Breastfeeding Foods To Avoid
A Quick Guide to Foods to Avoid When Breastfeeding
A new mother stressed out by the idea of nursing may find it helpful to have this quick guide to foods to avoid when breastfeeding. There is much disagreement about whether a nursing mother should watch her diet and whether what she eats affects the breast milk and the baby. The key thing to remember is that use your baby as your guide post. If you eat a varied diet and your child seems to be nursing well and not showing any signs of discomfort, then the indication is that there is no problem to fix.
In cases where the mother feels that the child is reacting to breast milk adversely on occasion, when the baby is not emptying a breast or is showing signs of gassiness or colic, it is a good idea to re-evaluate the mom’s diet. If your child is exclusively breast fed, it stands to reason that something in the taste, smell or composition of the milk is the source of the problem.
Eating strong flavors such as onions and garlic and spicy peppers will mean that traces of those aromas and tastes will be present in the breast milk. Many children take well to these flavors and it is even believed that a child introduced to a range of tastes when very young will be a less fussy eater as he or she grows older. However, there are cases where a child may not appreciate the strong flavors. So, if your baby is disinclined to enjoy his or her mealtime, try eliminating these kinds of strong flavors in your meals and see if that makes a difference. You can then try re-introducing them one at a time to see if some of them work or whether it is best to stay away from all strong tastes for the duration of breast feeding.
Some foods which produce gas are actually a bigger problem than just a case of taste rejection. In these cases, the baby develops gastro-intestinal pain and tends to cry for long stretches and is unable to sleep for long. In this case, the mother's diet can well set up a cycle of discomfort and stress and so it is a lot easier to avoid some foods than stay up nights worrying about all that is difficult about the baby.
The accepted wisdom about foods to avoid when breast feeding is that women should not take chocolates, caffeine, alcohol, carbonated drinks, brewer’s yeast and most dairy products. Some of these seem to work in moderation for some mothers but those dealing with a colicky baby may want to completely avoid food that can cause any sign of distress. Some vegetables are also categorized as prone to create gas and these are cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. Acidic foods such as oranges, strawberries and orange juice trigger reaction in some cases.
Those with a family history of allergy may also want to avoid eating peanut butter or other known triggers for the time that they are breast feeding.
When you move to a diet that is intended to help your baby’s digestive system adapt to new foods, you should plan on introducing these items one at a time. This will help you track your child’s physical reaction to each new food item and may help you identify any allergies early on. In many cases, children’s’ digestive capabilities are able to handle these range of foods in 3-4 months time. However, where you see a rash or have the baby cry as though experiencing pain, it may be worth not eating it for a couple more months. If when you re-introduce it yet again, you still get a reaction you should talk to your pediatrician about it. This may be a case where the child is reacting to gluten or some protein. This will call for a more comprehensive allergy test.
A nursing mother should maintain a normal healthy diet and healthy lifestyle as that will help her and the baby the most in the long run. Other than that general guideline, she should use her child’s reactions and responses as a broad guideline for making her food choices while breast feeding.