Breastfeeding

What Not to Eat While Breastfeeding

Many pregnant women and new mothers are keen to find out which food not to eat while they are breastfeeding as the change in diet can improve their baby’s health.

Generally, breastfeeding women should eat as much as they can to produce enough milk and drink a lot of pure water to keep them from dehydration while breastfeeding. The food you should avoid can vary a lot from mother to mother and from baby to baby, but there are some general guidelines which should be considered by all breastfeeding mothers.

Caffeine intake should not exceed one or two cups of coffee, because too much caffeine can affect baby sleep and make him irritated. Caffeine can be also found in some soda-drinks and medicines that are sold over-the-counter, so that should be taken into consideration when controlling your caffeine intake.

More things to watch out for are gassy foods such as cauliflower and broccoli as these can make baby gassy and give her the cramps. When you notice this in your baby, avoid the suspicious types of food for a few days and then introduce it again in your diet. This should help you find out which foods are responsible for gas.

Certain foods can change how your milk tastes, but researches have shown that babies actually like this. It is not certain whether spicy food can cause problems with your  baby’s digestion because different cultures have different customs about breastfeeding.

Some spices which are considered bad for breastfeeding (like garlic in Italy) in other societies are considered beneficial (like garlic in India). You should also limit your sugar intake. Everything that you eat ends up in your milk  so is sugar. If sugar level in your blood is too high, this can cause your baby to suffer from insulin imbalance.

Foods To Avoid During Breastfeeding

It is well known fact in modern medicine that feeding baby with mother’s milk just after giving birth is crucial for the baby as well as for the mother. That is the reason why everybody should be aware of the importance of breastfeeding.

During pregnancy, as well as after it, mother’s diet and the food she eats influence the structure of her breast milk. We all know that substances like caffeine and nicotine from cigarettes have bad influence on baby development, so it is highly recommended to avoid them. Caffeine can be found not only in coffee, but also in tea and some other drinks.

Vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, cucumbers, beans, cauliflower, corn, dairy products, soy and tofu products, tomato and peppers can make gas in baby’s stomach. Other foods that can irritate the baby are onion, garlic, curry and chili peppers. Alcoholic drinks are strongly forbidden in the period of breastfeeding. You can have a one drink but no more than that or, if you want to have another one, you should make a break of two hours, just to avoid producing less milk than usual.

Certain foods from your diet can create an allergic reaction for your child. Products that cause allergic reaction are: soy, shellfish, wheat, peanuts, food additives, citrus fruits, egg whites, peanuts. In this case you should stop eating them and observe the changes, until you find out what was causing the problems.

In case you don’t find out what your baby is allergic to, you should wait for three months until her sensitive stomach becomes more resistant and stops having those reactions. It is recommended that you drink a lot of water, knowing it helps you produce milk, eat a lot of fruits because of their vitamins and consume vegetables, too.

Fish is also recommended during the breastfeeding period, especially: rainbow trout, canned mackerel and salmon. But the fish you should avoid are: shark meat, swordfish and king mackerel.

Source:  foods to avoid while breastfeeding