My first baby cried day and night. No matter what I did \u2013 walk, sing, carry, soothe \u2013 he cried. And cried loudly! He seemed miserable, and I know I was.<\/p>\n
We found relief when a lactation nurse wondered if the milk in my diet was affecting him. I saw our pediatrician and learned that a dairy-free diet for me was worth a try, and safe for us both.<\/p>\n
Many new mothers worry that what they eat may affect their baby. In most cases, the answer is, perhaps surprisingly, no! The most common offender is cow\u2019s milk proteins, and this rarely causes a sensitivity or allergy in solely breastfed babies. Babies who are sensitive or allergic cry at all times of the day for several hours after breastfeeding. They may also have a rash, diarrhea, or blood in their stools. Luckily, babies usually outgrow this reaction to milk.<\/p>\n
Other than this, there are no foods that are absolutely off the table when you\u2019re breastfeeding. That won\u2019t stop people from telling you to skip spicy foods or broccoli! The La Leche League website has a great description of this:<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery culture has lists of foods that are \u2018good\u2019 and \u2018bad\u2019 for breastfeeding mothers. It happens very often that foods believed to be good in one culture are considered bad in others! In Italy, mothers are often told not to eat garlic, cauliflower, lentils and red peppers. In India most mothers eat all these things and breastfeed very happily. Actually, in parts of India they believe that garlic helps a mother to breastfeed successfully!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Mothers may notice that after eating certain foods their baby cries or fusses more than usual. In this case, it\u2019s fine to avoid these foods. However, trying to eliminate too many foods, or entire food groups, can lead to nutritional risk for the mom!<\/p>\n Here are some common concerns.<\/p>\n Alcohol<\/b><\/p>\n Caffeine<\/strong><\/p>\n Fish<\/strong><\/p>\n Medications<\/strong><\/p>\n All of this helped me breastfeed. I had a cup of coffee each morning, an occasional glass of wine, and skipped the fish caught by my brother-in-law. And my son stopped his crying once I stopped eating dairy!<\/p>\n Find more resources for parents<\/p>\n My Doctor Online:\n
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\nBreastfeeding<\/a><\/p>\n