What you eat affects BF baby - fact or fiction?

[MissusRabbit]

DS has been feeding great for 3 weeks but in the last couple of days has become very very windy. He's clearly in pain, it's disturbing his sleep (and mine!) infacol doing nothing etc

Any ideas? I don't think i've eaten anything particularly different but am trying to find a cause and solution...
He's been such a contented baby but not now!

I think it's true that what you eat affects the baby. We had to give up Friday night Indian takeaways because dd didn't want to feed on Saturday mornings - I'm sure it's because she was being offered curry-flavoured milk!

I think its true, My DD1 would get shocking wind if i ate baked beans.

I think so. I made lovely bacon and green lentil soup last week. DD wasn't very happy the next day, (and I am very lucky that she hardly ever cries). Her tummy felt all tense and I had to really work to rub her back and sit her with knees up to 'release' some of the pain.

Fact, although most doctors would have you believe it's fiction.

Dd1 was very pukey, horrible eczema etc. Discovered a dairy allergy when weaning her, but advised not to give up dairy myself by the docs. At one year old, moved her onto hypo formula, eczema almost cleared up....

Dd2, very screamy colicky at a few weeks and getting worse. Because of dd1 I gave up dairy, within two days, calm, relaxed different baby. Still not tried her on dairy, so don't know if it is/was allergy or intolerance, but I definitely notice the difference in her if I have cheese or whatever.

Friend had a dd2 very hard to settle to sleep, realised a possible wheat intolerance and marked improvement once gave up wheat.

Problem is when they're tiny so much can cause them to be narky, and even if it is your diet, it might take a while to figure out what it is. Best thing is to keep a food/symptom diary, and also try to rule out overtiredness etc.

Fact, DD hated it if I ate soft cheese or chilli when she was tiny.

She is 10 months now and I can eat just about anything again.

The midwife at the hospital parentcraft classes I had with dd1 insisted it did. She was particularly insistent we avoid grapes to avoid both wind and alchoholic stupor in the baby, depending in what form we had injested them .

Maybe depends on child, too. Dd2 was incredibly fussy about what I ate or drank and low and behold all these years later she has the most accute sense of taste you've ever seen on a child and is a very fussy eater. Dh and I are convinced she could be a wine-taster - the subtleties she picks up in different foods are amazing.

I have to agree that there was marked difference in DS feeding depending on what I had eaten. I also had a friend who fed her 6 week old at a wedding after having a glass of champagne (her first in a year) and baby puked all over her, lots!

We found colief really helpful. If your baby is very colicky you can get it on prescription from HV, otherwise it's about £10 for a really tiny bottle. It is magic stuff though.
You have to keep it in the fridge.

The midwife you described, CoffeeCrazed, needs some updating, I think. This is ridiculous information to be sharing with mothers.

Individual reactions to foods in bf babies are easy to spot - babies' behaviour differs every day, and it is a simple matter to note that the baby is windy/colicky/fussy/sleepy or whatever and then link it to food.

But this does not make it true that the food has caused this behaviour. It could be coincidence. Then again, maybe it isn't. Who knows?

What is absolutely mistaken is to take individual observation or supposition and then apply it generally to most or all babies, like that midwife did.

Most women can eat and drink what they want without any effect on their babies, and it makes life easier if they do.

Yes I found that spicy food and brassicas affected her but only till she was around 3-4 months. After that she's not been phased by anything I've eaten.

I am also convinced that by eating a wide variety of foods/flavours whilst bfing I gave DS a broader palette for when we did start weaning. He loved baby curries and chilli and garlic and all types of veg almost as soon as he was allowed them.
IMHO of formula fed babies (friends) they were much fussier about trying new flavours and eating other things. I reckon eat as wide a range of foods as possible when Bfing.

disclaimer I am completely guessing based on my personal experience. There is probably no scientific evidence to suggest such a theory is true

Anecdotes do not make fact Is there actually any scientific evidence either way?

for a me a nice scrummy KFC = screaming baby the next day!!

given i'm 38+1 today i think i'd better have one this week as it'll probably be my last for a while!!

x

There is scientific evidence that bf babies with cow's milk protein allergy react to dairy in breastmilk.

Don't know about anything else, but ime I eat chocolate=ds2 fusses. Fortunately he's not bothered by cow's milk, after being dairy-free for a year with ds1 I was dreading the prospect of a repeat!

GP and paediatrician insisted no; allergist said yes.

