Foods to avoid with breastfeeding

I'm sort of marveling at how much Evie is affected by what I eat. My other two kids didn't seem to mind at all -- spicy stuff, onions, garlic, anything was fair game.

So far, I have cut out broccoli and assume other cruciferous vegetables are out, spicy food (not even that spicy ), and curry. Small amounts of any seem to be ok.

For others who have noticed this, did your kids outgrow it? It's not the end of the world if I can't eat this for a year but I might have to go on a spicy food bender every once in a while and bottle feed her.

[DCJenn]

My friends son seemed to really hate when she drank a beer. (so she switched to wine)

Wow- I can't imagine a world with no spicy food. (actually I can, it's called Russia) That blows.

Jenn

I agree. I don't get how this works! In the last month or so, the only nights that I can't easily soothe her crying are times I had broccoli or something spicy for dinner. I'm pretty sure her stomach is bothering her by the way she is kicking and contracting her stomach. If I bicycle her legs, she calms down.

Maybe it is a coincidence? I'm not sure if I want to test it out.

How about I eat a big bowl of that green chile I've been craving and then you can stay with her that night?

Maybe we can get published.

[Rapunzel]

I don't know quite how it can work either. But, I do know that apparently the taste of milk can be affected according to what the lactating mother is eating - it apparently happens with cows, goats, sheep, and other mammals as well.

Almost all of my children seemed to get gas if I ate garlic or chocolate in the first four to six months of nursing. After that their little digestive systems seemed to calm down a bit.

Chocolate? I'll just consider myself lucky then.

That is a good point about the taste of milk. I think there is a specific cheese made with milk from spring grazing. (Maybe more than one cheese). And I think the color and flavor of butter varies by time of year.

mmmooooooo....

Thank you for sharing your research, Tara! I was kinda thinking asparagus and that sort of thing but not sure how to say it.

[Momo]

You all are gonna think I am soo bad...it was w/ DS that I realized that some foods I ate made him gassy/ upset...so I went out and got some mylacon drops. Well, once I saw Tragets generic baby gas drops, and they were like 1/3 of the mylacon price, let's just say I brought a few. Sooo after nursing when I knew I had eaten something earlier in the day that would cause an issue, I just gave him a few drops! It worked...he got chubby off of my milk and I didn't have to modify my diet.

[migirl]

I don't know if this is the same thing, but when DS was first born I had to stop eating/drinking citrus products because it gave him a horrible diaper rash. Just in the last couple of months I tried eating oranges again, and it didn't result in a rash so presumably he outgrew it.

[Momo]

I don't know if this is the same thing, but when DS was first born I had to stop eating/drinking citrus products because it gave him a horrible diaper rash. Just in the last couple of months I tried eating oranges again, and it didn't result in a rash so presumably he outgrew it.

Well DS had the rash problem...that's when a friends, who is a nurse, married to an MD, told me always always coat their little tushies w/ but cream,ointment or Vaseline prophylactic-ally, when you change their diaper. So I use aquaphor when they are tiny little peanuts, then I switch to the Target brand tube of white butt past (blue box), until they are out of diapers. Very few rashes, except for when they get sick w/ frequent diarrhea, then I think it just can't be avoided. When they would get awful diarrhea, and subsequent bad rash, I use a prescription burn cream, that one of our peds uses on his babes'...but doesn't prescribe to the general public.

[Michele]

Daegan was sensitive to dairy for a while and to spaghetti sauce....and spicy foods....but I don't eat much spicy anyway (i'd probably fit in in russia.)

He out grew it b/c I can eat spaghetti sauce now with out the sour spit up and gassy/fussiness/crying.

Dr. Sears has a list of common offenders on his site, as does kellymom.com

[migirl]

I don't know if this is the same thing, but when DS was first born I had to stop eating/drinking citrus products because it gave him a horrible diaper rash. Just in the last couple of months I tried eating oranges again, and it didn't result in a rash so presumably he outgrew it.

Well DS had the rash problem...that's whena friends who is a nurse married to an MD told me always always coat their little tushies w/ but cream or ointment, Vaseline what ever prophylactic-ally, when you change their diaper. So I use aquaphor when they are tiny little peanuts, then I switch to the Target brand tube of white butt past (blue box), until they are out of diapers. Very few rashes, except for when they get sick w/ frequent diarrhea, then I think it just can't be avoided. When they would get awful diarrhea, and subsequent bad rash, I use a prescription burn cream, that one of our peds uses on his babes'...but doesn't prescribe to the general public.

I was using Balmex and/or Vaseline when I changed his diapers, so I don't think that was the problem. The rash went away once I cut citrus out of my diet.

Thanks, Michele. That was interesting.

I'm going to try the curry again for lunch tomorrow and see how she is in the afternoon and early evening.

[Momo]

I was using Balmex and/or Vaseline when I changed his diapers, so I don't think that was the problem. The rash went away once I cut citrus out of my diet.

I have come across so many people that think I am odd for always using creams or ointments when changing the kids...I'm so glad to hear there are others that do it!!

Thai food just about did us in.

DS outgrew his reaction to spicy foods around 5 months or so. I think being able to sit up helped the gas bubbles to work their way out.