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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if there are any foods to avoid when breastfeeding and why?

34 replies

Hamspamwich · 02/06/2018 21:50

Just that Really, google is giving me different answers. Only day 2 and milks not in yet why do I need to avoid and why?

OP posts:
user1471459936 · 02/06/2018 21:52

Apart from alcohol anything is fine! Make sure you keep well hydrated and try to eat a balanced diet. Though I remember eating a lot of cake and biscuits in the early days! Enjoy.

Creatureofthenight · 02/06/2018 21:53

I believe it’s recommended that caffeine is limited to 300mg a day.

SensingWeakness · 02/06/2018 21:54

Whatever you want, just drink lots of water, you can't overestimate how much you need!

AmIRightOrAMeringue · 02/06/2018 21:55

It's probably different for different people. And unless you do a proper elimination diet, and keep a food diary, it's really difficult to know if it was something you ate that disturbed the baby or if they were just randomly cranky.

Saying that, the one thing that I think disturbed mine was a bucketful of fresh salsa, she ws hungry but kept coming off and pulling a disgusted face so I think it might have been the fresh onions. I avoided them after that but it wasn't a great hardship. Also I thought mine was a bit more sick on the days I drank green tea but could have been coincidence. Other than that, spicy food etc has always been fine for us and I haven't avoided anything else.

lljkk · 02/06/2018 21:56

Caffeine. Baby livers are immature so if I had a high dose my babies didn't sleep well, very tetchy & grumpy about it. No tea(!)

Better by about 6m, could have normalish amounts of caffeine without upsetting baby.

AmIRightOrAMeringue · 02/06/2018 21:57

Other than alcohol I should add!

Also be aware of any medications, even the ones you wouldn't think of such as eye drops, topical creams etc as there are some you can't have when you're feeding

cadburyegg · 02/06/2018 21:57

As above the caffeine but anything else is fine.

You can drink alcohol and still breastfeed too, you can still feed as long as you are sober enough to take care of a baby.

You should keep hydrated for your own sake.

MollyDaydream · 02/06/2018 21:59

Not really, unless your baby has certain allergies.

There are various olds wives tales about sprouts or fizzy drinks making babies windy, but that isn't really how milk production works.

Numberedoutnumbered · 02/06/2018 21:59

If you have heard old wives tales just ignore them. Just be careful with alcohol and caffeine. I would only worry about intolerances if baby developed something like eczema. This will make you laugh though. My MIL would say you cant eat raw carrotts while breastfeeding or you will break your babues shoulder.....

HopeAndJoy16 · 02/06/2018 22:00

You can drink alcohol and breastfeed! As long as you're still sober enough to look after your baby (goes withput saying) ypu don't need to "pump and dump" which used to be the advice. The amount which is transferred into breastmilk is minute and unlikely to affect baby.
There's no foods you need to avoid. Eat and drink what you want! I was ravenous in the early months of breastfeeding, so i always had snacks in. I'm now paying for it though and got a good stone to shift (after losing my baby weight in the first month).

sizeofalentil · 02/06/2018 22:01

Peas make my baby fart, but she stinks more milk if I have been eating a lot of garlic (milk smells garlicky too, and so does her poos)

Original poster
Hamspamwich · 02/06/2018 22:01

Thankyou. Someone said garlic to me and I have a garlic bread on the way I'm gutted!!

OP posts:
MotherforkingShirtballs · 02/06/2018 22:02

Apart from alcohol anything is fine

Alcohol is fine when breastfeeding. You'd have to drink an absolute fuckload before your milk would be unsafe for the baby, not that I'm advocating getting regularly shit-faced, but the "no alcohol" thing really is outdated.

I took DS on holiday when he was 3m old and regularly had him in one hand/arm BFing while my other hand held a nice cold G&T Grin

Mum2jenny · 02/06/2018 22:02

Brussel sprouts and other brassicas can cause issues with wind in young babies, but doesn't affect every baby .

sizeofalentil · 02/06/2018 22:02

DRinks, not stinks. Bloody hell autocorrect, that was quite clever

MollyDaydream · 02/06/2018 22:04

Sprouts or peas don't get digested by the mother, into her bloodstream, into milk and then get digested by the baby in any way that can cause wind.

poca · 02/06/2018 22:06

I drank and ate as normal when bf. Including coffee and wine, no problems.

user1471459936 · 02/06/2018 22:07

I said alcohol as it is terribly dehydrating and breastfeeding can make you ridiculously thirsty! If you are settling in for a long feed make sure you have a wee then have a litre of water, some snacks, your phone and the tv remote in reach! Eat your garlic bread!

tenbob · 02/06/2018 22:10

I ate and drank like my pre-pregnancy self and didn't have any issues

I lived off coffee but had DS Who slept through from 10 weeks so I don't believe the caffeine thing
In fact, a of my antenatal group met for daily coffees and we pretty much all had good sleepers

Lazypuppy · 02/06/2018 22:10

I haven't stopped eating garlic bread, in fact i haven't changed my food/drink intake at all. No issues very happy baby over here

Aria2015 · 02/06/2018 22:11

Chinese food! Learnt the hard way and lo was full of wind all night! Also too much fruit and too much veg (wind again - baby that is). Also took breastfeeding supplements and baby was inconsolable for 48 hours, turns out the iron in the supplements can, yes, you guessed it - cause wind!

PrinsPolo · 02/06/2018 22:13

You'd have to drink an absolute fuckload before your milk would be unsafe for the baby

Yes, in fact you'd have to drink yourself to death. Milk alcohol level is the same as blood alcohol and if your blood alcohol is 1% you are dead. Even if you were bladdered your milk would still be non-alcoholic. So do feel free to have a glass of wine if you want and if anyone gives you side eye explain the above.

Babies have died from being accidentally smothered by their drunk mothers breastfeeding them but it should go without saying that nobody should be drunk and in charge of an infant. The breast milk wasn't the issue.

Pleasegodgotosleep · 02/06/2018 22:16

I was careful with caffeine but nothing else. Drink loads of fluids you won't believe how thirsty you will get. Eating things containing oats and brewers yeast will help boost your milk supply - you can get great recipes for making breast feeding cookies etc. Supplements of fenugreek and milk thistle are also great boosters.

One thing I didn't know and wish I had been told is that the contraceptive pill (including mininpill) and any decongestant (e.g. Lemsip etc) can massively reduce your milk supply. I didn't know this and almost totally lost my supply when lg was 4 months old. Recovered it with supplements etc and kept feeding until I was pregnant again and milk dried up.

DiddimusStench · 02/06/2018 22:17

Nothing affects my baby. Nothing. I eat and drink everything and anything and alcohol is absolutely fine as others have said.

Do drink loads of water though, especially in the early days! I often have a pint of water with whatever else I’m drinking whether it’s tea/coffee/fizzy/juice/alcohol. Iced water is the best!!

Shufflebumnessie · 02/06/2018 22:22

With both of mine I had to avoid drinking coke in the first few months. I don't drink much but every time I did I noticed they both got terrible wind / tummy ache.
DD also seemed to react badly if I ate egg. She's now 14 months and will quite happily eat egg with no ill side-effects.