When I was BFing DD,
Milk, eggs = horrible reaction followed by eczema.
Soya = hives.
Dried but not fresh chilli = distraught crying

DD has tested as +ve allergy to milk and egg. GP and paediatrician insisted it couldn't get into the milk, but it was rather interestign that we only saw a reaction after I had eaten the food.

Not anecdotal; we did 'food challenges' as BFing mother and she's due them as a an independent child soon. There is a lot of data out there that hasn't been collected and presented in an appropriate publication.

Some children are just more sensitive to certain things. Other aren't; lucky mums!

I started another thread on this a few weeks back and did a bit of research.

It seems that drugs that get into your bloodstream (alcohol, caffeine, prescription drugs etc.) can definitely have an effect on the baby via breastmilk, but the degree of the effect depends on the baby (currently I'm not risking alcohol or caffeine - I get little enough sleep with DD as it is!!) Chocolate can also be included in this category.

Certain proteins can make it through into your breastmilk, so yes, dairy (also soy, nuts, eggs etc.) can have an effect - again, depending on the baby. I suppose it's possible the proteins from beans may come through, but I don't know that for sure.

The fibre that causes wind in the adult gut from brassicas, legumes etc. DOES NOT get into breast milk, as far as I can see.

Certain flavours definitely come through - garlic, spices etc. - but they are more likely to have an effect on the taste of the milk rather than its nutritional properties.

Is your baby very gassy in the intestines (farty discomfort?)
The most likely explanation is that the higher volume of milk your LO is taking from you at this age - and therefore, lactose - is not being fully digested because the baby's immature digestive system is not yet making enough lactase to deal with it - hence some undigested milk makes it into the gut where it ferments and creates all that gas/bloating etc.

The exact same thing happened with my DD at around the same age, when her appetite and the amount of milk she was taking increased. It's very common - apparently happens in around 65% of babies. In time they grow out of it (my DD has been much better from about 10 weeks...), but in the meantime the advice is to limit the baby to one breast only for 3-4 hours before switching to the other one. The idea is that the baby takes in more low-volume high-cal cream (hind milk), giving their digestive system a chance to cope with it before the next high-volume splash (fore milk). I tried this with my DD and it seemed to make her wind issues more manageable.

The condition is called lactose overload - and the mother's intake of dairy products can contribute to it, apparently - but not necessarily.

HTH! Good luck...

Thanks all for sharing your experiences. orry for the late reply - busy weekend!

DS had a good day and night and seems 'back to normal' for now. Will have a look at what i ate earlier in the week and make a note for future reference....Anything is worth a shot - it's awful when they;re so uncomfortable and in pain!

Interesting about feeding from one side for a few hours too. DS has fed better the last 24hrs and settled better too so seems to tie in with that too..

another rotten night after a great 2 days....

he's in huge pain passing wind and poos...which are now more green than yellow.

off to google i think and make a food diary!

Sounds like you have been having a hard time. Good luck with the food diary.

My allergy specialist said yes, what you eat does get into your breastmilk. In fact, her exact words were "of course it does". As mamakoukla said, there is good evidence for this but GPs and paediatricians are not always aware of it (not their specialist subject, perhaps).

I found that I referred back to my food diary a lot, and my advice is: be very specific when you write things down (e.g. strawberry jam on toast is fine but cherry jam causes a rash). Include things like ketchup, gravy, chilli powder that you might not remember otherwise.

If I ate any of the foods my DS turned out to be allergic to, he got quite severe eczema within about 24 hours. (This included foods like tomatoes, oranges and apricots as well as the more usual protein culprits such as eggs and dairy).

You will certainly get to the bottom of this, even if it does take time - and of course it may not be food at all but as you say, anything's worth a try. Hope it all goes well for you and your DS.

We've had some much better days and nights now

I've been feeding from the same boob for a couple of feeds and rather than switching. No more windy baby, yellow poos, everyone happy and content! So I'm hoping thats the solutions.

Looked at the food thing and the only things i had each time on the bad days were weetabix and red peppers, so I'm avoiding them for now too, just in case!

Good news, MR! Sounds like lactose overload could well be the culprit - and like all things baby, you'll think it's sorted, then suddenly it's back again for a bit. Keep the faith, it probably won't be long before your LO's digestive system can handle the volume of milk okay. My DD is now 12 weeks and back on both boobs at feeds (when she wants them) - still gets windy at times, but not enough to wake her and doesn't seem to cause discomfort any more.
When I compare her sleep now to her sleep then I can hardly believe the difference.
Good luck!