How often did your baby with dairy intolerance wake before diagnosis?

[Needsweetstosurvive]

I still can't decide whether DS might be dairy intolerant or not. He is 11.5 months, never STTN but does sometimes do stretches of 4 - 5 hours but more often wakes every 2 - 3 hours. He doesn't have any other symptoms, maybe a bit windy at night but that is it. No skin or toileting issues really TMI but sometimes fills nappy once a day, sometimes up to 6 times. Consistency can change quite rapidly in one day but never constipated or diahorrea. Am I just clutching at straws thinking the waking could be dietary related? He doesn't seem particularly upset when waking, settles down quite quickly and self settles at bedtime so I know he can do it!

Tbh that doesnt sound like a dairy intolerance to me. My ds was & he had reflux, frequent explosive nappies (I mean right up the back to his shoulders), eczema & facial rashes, & irritable a lot of the time. His night sleep was actually quite goodaside from permanent early waking but I dont attribute that to the intolerance.

Is your ds bf? What happens when he wakes at night? Is he looking to feed or need to be rocked/cuddled back to sleep?

He was quite a sicky baby until 6 months then it cleared up, tried gaviscon a couple of times but made him constipated so just rode it out until it disappeared. He is bf, he doesn't feed in the night. We just go in, tuck him back in, maybe pat his bum for a minute or two then leave. He usually settles quite quickly but sometimes we have to repeat this a few times. Then he will generally sleep for another 2 - 3 hours or sometimes wake up after an hour. We never pick him up. He settles himself at bedtime in his cot but takes a while to go to sleep - I have to go in and out a few times to lay him down and tuck him in before he drops off but I'm not in his room when he eventually falls asleep. So no feeding, rocking or cuddling to sleep and never comes into our bed.

goodness if that amount of waking is a dairy intolerance mine must be allergic to everything ever

Ha ha Shoop, like I said, I'm probably clutching at straws! He has improved from the weeks of hourly wakings and being awake for hours in the night but I still thought the amount he wakes is excessive for his age, particularly since we don't have any specific 'habits'. It might just be a coincidence but I was pretty certain he seemed to wake up more after having cheese or a yogurt in the day. But he doesn't seem uncomfortable when he wakes and settles quite quickly.

I think 11.5 months is very late for dairy intolerance to show up. Mine went through a night where he woke up every 20 minutes. Following that, he had poos lots of times a day (after being one of those one-a-weekers!) and a really raw, weeping nappy rash.

His sleep never really recovered but it also coincided with the four month sleep regression. He didn't stop waking every 2-3 hours until I night weaned him around a year old.

Every 45 minutes. For two years.

OMG, I've suspected it for a couple of months now, how many poos is lots? Mine can some times go up to 6 times a day, sometimes only once or twice but no nappy rash.

askalice That sounds so tough, maybe I should shut up and stop complaining! Just don't like the thought that if it were an intolerance I can do something about it and maybe improve the night wakings. Also I read that if I keep feeding him dairy when he has an intolerance it could damage his gut?

If you're really worried about it then it might be worth seeing a consultant who's experienced. DS was intolerant to dairy and soya, and also tomatoes. The proteins of all of these got through my breast milk, so I had to cut them all out. Once he started solids, he was intolerant to most fruit. However, he outgrew it by age two and now has no problem with anything. Your baby's sleep goes sound within the realms of normal, but if you have any concern at all then get it checked out.

So he had cheese sauce for lunch yesterday and only woke twice last night..... Clutching at straws it is then!

Still, the sleep deprivation from your point of view can be pretty hard to take - it's a shocker, isn't it? Just make sure to take care of yourself.

If it provides any hope - when DS got to age two, he suddenly started sleeping through the night, and has done so ever since, even when ill. I do know a few people who had babies who were great sleepers, but when they turned into toddlers their sleep went to pot. And I think it's much easier to deal with a non-sleeping baby (at least you can keep him safe with not too much effort), than a non-sleeping toddler, who might be verbal, jumping about, and need a great deal of active supervision.