Toddler Sleeping Issues

[AmyTopolski]

Hi, my daughter who is almost 3 is having terrible trouble sleeping at night. Luckily my husband can function on less sleep than I can, so he is the one who gets up with her. I feel terrible for both of them! Long story short, she started having all these symptoms at age two, not sleeping well, diet change, ect. Recently diagnosted with Celiac she emdiatley went on the diet and was a changed little girl. We then had more issues and went through all cleaning supplies, soaps, shampoo, ect. Another big impovement. After about three weeks completely gluten free she slept through the whole night! Lasted only a week. It seems to be worse when she as accidently come into contact with gulten. Now she is waking up every hour to hour and a half to sleep with my husband on the couch. He then puts her back to bed and she gets up again. I guess to get to the point, we are out of things to try and wondered who else has gone through this since it seems to be linked to the Celiac. I also have had sleep issues all my life. Not nearly as bad since going gluten free. Any suggestions would be a blessing!

Thanks,

Amy

[AndreaB]

I don't really have any answers. Does she sleep through the night at all anymore? On nights she doesn't does she always have contact with gluten? Is your house gluten free?

My daughter has problems sleeping through the night sometimes. Hers is generally some fear. She's almost 7. My husband sleeps in the living room next to her room to make her feel safer. She doesn't feel safe with the rooms being on separate ends of the house, wish we could find somewhere where the rooms are together. Maybe your husband could try sleeping on a mattress in her room or next to her room to see if that would make a difference. Is there some quiet, soothing music you could put on for her to help her go back to sleep?

Could there be other intolerances that could be causing problems? Maybe dairy or soy? They can lend themselves to the same intestinal problems as gluten. We just had intolerance testing done on our family. My daughter was up quite late last night due to stomach/intestinal distress.

[Michi8]

Hi, my daughter who is almost 3 is having terrible trouble sleeping at night. Luckily my husband can function on less sleep than I can, so he is the one who gets up with her. I feel terrible for both of them! Long story short, she started having all these symptoms at age two, not sleeping well, diet change, ect. Recently diagnosted with Celiac she emdiatley went on the diet and was a changed little girl. We then had more issues and went through all cleaning supplies, soaps, shampoo, ect. Another big impovement. After about three weeks completely gluten free she slept through the whole night! Lasted only a week. It seems to be worse when she as accidently come into contact with gulten. Now she is waking up every hour to hour and a half to sleep with my husband on the couch. He then puts her back to bed and she gets up again. I guess to get to the point, we are out of things to try and wondered who else has gone through this since it seems to be linked to the Celiac. I also have had sleep issues all my life. Not nearly as bad since going gluten free. Any suggestions would be a blessing!

Thanks,

Amy

I wish I had an answer for you. My daughter (now 4yo), used to wake up every couple of hours to eat when she was still nursing ('til 2yo). The wakeful times spread out a bit after weaning and as she got older, but she still has a tendency to wake at least once in a night...and I either end up in bed with her or she comes to my bed. I do know that she has trouble with itchy skin (eczema) that would wake her frequently. Giving benadryl along with using Protopic helps a lot. I think, though, that she is also just one of those people who wakes up at night, and probably always will.

Michelle

[AmyTopolski]

I don't really have any answers. Does she sleep through the night at all anymore? On nights she doesn't does she always have contact with gluten? Is your house gluten free?

Her last incident with gluten was about a week ago. Her mood usually take 3 weeks to change after gluten. She just seems to not sleep through the night anymore. Our home is completely gluten free. If she can't have it it's not here. She does seem to be afraid of something, but do to her age she is not able to tell us. She is fine if my husband is in bed with her or on the couch with her. She still wakes up a lot but does not try to leave the room. We have even tried putting her in our bed but she will not have it. The couch I guess is like her safe haven. Is there anything wrong with that? Also a little selfish I don't want my husband out of our bed or I can't sleep

[AndreaB]

Also a little selfish I don't want my husband out of our bed or I can't sleep

Had to chuckle over that. I actually sleep better with my hubby in the other room. He gets up at all hours since he is a driver. If he had set hours it would work much better for me. Also, the little one is in our room and will be until he is between 2-3.

What about setting up her bed in a corner of your room for a little bit? I've always had the kids in the room with me until they were a little older. My daughter and son moved out at the same time....she was 5, he was 2. With my daughter, when she was born we had problems with one of my stepsons and I didn't trust having her out of my room. We moved when she was almost 4 but didn't want to move her out when her younger brother was still with us. They have always had there own beds though.

