Breast Feeding Question - Wauconda,IL

From askdrsears.com

COLIC-CAUSING FOODS IN BREASTFEEDING

If your child is experiencing colic, it may be due to something in your diet that is passing through the breastmilk. Here is a list of foods that may be the culprit. You can eliminate all foods at once or just a few at a time, depending on how severe the colic is. It sometimes takes up to two weeks for a food to get out of your system, so be patient. Good luck!

* Dairy products
* Caffeine – coffee, tea, soda
* Soy products
* Peanuts
* Shellfish
* Chocolate (sorry!)
* Citrus fruits
* Wheat
* Chicken
* Beef
* Eggs
* Nuts
* Corn
* Prenatal vitamins (The iron may be irritating to baby. Ask your OB for an alternative if this is the culprit.)
* Gassy vegetables:
o Broccoli
o Cauliflower
o Cabbage
o Onions
o Green peppers
o Tomatoes

My gut says the candy (like the caffeine from the chocolate) should be out in 12 hours or so... Now if it is the "milk" in the milk chocolate, and you are not eating any other dairy, then you might start to see thing improve after a few days, but when doing a serious elimination diet for dairy, I think people wait like 2-3 weeks. But if you have not been trying to eliminate dairy, then you are probably eating other dairy anyway (it is hidden in almost anything).

You didnt say this, but just in case anyone else reads these posts, even if a mom's breastmilk seems to be mildly upsetting her baby, it will be easier on the baby's system to stick with breastmilk... and not switch to a replacement milk (with are usually made from ingredients that would only upset the poor baby's tummy worse).

There are really active La Leche League groups in IL. And it is usually nice to double check any breastfeeding information (from friends/family/doctors) with them. Here is how to find a local group: http://www.llli.org/Web/Illinois.html

I have 3 too! 5, 3 and 8 months (and still nursing strong!) :) -C.

My son was allergic to dairy and it took quite a while for us to figure it all out. I have breastfed him the entire time(he is one now and able to have dairy) so I have a lot of experience with this! My doctor told me that it would take about 12 hours after eating the offending food to see a noticable change in the baby. The food needs time to pass into your blood stream(or the proteins from the food), make their way to your milk, then go through your babies system. It takes quite a while for that to typically happen.

If I recall right, it is usually as long as the food is in your digestive system. So, I know this is gross, but I know sometimes you can tell when you use the bathroom what food it is you are getting rid of. So that gives you an idea of how long the food stays in your system specifically. Depends on if you have a fast or slow system. I know for me it is usually around 8 hours or so. I know they say with alcohol (like if you had a glass of wine) that once the effects wear off of you, your milk is fine.

There's a great book called "What's Going On In There?" about brain development in babies during the first five years of life. I know there's a section there that specifically addresses alcohol and breastfeeding, though not foods. I believe the data on alcohol says that approximately 1/400 of the alcohol you ingest makes it into the breastmilk. It starts getting in around 30 minutes after consumption, peaks around 90 minutes after, and is basically gone 2-3 hours afterwards.

Personally, I took this as an OK to have a glass of wine with dinner and not worry about pumping and dumping :P

In my experience, my son was usually irritable from about 3-10 hours after I ate an offending food item (usually it was cheap chinese food for me).