Diet for Breastfeeding Mothers
It’s common that whenever a nursing baby fusses or passes gas, people blame the mother’s diet. Is this kind of thinking accurate?.
Do nursing moms really need to avoid “gassy” foods?
Must nursing moms avoid drink alcohol, caffeinated or carbonated beverages?
Do nursing moms need to avoid spicy foods?
Should nursing moms avoid dairy products and peanuts to prevent allergies?
You’ll probably be surprised to hear that the above statements are all false! Let’s talk about these breastfeeding myths.
Nursing moms are usually told that so called “gassy” foods like beans, cabbage, onions, broccoli and other vegetables would cause painful gas in their babies. This statement no only unnecessarily restricts mom’s diet, but also shows misunderstanding of breastfeeding mechanics.
While some of these foods may cause gas in the mother, it is because of undigested carbohydrates (fiber) in her digestive tract. However, these carbohydrates cannot pass through the mother’s milk ducts and get into her milk, so it’s impossible for these foods to cause gas in a breastfeeding baby, unless he is allergic to that food, which is rare for these types of foods (the most common allergens are eggs, dairy, soy and wheat). Gassiness and fussiness in the baby could be related to strong milk ejection (letdown) in the mother during the first weeks of lactation. In this case, the tiny baby is usually not able to handle the flow of milk and so swallows a lot of air. Thorough burping may help, as well as wearing the baby upright in a sling as much as possible, especially during and after feedings.
It wouldn’t be appropriate for nursing mothers to drink large amounts of alcohol because it would impair her ability to care for her child. Notwithstanding, a glass of wine or beer with a meal is not going to harm her breastfed baby. Similarly, some babies are not bothered when mom drinks a cup or two of a caffeinated drink. Watch the baby for signs of irritability, and cut back if you think baby is sensitive to the caffeine in your milk. Carbonated drinks fizzy also cannot pass through to the baby from mother’s milk.
In the third place, “to avoid spicy foods” seems ridiculous when given a second thought. Millions of nursing mothers from different cultures worldwide eat spicy foods on a daily basis, and their babies and toddlers are not necessarily enduring gas problems. In fact, studies have shown that babies actually preferred the taste of garlic in their mother’s milk and suckled longer, taking in more milk. There is simply no evidence that a nursing mom must eat a bland diet.
Regarding common allergens as dairy products or peanuts, many breastfeeding experts believe that nursing moms don’t need to restrict their diets. Being a new mother is challenging enough, and learning to breastfeed and recuperating from birth can be stressful. There’s no need to add to the list by asking mothers to make radical changes when mom and baby are not experiencing any discomforts or allergies
If the mom has a strong family history of food allergy and if her baby is showing signs of allergy (excema, extreme fussiness, vomiting, mucusy, bloody or foamy stools, and other symptoms), keeping daily notes of what she eats could be the best action to help her find out what foods may be causing trouble.
Mothers are often told to keep taking prenatal vitamins after their babies are born, but the iron content in the supplement is sometimes the cause of uncomfortable symptoms in nursing babies. If you suspect this is your case, just stop taking the vitamins for a week and see if that makes a difference.
Finally, nursing moms don’t need to do big changes to their regular diets. What is important is to focus on having a wide variety of whole foods that you enjoy and use common sense to find out what might be causing discomfort in your baby. Listening to your body and looking for discomfort symptoms in your baby is the key to avoid and deal with allergies and other food related conditions.
