Most parents of 3 year olds would be very upset if their child woke up several times each night. For Alice's mom, this represented a dramatic improvement in her child's sleep pattern. Her mom wrote the following letter to the Feingold Association of Indiana, in 1985.

Every night when our daughter sleeps 3 to 8 hours without waking up screaming, I thank you and all other Feingolders. For the first twenty months of life, Alice woke up every five minutes to 2 hours all night long.

My first indication that the cause might be artificial coloring came when she had a cold and I gave her Novahistine. The medication didn't make her sleepy, as it would my other two children. In fact, she was so wound up, it was 2 days before her arms and legs stopped moving.

When she accidentally got some of my diet "grape" drink, and had the same reaction, I was sure it was the coloring. I took everything out of her diet which listed coloring. But I actually changed her diet very little, and her behavior changed very little as well.

I read everything I could on diet and hyperactivity, and followed the suggestions, but still without results. Then a friend gave me your address and I received the Foodlist, newsletter, and instructions. Now Alice sleeps more soundly than ever, and for a longer time. She doesn't sleep "like a log" as do some children, but she and I sleep most of the night.

I no longer look at my child with tears in my eyes, knowing there is something wrong, but finding no one to listen to me. Not even my husband or my doctor. Thank you, and I hope someday to have a little more time to help give back something to the Feingold Association that has given us more peaceful nights.

Note: Through their Feingold literature, the family learned that the 2% milk they had been giving Alice contained hidden preservatives. They switched to vitamin D whole milk for their daughter, and now report that Alice sleeps soundly through the entire night.

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Updated: 2/15/2010