Infant Food Allergy Insomnia

Are you dealing with a baby that cries all night, and does not sleep much during the day? Maybe you can relate to this problem, and you are exhausted from trying to comfort your wailing baby at night. No matter what you do, your baby will not sleep. Of course, you have called your mother or mother-in-law, or just a trusted friend asking for advice. They might have told you that you have a colicky baby on your hands. However, this may not be the case at all. The real issue could be something that can be cleared up faster than you think. Your baby may have what is called infant food allergy. At this point, there is a good chance that your baby is allergic to milk products.

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If your baby is experiencing this infant food allergy, an allergic reaction to milk, this does not mean that by age four he or she won’t be able to tolerate milk products. But for now, milk is not going to work. Of course, you should not make this assumption on your own. You need to take your baby to the doctor first.

If your baby is allergic to cow's milk, which is in plenty of infant formulas, there will be other symptoms present too such as shortness of breath and stomach upset which may or may not include vomiting. Although food allergies are rarely a cause for insomnia in adults, infant food allergy can cause babies many sleepless nights.

Your baby's allergic reaction to cow's milk will cause his or her immune system to see the protein in the cows milk as a danger and they will try to fight it off, which is where all of the problems come in and the baby is very fussy and unable to sleep. This infant food allergy does not mean that they are lactose intolerant and it may not stay with them for the rest of their lives as they could very well outgrow it within a few years.

In the meantime the doctors will likely switch the baby to a soy based formula, unless of course you decide to breastfeed. If you do decide to start breastfeeding your baby, remember that if the infant food allergy is with cow's milk then you are going to have to avoid consuming all dairy products as well so that your baby does not get it through your milk.

While this article has centered on infant food allergy and their milk allergies that result in insomnia, it should be known that this can happen in children and adults with other food products as well. Sometimes it is very difficult to figure out what it is that you are allergic to, partnering with your doctor will help to assist you in keeping track of exactly what you, or your baby, is allergic to and from there monitor any pattern of insomnia.

This could be in the form of keeping a food diary as a way to find out the allergy, or infant food allergy, by a process of elimination.