Foods to avoid while breastfeeding?

[LeeLou456]

I'm 36+5 and very excited about meeting our lo soon!

I'm hoping to breastfeed and was just wondering what foods to avoid? The one food I've missed during pregnancy is prawns however a relative of mine mentioned that I shouldn't eat them while breastfeeding either . Does anyone know if prawns are ok?! and is there anything I really should avoid?

Thanks in advance

I didn’t avoid anything at all and I’ve been breastfeeding for a year with no problems!

The only time you’d need to watch your diet is if your baby has CMPA or other allergies. Obviously keep alcohol low, and check before you take any medication.

See how foods impact on the baby through your milk. My DS couldn't cope with me eating onions, for others it's dairy or fizzy drinks. It's not so much about allergens / listeria etc. but how foods filter through into your milk supply.

There are no food you need to avoid while breastfeeding. Even alcohol is fine (the rule is if you're too drunk to safely hold the baby, you're too drunk to BF, but that's all )

I've been BFing DD since she was born (nearly 5 months) and haven't avoided anything!

how foods filter through into your milk supply

they don't. How would fizzy drinks manifest any differently in breastmilk than any other drink? They wouldn't.
the only people who say this stuff have not the first idea how breast milk is made.

I've been BFing DD since she was born (nearly 5 months) and haven't avoided anything!

Exactly this. Except I have a son!

I haven't avoided anything other than too much caffeine.

My breastmilk has mainly been sushi and brie. Nothing to worry about OP.

Dairy and curry or anything spicy I avoid. My DS has CMPA and anything spicy gives him wind. But there's nothing you shouldn't eat there just might be some foods your baby objects. The majority don't have to avoid anything.

I don't avoid anything and am still breastfeeding my 6.5 month old. The only thing you need to avoid are certain medications (decongestants and some hormonal contraceptives, for example, can affect your supply) so always check before you take something like that.

I am on month six of BF and avoid dairy and soy but only because dd has an intolerance to those things.

I drink wine and coffee. I eat what I want (apart from lovely lovely cheese)

You are more likely to stick at it if you don’t restrict yourself

Peppa, unfortunately the screaming baby I had every time I fed him after eating food with onions says that you're talking bollocks. The HV I had also had expierence of mothers who found that their babies had wind / stomach upsets every time their mother ate x food.

You don't get to tell me that my experience is wrong.

Lots of people think things are happening that actually aren't. And HV can talk an awful lot of bollocks (mine thought breastmilk was a good idea for a severely lactose intolerant toddler!)

How would fizzy drinks affect breastmilk was the question? And the answer being you don't know. Because they don't.

Don't drink so much you get drunk. In fact while breastfeeding is probably best as alcohol won't get into that feed and will have been processed by the next one!

Just careful not to get food poisoning because bugs are grim with a baby to care for.

You can eat prawns when pregnant OP, and as mentioned there are no particular "banned" foods when breastfeeding, some babies react badly to no foods (my 2 ds don't), some babies will react to a specific food or a few.

Why aren’t you eating prawns? I had a prawn jacket potato for lunch today - I’m 17 weeks pregnant!

Thanks everyone!

Lookingforthecorkscrew - I was advised by the MW to avoid them so as not to get food poisoning. I don't think eating them harm the baby, I just didn't want to get ill!

You can eat and drink anything. For something to get into you milk it has to survive your digestive system, get into your blood stream and then into milk - so some drugs do, trace amounts of alcohol, but the bubbles from fanta or enough sprouts to make your baby fart, no.

You know you can eat prawns in pregnancy right?

You can't eat them raw, but the only place you'd find a raw prawn is in a Japanese restaurant.

Most prawns are pre-cooked. That's why they're pink. You can eat any prawn that's pink

Only illegal drugs and some medications.

Breastmilk is pretty much blood and fat - a substance has to be fat-soluble or present in blood to go through to milk.

It's not the same as pregnancy since in pregnancy you're actually sharing blood with the baby via the placenta.

Well apologies to your midwife but they’re full of 💩

Confirmation from NHS that ‘cold pre-cooked prawns are fine’ in pregnancy.

I fed DD for 2 years and didn’t avoid anything except excess alcohol. Had a beer or a glass of wine/ g&t occasionally but generally only one.

I know people who avoided onions, strawberries because they said it made baby windy. How much truth there is in this I dont know.

As others have said there’s absolutely no reason to avoid cooked prawns in pregnancy though. Read the NHS guidelines and ignore people spouting rubbish

Pretty sure breastmilk is made from your blood, not the contents of your stomach?

I BF for 15 months, didn’t avoid anything and my baby was fine. Obviously if your baby is lactose intolerant, you should avoid dairy products that give bother.

I also indulged myself in alcohol when I wanted, the amount of alcohol that goes into your milk is negligible.
The Kellymom website is very good at helping dispel myths surrounding BF, best of luck with your baby!

No foods you generally need to avoid while breastfeeding (don't need to avoid prawns in pregnancy either, you are no more likely to get sick from them than you are any other food, your midwife should know better than to be telling people that sort of rubbish). You may have to cut things out if your baby has an allergy or intolerance, but you shouldn't do that without it being diagnosed. You can drink coffee and alcohol in moderation if you want. Just don't get wasted or if you do, offer expressed milk or formula.