Jessica wrote:

 "I have always been of the understanding that, (with the exception
of dairy
in some cases), the food a nursing Mother eats does not adversely
effect the
baby.  I have always thought that a new born with gas has more to do
with an
immature digestive system than it's mothers consumption of
broccoli.  So I
wonder if any of you wise women (& men :-) ) have any thoughts on
this."

When talking about diet, two things I like to say to ner parents
are:
1 - If you avoided everything that anyone has ever said not to eat
while nursing, you'd probably starve!
2 - Think about diets commonly eaten in cultures other than ours.
Strong or spicy foods are often a regular item, yet they can nurse
their babies with no problems.

After pointing this out, I state that there are occasional babies
who seem to be sensitive to something mom eats, but since most do
absolutely fine, don't avoid a lot of foods "just in case".  If you
find that your baby has some consistent (not just one or two times)
gas, rash or colic problems, they should call us.  We will then help
her explore the various possible causes  (including, but not limited
to, a food mom eats).

A related thought/question - A trace of flavor does appear to be in
mom's milk and the breastfed baby is thus exposed to a variety of
flavors with his meals while the poor artificially fed baby gets the
same taste day after day after day...  Has anyone explored whether
the breastfed babies are less picky eaters as other foods are added
to the diet?  If there is something familiar about a new food I
would think baby would be more likely to accept it than if it was
totally unfamiliar.  Any thoughts?
Winnie Mading RNC, IBCLC

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