P2B348: Relationship Between Early Solid Introduction and Allergic Disease with Sleep in Infants

Background: Early complementary (solid) food introduction ( < 6 months) is at times recommended to reduce the risk of allergic disease, specifically food allergy. However, little is known about solid food introduction and allergic disease as they relates to sleep problems during infancy. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the association of sleep problems with early solid food introduction and allergic disease during the first year of life.

Methods: Mothers of 300 infants (0-11.9 mos, M=5.87) completed an online questionnaire about infant sleep, solid food introduction (non-milk, -juice, -formula), and allergic disease) (including atopic dermatitis, itchy/dry skin, food allergies). Prevalence of sleep problems was compared in the context of presence or absence of early solid food introduction and allergic disease, using chi-square.

Results: Overall, 29.3% of infants were reported to have a sleep problem, 29.0% atopic dermatitis and/or itchy/dry/flaky (AD/IDF) skin, and 10.7% food allergies. Of infants who were 6 months or older at the time of the study, 24.4% were introduced to solids early ( < 6 months). Those infants with early solid food introduction were less likely to have a reported sleep problem (19.5%) compared to those introduced to solids starting at 6 months or later (37.8%), p < .05. For all infants, sleep problems were more likely to be reported in association AD/IDF than those without those skin conditions (39.1%% vs 25.4%), p < .05). No statistically significant differences were found in sleep problem rates between those with a food allergy (40.1%) and those without a food allergy (28.0%), p > .05

Conclusion: Overall, lower sleep problem rates were associated with early introduction (before 6 months) of solid foods. Presence of sleep problems was associated with reports of atopic dermatitis and itchy/dry/flaky skin. Sleep problems were unrelated to food allergies, although overall rates of food allergies were low in this study.