Whole milk and sleep ???

[egoldber]

So at playgroup on Friday, several moms were complaining that their "babies" had recently started sleeping more poorly. Waking up earlier, napping less, etc. All the babies in my playgroup are within a few weeks in age, so pretty much all have recently turned two and just had their two year appointments with their various pediatricians. Of course, all these peds recommended moving from whole milk to 1% or 2% and limiting the amount of milk in a day.

We started comparing notes. Pretty much all our sleep problems arose immediately after many of us had switched our "babes" from whole milk to 1%. We were wondering if the sudden drop in fat content in our kids diets could be causing sleep trouble. Are we crazy? Or could there be something to this?

Any thoughts from those with older toddlers?

Thanks!

[lmintzer]

How strange! An interesting hypothesis . . . I've never heard anyone make that connection before. I wouldn't want to take a stance one way or another on this one, but we definitely did not experience this with Jack. His sleep started improving around 1 year and continued to get better until about 22 months. Since then, he's been pretty stable (11 hours straight at night with the occassional wakeup--maybe once a week--for his paci or to be covered) and a single 1-2 hour nap during the day.

We did switch his milk from whole to 2% at 24 months and didn't notice any changes at all. Howeve he still does eat Yo Baby yogurt and full-fat cheddar cheese. So maybe he is getting more fat than others his age. Also, he doesn't drink a whole lot of milk in a day (he's always had trouble taking in enough fluids). He'll maybe go through 12 oz. on average/day.

So maybe our "data" isn't so helpful . . .

Lisa
& Jack, 4/20/01
& Jack's little brother-to-be, e.d.d., 12/15/03

[trumansmom]

I don't know. Truman is still a few months younger and is still on whole milk, and has also gone through a dramatic change in sleep. I had really chalked it up to a developmental thing, and figured he was battling some cognitive development that I just hadn't picked up on yet! (kind of like when he learned to clap when he was a baby, and couldn't sleep because he clapped all night)

But if there is a consensus on the milk - WE WILL NEVER SWITCH!!

Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/29/01 and EDD 4/23/04!

[bjiang]

My DD is a few months younger and still on whole milk. If she doesn't eat enough before bed time, she would nurse more in the middle of the night. Maybe they are hungry because there are less calories in 1% milk.

[sugarsnappea]

Hmmm. Not true for us. We switched from whole to 2% at 2 years. I haven't noticed anything unusual as far as sleeping goes.

[CherylT]

I haven't noticed this either. We just switched DD to 2% when she was around 2.5 yo. She had already dropped all naps at that point, but she sleeps well at night. There isn't that huge of a difference between whole and 2% (only about 38% less fat in 2%). I think kids just need less sleep as they get older. Most kids I know have dropped all naps by age 3, so that year between 2 and 3 is a big one for sleep adjustments.

Cheryl
SAHM to Lilli 9/20/00 & Alec 10/21/02

[megsmom]

Beth,

Since we switched Meg back to the 2 percent from the 1, she is back to sleeping through the night the past 2 nights and sleeping till 7 or 7:30!!!!!!! After analyzing Meg's diet, I was left to wonder what little fat she even was eating since she doesn't always eat her meat well, eats lowfat yogurt with us, eats cheese only sometimes, but mostly lives on grains and fruits and veggies. Poor little thing wasn't having enough fat calories to sustain her little active self. I think the huge fat drop from 2 percent to 1 is the kicker. The drop from whole to 2 percent isn't that big in comparison.

And FWIW, she is no longer requiring food every 5 min and is back to eating a normal amount of snacks per day. I feel like such an idiot for not figuring this out sooner. :)

Jen
mom to Meghan 7/13/01
and #2 EDD 11/12/03

[luvbeinmama]

DS is on soy, but at 2 we switched from formula to soy milk (about the same fat as 2%), and I didn't notice any difference at all.

[atlbaby]

Well even though Arielle's only 22 months I just switched her from whole to 2% two weeks ago and haven't seen a difference in her sleep. I made the switch because she always drinks A TON of milk (doesn't like juice so it's milk or water) and I wanted to see if giving her fewer calories from milk might get her to eat more food. I didn't consult our ped about the switch but my thinking was that he thinks she should be getting 16-18oz of milk maximum and I haven't been able to get near that level (it's more like 24 or more maybe!) Anyhow, though I haven't seen a difference in her sleep patterns from the decrease in fat grams/day I have noticed that she wants more cheese (a staple of her diet to begin with...she loves her dairy I guess!) and cheese has a fair amount of fat so she must be making up for it there. Perhaps then Sarah is needing more fat and her sleep is suffering because of it...do you find that she is wanting snacks right when she wakes up? I have found over the past two weeks that Arielle needs a snack post nap when previously she was usually fine until dinner (an hour or hour and a half post nap).

I hope you can find *some* cause for Sarah's sleep troubles...and make it go away!

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01
#2 EDD 10/24/03:)

[Piglet]

We switched from whole to 2% at 18 months on the ped.'s recommendation (DS was 75% weight and 25% height and was eating tons of cheese, yogurt and protein). We didn't notice any change to his sleep schedule, but he was a great eater and sleeper to start with. It could be due to hunger, it wouldn't really surprise me, if you have changed the fat content and the amounts. However, that having been said, I do know that DS started having other reasons not to sleep when he was 2. He developed such an imagination of late that he would rather be awake than asleep sometimes. Also, have you checked on her teeth? The 2 year molars take a while to come in and hurt quite a bit (we haven't gotten them yet with DS, but he has been drooly and cranky).

Good luck!