Who's given up eating what to help BF baby?

[MrsHD]

If that makes sense?! I stopped eating wheat about three months ago (DS 16 weeks) and it really seemed to help. DS' eczema is now getting worse, and I'm considering giving up dairy. Trouble is I live on corn flakes as I can't snack on bread/pasta/biscuits, and we have a small food budget and six of us to feed so I can't buy gallons of rice milk. All of which is a bit beside the point, but it will be tough to be avoiding wheat and dairy and continue producing good quality milk. I think my potato, egg and baked bean consumption will go through the roof.

Just wondered if anyone else is having to avoid things? Oh and alcohol rarely passes my lips these days, tragically.

I have given up dairy as DS2 is intolerant like his older brother. So no milk chocolate It would be tough having no wheat as well though. It won't make any difference to the quality of your milk though - as long as you arern't literally starving, it will remain exactly the same.

Hi, I had trouble lactating when DD was younger, and was put on an (Indian) mum's diet of rice, ghee (clarified butter) , lots of green leafy veg with garlic and pepper and other spices and little balls of almonds and sesame like Sesame snaps but made with unrefined sugar. Also fenugreek. The diet helped a lot and it has a great track record of not causing colic since it keeps your digestion smooth. Things I avoided was a lot of protein ( except mung beans). Hope this does not sound too daft and hair-shirty, but it really helped me.

Hair-shirty lol! I can be a raving hippy at times and have a strong belief in the power of food to make us feel good and bad - man

I'm going to try it for a while and see what happens. His skin is so sore atm I feel I should try anything.

i gave up egg and dairy (and was already vegetarian) so ended up basically vegan for over a year for ds2.

your milk will be fine, your body will provide for baby first and you second, so do make sure you eat well to keep yourself healthy, but don't worry about milk quality

I've given up dairy (and also already a vegetarian). I would really suggest that you get a referal to a dietician if you are going to go wheat and dairy free as this is a very restricted diet and you don't want to put your health at risk by missing out on important nutrients. In particular you might be able to get calcium supplements prescribed and you might also find it hard to keep your calorie intake high enough with such a restricted diet (which is obviously going to make you feel shitty and not really what you need with a young baby to care for).

Thanks for the reminder AcademicMum - I tend to be a bit cavalier about things like that.

Does anyone know if a big reduction in dairy would help (if indeed dairy is an issue for DS), rather complete eradication?

It depends on his level of sensitivity. My DS2 tolerates me eating butter (which his older brother also eats) but the slightest bit of yoghurt, cheese or milk makes him vomit and have stomach ache. My friend had to give up every trace of dairy.

If you have to avoid wheat but are on a budget have you tried millet? I was sceptical but it is actually very tasty with a veg stew or a sauce. It contains protein too.

I have found that cutting just milk has helped ds- I still eat butter and chocolate
Other people I know have had to completely cut everything.(eg cantsleepwontsleep, treedelivery)
There is a big thread (started by pointydog I believe) around at the moment about going completely dairy free- worth having a read- there were loads of good ideas on it.

I've also had to go completely dairy free (that includes goat/sheep cheese/milk etc). I slipped up over Christmas and had the tinies bit of goats cheese and ds2's skin got a kind of blistery type rash , then the other day I ate something by mistake that I wasn't expecting to have milk in and ds2 had several explosive khaki green nappies a couple of hours later! I understand though that not everyone with dairy allergy has to avoid butter and cheese (as cheese doesn't contain whey).

i had to completely cut it out. I tried a couple of times to re-introduce very tiny amounts but ds2's symptoms flared again.

if you're going to do it then def cut it out completely for at least a month to start with