>Recently I attended a bf support group.  The question of Mom's diet
>effecting baby came up.  The LC who was leading the group that week was
>unwavering in her belief that the food a mother eats can make her baby
>gassy, have diarrhea, vomit, etc.


<snip>



This question of 'what can I eat?' always, but always, comes up at
classes, and often from mothers coping with a crying baby. This is
partly to do with the fact that pg women in the UK are told not to
eat a great long list of stuff, including liver, pate, soft cheese,
cook-chill foods, even non-hard-boiled eggs. They wonder if they can
eat them when bf.

Because I don't want them to regard bf as some sort of sacrificial
act, I am always delighted to tell them they can eat all of these
things, and eating  whatever they want will have no effect on the
quality or quantity of their milk. I then talk a bit about the
research that indicates that flavours may get to the breastmilk, and
because someone has always heard you can't have gaseous veg or orange
juice or whatever, I say what I think to be true.....that the only
good research that shows babies may react to something in their
mother's diet is the stuff on dairy. I add that however, there is a
lot of experiential and observational evidence that a few babies do
react to other foods, but there is absolutely no need to *anticipate*
this by eating a limited diet before you think the baby is reacting.

When a baby is unsettled or wakeful or whatever, I think there are
many things to consider before looking at diet, though.

I have never been clear how something like broccoli or beans could
have their  gaseous qualities reach the breastmilk, and I'd love an
explanation!  I think it's good to listen to mothers and to take what
they say seriously. They may well be right when they are sure their
baby's behaviour reacts to their diet.  I have never come across any
babies ever who have blood in their stools, but that might be because
I tend not to get 'medical' cases.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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