Diet while breastfeeding

[i.love]

Do you ladies follow a diet while breastfeeding at all? I have a very gassy/windy baby (again), and some websites mention that there are foods that can be causing problems - citruses, strawberries, and, saddest of all, chocolate! Typically, I crave all of these. I still eat them, and then feel guilty, but then can't resist again...

Does anyone avoid these (or other) foods? Does it really make a difference?

 

[Goat]

Hi hun! I definitely found diet impacted the gassiness and sickiness of both my babies.
Anything gassy veg made them very colicky. Anything caffeine or citrusy made them very sicky.x

 

[CARNAT22]

I've cut back on caffeine as I have a sicky baby (I don't have anything citrusy?) To be honest it's not helped much.

I am pretty sure diet does have an effect - probably more so on some babies though.

X

 

[i.love]

Thanks ladies. That's a shame... I am so used to having half a grapefruit every morning, chopped strawberries on cereal and chocolate in the evening

Yes green veggies are supposed to be bad as well, nearly forgot about those. Also a shame - I try to have lots of those normally! Boo.

 

[GF91]

My HV said to cut dairy from my diet to help with a colicky baby! I don't really have a lot of dairy, so that's been easy for me... But it's not helped! I'm really craving chili flakes though (so random!) which of course I don't want to eat just Incase! May be coincidence but we had our fav italian takeaway last night and I had 1 slice of OH spicy italian sausage pizza (not spicy at all) and I've been up since 3am with a screaming baby! X

 

[Sprout]

I haven't changed my diet at all...just drink more water (LOTS more!)

I really don't understand how foods in your diet can make a baby gassy. Not saying anyone's wrong but I just don't get it...they make us gassy because of how they break down in the stomach/intestines and release gases...but in the baby it's always just breast milk they've got to break down...which is very easy to digest? They tend to be windy because they've swallowed air rather than producing it in the digestion process?

Personally, I would only change my diet if I suspected an intolerance (such as dairy) or something that might change the taste of the milk to something the baby didn't like.

 

[i.love]

Sprout well I get the green vegetables bit. Everything we eat get into milk in theory, and green veggies make people gassy. No idea why chocolate or lemons would have such an effect though. Or dairy...

GF interesting about dairy... Haven't seen this one mentioned anywhere. I also thought you only need to be careful with dairy if the baby has an intolerance? Strange.

 

[Goat]

Carnat sorry to hear cutting caffeine didn't work!

ilove I would def give it a go, you've got nothing to lose! It takes a couple of days to notice the difference but at least you'll know for sure. Maybe don't cut it all out at once and try bit by bit? I personally would go with the gassy veg first. They were the biggest triggers of discomfort for my two girls.

 

[i.love]

Thanks Goat! I haven't had any veggies today (had a naughty pizza and panini day), so will see how the night goes. Though it changes so much from night to night anyway, it's difficult to work out a pattern!

 

[TTT]

I cut down on my dairy, caffeine and citrus but didn't make any difference for me. I found a better latch and having baby sat upright while feeding made the world of difference. Carrying him in the sling with his belly pressed against mine and taking him on bumpy paths in his carrycot on dog walks both helped him to get wind up on his own, which he is now pretty good at.