What is the actual truth about a breastfeeding diet

What websites are you looking at? Please ensure they're reputable

Here's some info from a Lactation Consultant

https://www.instagram.com/p/Car3d5zgdZ-/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Everyone’s body is different. What I do know is that I eat lots of cabbage and my 6mo has never had gas. But what you eat can effect your baby because I notice a dairy diet can lead to gas, colic, eczema or skin rashes, constipation, and/or diarrhea for baby. These things does not happen to every baby, but when my clients have any of the above and I recommend they remove dairy that always fixes things.

Lactation Counselor here 🙋‍♀️

Milk is made from your blood. Gassy foods make you gassy because of certain proteins but those proteins do not cross into the blood/milk, they affect your gut, not baby’s.

If baby is gassy, that is very normal as their guts are maturing and learning to work. If baby is exceptionally gassy, it could be latch, fast flow or from crying (they suck air in when they cry).

I just read her thread. I love it! I’ll share this with some clients even though I already don’t recommend dairy.

you should take a look at thread posted. That lactation consultant touched on some amazing points. I refer my clients to lactation consultations all the time and sometimes y’all say “gas is normal”, but when they remove dairy as I recommend the gas and fussiness stop.

As Olivia Hinge mentioned most of the molecules in the blood are coming from the gut which affects the breastmilk. Maybe that’s something to consider instead of telling clients it doesn’t affect the baby’s gut.

see this is the thing that annoys me, everyone has an opinion on it but there are no actual facts?! I’m vegan so already dairy is not in my diet, but I do have a lot of tomatoes, wheat/gassy greens & pulses… I also drink caffeinated beverages in moderation and chocolate oat milk… I just want to know if anything in my diet is giving my baby gas because then I’ll know what things to cut out

This article may help u:

https://internationalbreastfeedingjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13006-021-00406-z

The conclusion rounds it up nicely: “Regardless of a resonably good level of knowledge on maternal nutrition in the lactation period, both breastfeeding mothers and medical staff are still convinced of the beneficial effect of preventive dietary restrictions, which affects further lactational counselling and lactational performance.”

I did read it and she’s not advocating for removing milk from the diet. She’s saying basically what I said, although she’s emphasizing that that the phrase “gas is normal, milk is made from blood” isn’t always helpful to parents. So she’s educating on the topic of what could cause gas.

CMPA is rare, but if that was the case, they would usually have a lot of symptoms. Gas can be caused by lots of other things- crying, fast/forceful letdown, shallow/incorrect latch, over feeding with a bottle, feeding too fast with a bottle and still being hungry and working on a poop can look like a gas issue.

I’ve seen plenty of mothers who end up giving up on breastfeeding because their issues were not solved diet changes but were never told to look otherwise.

I personally do not even believe humans should be consuming cows milk and my own children drink nut/oat milks. I’ve always been dairy free but I still have gassy babies.

My information is not opinion but comes from current research and personal experience. I actually did have a baby with a true milk allergy.

If I get a chance I will try to post some research articles here but I’m currently dealing with a sick kiddo, a cluster feeding 8week old (going through a developmental phase) and trying to get my other kids lunch. Lol so I can’t guarantee I’ll get to it but you can research it. Go to AAP, Pubmed, Breastfeeding medicine, etc. Here you can find credible information.

I can definitely understand that. As I mentioned before everyone’s body is different so greens may not make me and my baby gassy but it can possibly do it for you. There is no article or lactation consultant that could narrow that down because everyone’s body reactes differently. If you don’t consume dairy and your baby is latching correctly and not recieving air, try cutting out greens and see if you notice a change. You need a few weeks to see a difference. If you notice gas continues try cutting out tomatoes and so on until you are able to find your source.

it’s true everyone’s body is different but usually researchers take that into account by getting a diverse trial group (at least good researchers).

How old is your baby? Going through certain leaps and stages can make them fussier. For example, my baby is 8 weeks and fussy/cluster feeding. This is normal because his hormones are changing, he’s learning to make his own melatonin, staying awake for longer periods of time and learning new things (to move his hands and face). I also have an incredibly forceful and fast letdown (comes out in a huge spray multiple times per feed) so he’s a very gassy baby despite all the tricks I have to slow things down.

It’s not always the foods you eat/the composition of breastmilk that affects the baby. Environment and development play a huge part as well.

I definitely agree gas can be caused by other things besides dairy, including everything you listed. I was just using dairy as an example to say what we consume can affect our milk and make baby gassy.

She is not saying what you said because you are saying diet affects the moms gut and not the baby’s. She is saying most molecules are from the gut which can affect the baby’s gut.

CMPA is actually more common than people realize, but because CBLCs are taught otherwise they write most CMPAs off. As a doula I can honestly say every single client I had this year alone baby had a CMPA allergy. Once dairy was removed the baby had no more issues.

I recommend my clients to CBLCs all the time, but I notice sometimes CBLCs leave out valuable information and you are right sometimes it’s not diet related. Saying things like “gas or spitting up is normal” can be misguiding.

An example unrelated to diet. I have a client right now, baby is 2mo. Initially baby had issues latching but I referred mom to a CBLC and the latch got corrected. Once the latch was corrected baby was still fussy, gassy, and irritable. She said he still seems hungry and she doesn’t think she’s giving him enough milk. I said well how often are you feeding him and for how long. She said every 2hours and for about 20mins. I told her he is still hungry because he has to feed on demand, he needs to be on breast until he falls asleep and do not unlatch him when he falls asleep let him unlatch when he is ready. She tried it and he was finally content. But she highlighted her CBLC and her breastfeeding class never mentioned that. They told her every 2hrs. So that made me wonder how many other moms are struggling with their breastfeeding journey because of that advice. This is no reflection to you or your recommendations. I’m just giving an example of a non-diet related gas issue.

@Georgie This is just my from my experience not medical advice but I had to cut out dairy and caffeine as well. Also oatmeal, oats and onions would give my baby reflux and gassier than usual.