Allergy can affect child’s sleep - Study

Allergy season is right around the corner and that means for some lots of sneezing and sniffling.

New research shows allergies can affect the sleep children get at night too.

A telephone survey study shows that 29 percent of parents whose children had allergies said their children suffer from a lack of sleep, that’s compared to 12 percent of parents whose children did not.

“They wake up sneezing, congested, they have to go blow their nose, and it’s hard to get back to sleep, so this can be a real problem,” said Dr. Andrew Macginnitie, of Children’s Hospital.

The study shows that 40 percent of the parents said their children’s nasal allergies interfere with school performance, compared to 10 percent of parents whose children did not have allergies.

“Kids don’t sleep, they don’t do well in school, they’re not rested, their behavior isn’t good, so this is a bigger problem than people realize,” said Dr. Macginnitie.

Experts say half the children take prescription medication for allergy symptoms, and more than half of them have had their medicine changed because it didn’t work well enough.

Doctors say children playing outside should change their clothes and get a good bath before bed to wash off any pollen.

And while antihistamines, nasal sprays, and allergy shots are options for severely affected kids, doctors say there are no studies that show that the sleep problems will improve.

The survey included 500 parents of children with allergies, 500 whose children did not, and 500 doctors who treat children with allergies.

Three quarters of those surveyed said spring was the worst season by far for allergy symptoms.

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