(For those of you who follow our blog, you probably faintly remember a post about Conner's food allergies. You can read it here for some background on Conner's allergies.)
About 3 months ago, I noticed something odd with Conner. He had eaten something with a decent amount of dairy and wheat/gluten, and wet the bed that night. Hmmmm...... I thought it was odd, but then thought maybe it was just a coincidence. I mentioned it to David and he thought there was no way that food allergies and bed wetting could be connected, so I just brushed it off.
A while later, Conner got in to something again that had dairy and wheat, and again, he wet the bed! I started thinking back about his bed wetting in the past. I realized that since we have been gluten, dairy, wheat, and peanut free, Conner had zero nighttime accidents.... until he ate something with dairy and wheat. I was staring to think there was a connection for sure, but still wasn't convinced. A few weeks ago, David gave Conner real yogurt that had wheat and dairy in it (cake batter yogurt). Sure enough, Conner we the bed. Last night at our Church celebration, I had forgotten to get the kiddos dessert and felt bad, so I let them split an ice cream sandwich and that was a big mistake. Conner wet the bed again. Crazy, right???? Apparently not! Even though Conner's "allergies" are more "sensitivities" that only showed up on IgG testing, not IgE, it still effected him.
I was curious as to WHY this could happen, and found some information about the link between allergies and bed wetting. Apparently it has not been very well researched, because I'm having a hard time coming up with actual research reports. I did find many links discussing the possibility, though. Here are a few links.....
- Food allergies provoke bladder instability
- Gluten sensitivity can trigger bladder problems
- Foods kids go for the most are ones they are most sensitive too, and these can cause night wetting
- Dairy and artificial colors may cause bed wetting
- Food allergies can cause a swollen, and therefore smaller, bladder
- Wheat, dairy, soy, corn, eggs, citrus, chocolate, peanuts, and cane sugar may cause bed wetting if a child has a sensitivity.
Anyhow, if anyone out there has a kiddo that frequently wets the bed and no medical link has been found, it couldn't hurt to have them tested for food sensitivities to rule it out.
Interesting! I've never heard that before!
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of it either. But now I'm beginning to wonder... My 11-year-old still wets the bed. I wonder if I should have him checked for sensitivities...
ReplyDeleteI have actually heard of this before, and had a foster kid that it REALLY affected... I had a HECK of a time convincing his state doctors. BUT when he came to us he was 11 years old and on a night time catheter bag because of excessive bed wetting. I also noticed a skin rash on his upper arms and back that everyone told me was "normal" for him. I played with his diet and found out his rash went completely away when we took dairy out.... but the interesting this is that his cath bag was always empty in the morning too after we took dairy out! Doctors did not believe me, but I told him that if he went a week with no dairy and no wet bag I would let him sleep without the bag... talk about one happy child!
ReplyDeleteHope you figure it all out for C so he can be as free as possible! As for David.... grown men can be a bit stuborn you know.... :-)
Jamie, I am so glad I found this post! One of my little guys still has night time wetting issues (it's now occasional only) and I'm now wondering if it could be something he is eating. He has multiple food allergies; peanuts being the only obvious reaction, the others he tested positive but doesn't react so we let him still eat them. I'm wondering now if perhaps they are impacting him after all. I'll be calling the allergist today; time for updated testing and perhaps some diet changes. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! Bedwetting is not the only symptom caused by food sensitivities. Recurring ear infections, night terrors, ADHD, rashes, headaches, and much more can be linked to dairy, wheat, artificial food colors, flavors, or sweeteners, preservatives, etc. More often than not, allergy testing won't show up positive, so the best method is a simple elimination trial.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! Bedwetting is not the only symptom caused by food sensitivities. Recurring ear infections, night terrors, ADHD, rashes, headaches, and much more can be linked to dairy, wheat, artificial food colors, flavors, or sweeteners, preservatives, etc. More often than not, allergy testing won't show up positive, so the best method is a simple elimination trial.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on this one. I have been saying the same thing to my husband for months. Noticed the same patterns with my daughter. Ice cream and pasta sauce are triggers for her. If she is suffering from out allergies sometimes she will wet the bed too. Definitely related to allergies!!
