to your LO and trying to do what is best for her. Hang in there! It gets easier as they get older and can communicate their needs better.

amackattack · November 2014

@casey78 thanks so much for the encouragement! I am glad to know that she does have the skill to put herself to sleep since she does it at daycare every day within 5 minutes with no tears. We do give a paci and white noise and at daycare she's still in a summer infant wrap sack which wraps her arms. We stopped wrapping her at home awhile ago so I don't want to back pedal back into that. She still sleeps in a pack and play in our room...we know we'll have to move her eventually but we just like having the whole family together for now :-/

Today I left work a few hours early because I've completely lost my voice. I picked up babe and we did hours of just skin to skin snuggles in bed and nursing and napping together. I think we both needed it! Whether it's a coincidence or a fluke or what...tonight I nursed the babe, got a huge burp out of her, and put her down in the pnp. She squiggled around a bit happily and in about 15 minutes rolled onto her side and fell asleep....which I have NEVER seen her sleep on her side. So I'm ecstatic! I think maybe I wasn't burping her enough because if she falls asleep nursing sometimes I just put her down without burping. Of course just when I think I've figured out what the problem was something new comes along.

Seriously...thanks for the encouragement ladies. I know this was a misguided post to begin with and I appreciate the responses!

surpriseaddition · November 2014

Yeah! Glad to hear it is going better. Moms are made to worry....if we weren't, I don't think we'd be doing our job! I hope you start getting some better sleep.

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