What to avoid while BF

kleshelle · October 2015

This may sound silly, I've done some research but still wanted other opinions since some websites say one thing and another says differently. I'm planning on breastfeeding, what do I need to avoid ingesting? I know spicy food is a big one. Is caffeine a no no?

blended10 · October 2015

In my experience I did not avoid spicy, I limited caffeine, had maybe a glass of wine every now & again and still consumed dairy/gluten etc. I wasn't overly cautious & my son did just fine.
I have had friends whose children had colic so they avoided certain things to try to help it. Sometimes it was helpful, sometimes not.
This time around I'll be doing the same, I'll adjust as my little girl needs.
Good luck!!

yl1m32015 · October 2015

It really just depends on how your child digests. There's obviously certain meds you have to avoid. As far as food goes, usually if your baby is having trouble or allergies you go from there. Some say garlic and heavy spices should be avoided, some say their babies did fine with it.

kelseyofanne · October 2015

Yeah I think you just need to wait and see how it goes first. Obviously you don't want to drink a ton of alcohol since that does get passed through breastmilk, but other than that you should be fine unless you notice something is wrong and then just adjust. My friend had to cut out eggs, gluten, and dairy.

BellaM110 · October 2015

Besides the obvious such as certain medications and alcohol, you may need to cut out certain foods depending on how baby tolerates them. Gas causing foods (like broccoli, onions, etc), spicy and dairy products are known to cause stomach upset in baby.

Gingermom15 · October 2015

My mother breastfed all of us and never altered her diet until the youngest. He had indigestion terribly, so she cut out everything spicy, garlic, onions, things like that. It helped him tremendously. As PP's have stated, it all depends on the baby. Maybe stick with a healthy diet and start from there?

mrs14678 · October 2015

yl1m32015 said:
Some say garlic and heavy spices should be avoided, some say their babies did fine with it.

I've heard this too, but I just wonder how women in other cultures breastfeed then, haha. Like, Thai food, for example. TONS of garlic and spices.

As a FTM, though... Following this thread!

kleshelle · October 2015

So it's more or less different for every baby.. Trial and error type of thing. I've been trying to gather up as much info as I can on this, I've even heard some moms says NO chocolate like.. Excuse me? I wonder how much of the food/ caffeine we take in actually goes to our milk supply though. Of course I'm not going to be drinking 3 cups a day, I'm a waterholic but I'll definitely need my morning cup of coffee. I cut it out completely along with pop once I found out I was expecting.

laurabwalker · October 2015

With caffeine it's interesting, there have been many studies done, basically they say a small percentage is passed through breastmilk, however where the half life of caffeine is 2-6 hrs in adults, it's 3-4 days in infants, so they get a smaller amount but it lasts much longer

Mizuiro007 · October 2015

The largest reason I've heard of women avoiding caffeine while bf is because for some women it can really make your breasts painful. It was this way for me and was enough of a difference to make caffeine really easy to give up.

On everything elseems it's just what pps have said. It varies by baby. DS had protein sensitivity and didn't tolerate breastmilk. I've heard of so many women that will follow very strict diets but I was advised it would make no difference. DS and I saw the same doctor and it was his opinion that like with medications, only so much of what you eat makes it into milk. It might make a difference but more likely you're unnecessarily denying yourself.

maiatene · October 2015

I didn't avoid anything and my son was fine. It depends on the baby so I wouldn't necessarily eliminate anything unless I needed to.

EEB88 · October 2015

With my first I didn't avoid anything (food wise) as I was worried that avoidance would create future allergies. This time I plan on only drinking decaf. I drank a lot of coffee with my first because I was so tired but then obviously it kept him up so again, I was so tired and I would drink too much coffee. (Crazy how that worked.

ljhgrey · October 2015

Echo what others have said. Wait to see what baby tolerates before you make changes. It's good to have a well rounded diet with varied tastes, for you and baby. Eliminate things only if they cause digestive issues for baby.
I drank my morning cup of coffee right after a feeding, didn't see any caffeine issues with the baby. Same for a glass of wine or a beer at night. Indulge right after a feeding when you know a longer nursing break is coming due to baby's sleep. Works well.

SunnyD2015 · October 2015

I agree..it depends on your baby. Each one of mine was different. With my first, he was a very spitty baby. I had to avoid certain foods with him to help with his reflux.

My second really didn't care what I ate. He really had no issues.

With my third, we started getting bloody stools about 6 weeks in and I had to eliminate some foods. I started with Dairy and then started eliminating tomato products to help him. At first I was told I had to stop breastfeeding by an idiot on call doctor. I saw my regular pediatrician and he recommended eliminating foods to see if that helped first.

I don't plan on eliminating much at first with this one. We shall see what the future hold when we get to that point.

KreecherMom · October 2015

FTM so no prior experience, but I did attend a breastfeeding class at my hospital. The lactation consultant was pretty adamant that you continue to eat (and drink) whatever you normally include in your diet (moderation on the caffeine and alcohol of course). Her point was that whatever food you eat is likely to be the food you'll feed your baby when you grow up, so why not get him/her used to it as a baby?!

herewegrow · October 2015

I had to cut out dairy for a while, but continued eating like I always do. Well, I ate more oatmeal and lactation cookies!

TomekiaB · October 2015

Alcohol and some medications. I'd continue to limit caffeine--although pregnancy guidelines for caffeine are pretty similar to the guidelines for caffeine that are recommended for everyone. I'd also avoid dietary supplements (you didn't take in pregnancy) or any meal replacement type products (protein shakes) unless your medical provider has approved them.

The way I've craved spicy foods during pregnancy, it wouldn't surprise me if my child's first words are "hot sauce."

*edited for clarity

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