How long does it take for food or drink to affect breast milk?

[willywonka]

Have a friend whose ds started hiccoughing and she said it was due to the fizzy drink she had literally only just consumed. Didn't really have to worry about these things with dd1, had always assumed it must be at least a couple of hours, but thought it would be useful to find out before I have the next one this Summer .

not totally sure, but I think food consumed 12-16 hours beforehand can have an effect. I think with alcohol though it passes into the breast milk within 30 mins to an hour??

willywonka, your friend is misled - there is no way the fizz of a fizzy drink could affect this baby in this way. The carbonation would not survive her own digestive system and reach the blood and thence the milk.

Foods and drinks do not on the whole affect breastmilk - some flavours affect it, which is a good thing as it prepares the baby for the future family diet, and very occasionally, very sensitive babies seem to react to dairy, or soy and a few other foods. Alcohol reaches the milk in small quantities, and then removes itself at the rate of about one to 1.5 hour per unit. Large amounts of caffeine seem to affect some babies.

Most mothers do not need to worry about what they eat or drink when bf

Thought it seemed unlikely but there are times when you simply can't contradict