ReplyDeleteWow I am so thrilled I found this web blog!! My son is 8 and has wet the bed since birth lol. We have tried it all i feel like and have reached my wits end. I am going to take what I have learned here and start applying it to my sons diet and see what happens. We wills start with milk and then move form there. Thank you so much!!
ReplyDeleteI have a daughter who has Celiac and I can always tell if she has accidentally ingested gluten because she wets the bed that night. The other symptoms don't come until the next day.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the resources, I have been researching this because I was sure there was a link.
we have seen this as well associated with food containing salicylates - a glass of orange juice, apple juice, or having a lot of berries over a day or two as well. Below is from the food intolerance website www.fedup.com.au
ReplyDelete"any of the usual nasty additives - including 282, the bread preservative
salicylates - you can cut down on salicylates by drinking water instead of fruit juice or cordial, and avoiding some of the highest foods - citrus, tomatoes, broccoli and grapes, and reducing fruit intake. Or you can do the full diet. For more ideas, see one of my books
dairy foods - some people who have problems with regular cows’ milk find they are OK with A2 milk. Others may need to switch to soy or rice milk."
my son has the same problem. every time he eats something he is sensitve to he wets the bed. but its making him not gain weight. its a big problem because he is allergic to so many foods.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post - SUPER helpful and gives me hope for our 7 year old who eats yogurt every night before bed, and wets the bed every night. We are going to play with dairy and gluten removal. thank you!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post! I read something similar years ago when I was night training my daughter that said dairy could cause problems, but she was easy to train. I have been trying to get my 6yo son to night train since he was 2 1/2, but he still has frequent accidents! Just recently, I remembered reading a post about dairy and night accidents. Sure enough, he has been dairy free for 2 days... And 2 nights of a dry pull-up! Thanks for your research and in-depth post!
ReplyDeleteI was told by a doctor that gluten numbs the nerves that tell you that you need to go to the bathroom if you are sensitive to it. I found this out when potty training my twin girls. One potty trained perfectly normal, the other was taking forever. The said to remove gluten and after I did she was potty trained. I kept both kids gluten free until age six , back on gluten the child with sensitivity started having accidents during the day and wetting the bed. Here we are age 9, gluten free , accident free. If she slips she has an accident. It's that simple.
ReplyDeleteWow! I just came upon this article. My 5 yr old son started bedwetting in Dec 2016. In the last several years he has been diagnosed with viral induced asthma and most recently arthritis. He has no known allergies. He has been gluten free for almost 3 weeks, last night we splurged and had pizza and breadsticks. He soaked thru last night and woke up this morning all congested. As of now I'm going to say gluten...we will be playing with this thought.
ReplyDeleteForums like these are really helping my journey with my kids' health. After my daughter was diagnosed with Celiac Disease this past summer, she still wet the bed/headaches (she's 12) MUCH. We connected corn. Yep, labs. Allergy. Eliminated it from the diet and no headaches, yet, random bedwetting. I just thought to try dairy...knowing when she has it. Off to eliminating dairy...doctors look at me like, well, I'm sure doctors look at many of you. I ask them to test for things and I'm right (blood work, etc, confirms) yet they still just sort of, pat me on the head and send me home. THANK you parents for your insight! We help one another figure out this new phase of health that our culture has entered.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this article! We have been gluten free for nearly 2 years and I just started reintroducing my daughters back to gluten. Now my 5 year old has wet the bed 5 days in a row when she hasn't had an accident for over 2 years. I started researching and found this article. I don't know if I should try it for another week or take them back off of gluten today.
ReplyDeleteI cannot thank you enough for this brave post! I have been researching for months on food allergies. My son almost 4 has a nightshade allergy which was antibiotic and steroid injection induced. He has also always had a problem with accidents and bed wetting. When we found out about his allergy we removed all nightshade from our families diet as to eliminate any exposure to it as much as possible. (his reactions were respiratory which was very worrisome) Recently after about 6 months of no nightshade and intentional gut repair I decided to test him. (he had completely stopped with potty accidents and bed wetting during the 6 month nightshade free time). When we introduced nightshade back into his diet for a couple meals his respiratory issues and skin reactions did NOT occur, however the accidents started immediately again.
ReplyDeleteI am so grateful for this post. Other articles and posts only ever talk about medications. It is such a relief to read your findings!
Thank you and God Bless