There is nothing wrong with her liking the couch. You need to work out something that works for everyone involved. I'm just sorry I don't have a definitive answers for you, just throwing some things out....brainstorming.

[AmyTopolski]

I'm just sorry I don't have a definitive answers for you, just throwing some things out....brainstorming.

Don't be sorry. Thanks for the suggestion! It's just noce to know we're not the only ones going through it and to see what others are doing. Thank you so much!

[wonkabar]

Hi, my daughter who is almost 3 is having terrible trouble sleeping at night. Luckily my husband can function on less sleep than I can, so he is the one who gets up with her. I feel terrible for both of them! Long story short, she started having all these symptoms at age two, not sleeping well, diet change, ect. Recently diagnosted with Celiac she emdiatley went on the diet and was a changed little girl.

Hi Amy! I can tell you from our experience that once we removed gluten from our son's diet he miraculously began sleeping through the night. He was just about 3 when we started the gluten-free diet. Before this, he consistently woke up on the average 3-4 nights . He would cry and yell and usually be up anywhere from 1-3 hours and often wanted something to eat. We'd give him something like Cheerios, pretzles or goldfish thinking it wouldn't be too heavy on his stomach in the middle of the night...who knew at the time! We truly had no idea why he was waking up like this. There was no particular rhyme or reason, and although he was little it still didn't make any sense to us. Needless to say, we were exhausted b/c we also had an infant at the time who was regularly getting up over night 1 or 2 times for her feeidngs. I was absolutely exhausted! Now, the only reason he's waking up at night sometimes is b/c he just started to potty train and I think the sensation to go pee-pees disturbs his sleep. He goes right back to bed though...thank God! The gluten-free diet has made him a much happier camper across the board!

[GFBetsy]

More Brainstorming . . .

Just wanted to add a "Ditto" on the Dairy/Soy suggestion. My friend's little girl (who is gluten free) wakes up all night long when she's had dairy - she has nightmares, too, which make it harder for her to go back to sleep. And sometimes the secondary issues don't rear their ugly heads until the main issue of gluten has been dealt with.

My friend also told me that she has recently started giving her daughter a multi-vitamin, and it seems to have helped her to sleep better.

Don't know if this is helpful, but I hope so! Good luck!

[AmyTopolski]

More Brainstorming . . .

Just wanted to add a "Ditto" on the Dairy/Soy suggestion. My friend's little girl (who is gluten free) wakes up all night long when she's had dairy

Thanks for the extra advice. To address the addtional allergy topic, she is allergic to eggs(just found out about 3 weeks ago) and has been lactose intolerant since day one. I never thought about dairy in general because when she has done better she was still drinking her lactose free milk. Not sure if we should think about dairy at this point.

[Guest nini]

I would eliminate all dairy at this point and see if it helps. I certainly remember many many sleepless nights with my daughter before our dx... (when either of us are glutened we can't sleep) but dairy can affect some Celiacs much the same way... if she is intolerant to the protein casein in dairy, she may or may not outgrow that, but for the time being, eliminate it and see what happens, if that doesn't work try eliminating soy as well. (I believe elimination diets are the most effective way of finding out what's going on) things like this are usually food intolerance related (sure they can be from other things but this is as good a place as any to start looking)

[Ursa Major]

I agree with the dairy/soy suggestion. If she wants milk with her cereal, use rice milk (not Rice Dream, it's not gluten-free), or almond milk or some other gluten-free milk other than soy milk (I think soy milk is gross anyway ). Also, can you have a sleeping bag on an air mattress (or some similar arrangement) in your room for her, when she needs to be close to you?

Michelle, in my experience, ALL eczema is caused by food intolerances. You may want to have your daughter tested, or try an elimination diet, to clear up her eczema.

Three of my four older grandchildren (as well as their dad) used to have awful eczema. The oldest was covered in scaly eczema from head to toe, cracked and bleeding. Another one had open sores, it was that bad. They were tested by a naturopath with something called a Vega machine for intolerances (not the same as allergies).

The oldest ones biggest problem was dairy (all of it), as well as combinations (very hard, if not impossible, to figure out on your own) of eggs with grain and tomatoes with grain, as well as soy. When Sarah took her off all those, her skin cleared up within weeks, and she has the most gorgeous clear skin now. Her little sister took a little longer to clear up completely (her biggest offender was the nightshade family, as well as her twin brother's, their dad's problem was sugar, he is severely intolerant to sugar), but her eczema is gone now as well. Their dad and brother's skin cleared up, too (they weren't quite as bad, but bad enough).

