is breastfeeding best

[pinkyp]

If you have a bad diet? just to point out i'm planning on bf,my diets not too bad. I was just sat wondering if bf was better than forumla if you had a bad diet. (I think i may have too much time on my hands) just wondered ppls views / thoughts?

pinkyp - if you do a search on this on mumsnet there are several discussions about diet. Your diet is almost irrelevant to the quantity and quality of your milk, which remains high no matter what you eat :)

If drinking alcohol (in responsible doses) doesn't turn your milk into a bottle of wine, then I don't think you can turn your milk into a Big Mac by eating a burger.

Or what tiktok said.

Not done my research at all as i'm planning on doing it and my diets ok so am not worried just having one of those "i wonder if..." moments. I know eating certain foods can make you babys tummy unsettled (spicy foods etc) and limit the amount of alchol, and avoid pregnancy foods still. Will search mumsnet discussions now

I avoided spicy foods with DC1. Then forgot all about it with DC2. Made no difference either way.

Your body makes sure your babe gets the nutrients via the milk, not you, so if your diet were really bad then you would be the one suffering the effects, not the babe!

DS loves spicy food - I hated bland food whilst PG and put chilli in everything, then continued when BFing. Not sure how much difference it makes really though (diet to the flavour of the milk that is)

I found DS was more bothered by certain foods than DD - Eg I couldn't have caffeine with DS as it stopped him sleeping.

But in general it doesn't matter nutritionally, your body will take what it needs for your milk. It'd be you that suffers from poor nutrition not the baby.

Agree with FS, its like being pg, the body will take from you what has to be taken. So a good diet is more about keeping mum going than the baby iyswim.

Just for the record, there isn't much you need to avoid while breastfeeding. You definitely don't need to avoid pregnancy foods - you can eat as much runny cheese and seafood as you like!

Alcohol I believe there isn't much research/opinions are split but certainly a small amount won't harm. It's actually more of a danger (with alcohol) that you will fall asleep on your baby than that the alcohol will go through your milk.

Spicy food, caffeine, dairy etc really depends on the baby. I'd go with eating normally and only cut things out if they seem to be causing a problem.

In any case breastmilk even with toxins like alcohol, nicotine etc (some drugs excluded obviously) is in general better than formula. The benefits of breastfeeding vastly outweigh the risks of any prescence of alcohol etc.

Good luck with whatever you decide :)

Big Myth you need to avoid pg foods - just as Bertie says.

I often come across this myth - it seems very pervasive.

Eat what you want. No need to avoid spicy foods unless repeated experience shows you have one of the very rare babies who seem to react.

BertieBotts - so even if mum smokes it's better to breastfeed?

Does anyone think that the idea that you have to stick to pregnancy guidelines makes for low breastfeeding numbers in this country? I noticed in my NHS baby book it said something about being careful what you ate and with caffeine/ alcohol etc.

Personally I went back to exactly my pre-pregnancy lifestyle - didn't occur to me not to

good point - I have often wanted a "mythbusting" campaign by the NHS to address some of these - can't see it happening now.

I have heard that even if a mother smokes it is best to bf. IIRC nasties from cigarettes are ot passed on through bm. SO switching to ff puts lo at a double disadvantage (ff and smoking environment). Though I have no source so maybe someone can put me right on this?

BTW BM will be comprimised if youu do not eat enough cake (Joke! But please don't tell me otherweise )

Hi passionkiss

If mum smokes, it is still safe to bf although you can do a lot to minimise the impact on your LO, some good info here

Although obviously it is better to give up smoking if you can.

I have found dairy and soya does affect DS through my milk so have had to cut them out. Nothing else though.

Yes PassionKiss personally I think the healthy diet thing does affect breastfeeding rates.

The early days of bfing can mean its hard to eat 'properly' and the general paranoia of how the hell to look after this small animal can mean it may cross your mind that maybe formula would be better with all those added vits. I wondered about it but thankfully found some good advice on MN.

I was sick during all of my pregnancy and felt really guilty about not eating enough green veg (the thought of certain veggies literally sent me running to the hearest loo/bin) so I think this guilt just carried over to a healthy breastfeeding diet.

It is also pretty hard to find the info - I believe uk gov recommend still avoiding shark, swordfish etc due to mercury levels. I think it would really help if it was pushed that the healthy diet was for your benefit.

If you look on the formula company sites they go on about healthy eating if you're breastfeeding as well.

I wonder if its because they want to make bfing seem as difficult as possible?

I have a crap diet and DD's thriving!

EG this www.aptamil.co.uk/breastfeeding/article/healthy-diet-for-breastfeeding

which has the subtext of "eat muesli or your baby is DOOMED!" Which, as we all know, is a load of rubbish.

It makes it sound impossible to eat well enough to breastfeed unless you're Gillian McKeith!

Very sneaky ...

cantthink I'm pretty sure that you are right there. Formula companies want to make a profit and to do that they need to sell formula. To sell formula people need to not breastfeed. So... They will do everything to undermine breastfeeding while trying to seem like they are fulfilling their responsibility to promote breastfeeding.

It is a myth propogated by formula companies, and also companies which try to sell various supplements, health foods etc to breastfeeding mums.

It does sound like a conspiracy I know but it can't be a coincidence that the main sources which "confirm" this idea that breastfeeding requires a healthy diet are the ones which would benefit by breastfeeding sounding more difficult/as though milk quality can be affected by diet.

It's clever as well, because it's never explicitly stated that diet affects quality of breastmilk, but it is heavily implied. I guess that's how they get around the guidelines, as nobody can deny that a healthy diet is important in general (not just for bf mums).