My youngest daughter used to have eczema as well. I never gave her much milk, and she never ate cheese (fortunately, she always hated it, and refused to eat it even when a toddler). We now know that she is casein intolerant, and cheese makes her throw up and gives her awful stomach aches. Whenever she doesn't sneak ice cream, or her dad's cream to put into her smoothies, her eczema is gone.

[prinsessa]

My son (3 also) doesn't have a problem staying asleep (he might wake up once a night), but he has problems going to sleep. Sometimes he won't go to sleep until 11. I am exhausted because I don't really get to relax and he is crabby all day from not sleeping enough. I don't really have any advice, but I just wanted to let you know you aren't alone with the sleep issues. Hopefully she will sleep better the longer gluten is out of her system and I would also check for other intolerances. I know it takes me weeks to recover from a glutening (problems falling asleep). ((((HUGS))))

[AmyTopolski]

Thanks again to everyone, for all your advice. It is much appreciated!

[Michi8]

Michelle, in my experience, ALL eczema is caused by food intolerances. You may want to have your daughter tested, or try an elimination diet, to clear up her eczema.

We've done some allergy testing already. No foods showed up at this point (but I am aware this could change). She is allergic to pollens, mold, mildew, animal dander, etc. Her flare ups tend to happen more in the summer months...so I suspect that environmental allergens (especially grasses) play a large role. We also have carpets thoroughout the house, and the previous owners had a dog (couldn't find a house without pets...dog dander was easier on my asthma than cat dander, and we cleaned the house top to bottom before we moved in.) We can't afford to change out the carpet yet, but it is in the plans.

She also has the start of asthma that flares in the fall (molds are suspect.) That said, our 1st dermatologist said that eczema is not related to allergies (yeah, right!) and that she'll just suffer with it for the rest of her life. We've since switched to a new, well respected dermatologist (who is also an internist) who has confirmed it's eczema, but thinks that she'll outgrow it in 1-2 years. Personally, I've always thought there is something dietary at play, and we're working out diagnosis...I'm doing testing, my eldest child is going through testing, and so will my daughter. Unfortunately, it's a lengthy process...I'm hoping that everything really starts falling into place once I have my biopsy done at the end of November.

Michelle

[AmyTopolski]

We also have carpets thoroughout the house, and the previous owners had a dog (couldn't find a house without pets...dog dander was easier on my asthma than cat dander, and we cleaned the house top to bottom before we moved in.) We can't afford to change out the carpet yet, but it is in the plans.

My younger daughter also has severe seasonal and cat allergies. When we bought our van we did not know they owned a cat. A good steam vac and allergen reducing cleaner did the job. Her eyes no longer swell when she gets in. Hope this info helps!

Amy

[Ursa Major]

Michelle, I found that even before we knew what caused Susie's eczema, it helped a lot to give her evening primrose oil (swallowing the pills may be a problem, but you can open them and put it into food or drink, or just rub it onto the rash, it gets into her bloodstream that way, too), and a good multivitamin.

Amy, fog in the fall is a huge problem with asthma. I grew up in Hamburg, Germany. The weather is comparable to London, England, with a LOT of fog in the fall and winter. Many years I hardly managed to go to school in the fall. Now I know why (the allergist explained it to me), there is dust in fog! I am very allergic to dust. I am also highly allergic to dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, as well as dust mites, tobacco smoke and mold (my worst allergies), birch and maple pollen, and ragweed and plantain. Plus, of course, a lot of smells (perfumes, hairspray, cleaners etc. make me very sick, and I hold my breath if I have to walk through those smelly isles in the store).

I order all my cleaning supplies online (Lame Advertisement), and can thankfully bypass those isles at the store most of the time. But even those nice, environmentally friendly, non-toxic cleaners make me sick, because they put salicylates into the air when used! I guess I can't win. So, sometimes I have to choose between being sick from mold in the toilet, or from the cleaners I have to use, since nobody else here will usually do the cleaning (sigh), I don't get a lot of support. I have too many issues and get tuned out and ignored.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Sometimes sleep issues have nothing to do with diet. My oldest son did not sleep through the night until he was 8 (and that was when we borrowed the neighbor's dog, who slept all night with him!), but when he was 4, he did learn to come into our room very quietly and get into the little bed we set up for him in the corner.. Our second slept through the night at 6 weeks--but that disappeared the day I went back to work. When he was a year old, I moved him into a bed with his brother.

I have found that all our children do sleep much, much better when they have had about an hour of playing or exercising OUTDOORS, and when they have had more "Mommy-time." (which is very difficult when working, but you do what you have to do to make ends meet...)