Breastfeeding, Allergies, and Planning for the Next Baby

One thing you might want to consider is not becoming pregnant until you have weaned your current baby. There is a great chance that you will have a major drop in milk production for at least part of your pregnancy. It is hard on the body to maintain a pregnancy and a nursing baby.

Lisa

Hi T.,

I haven't been in your exact situation, but when my son was an infant (a multiple-allergy infant, I should add), this was more or less my diet:

BREAKFAST
Oatmeal with raisins, honey, and rice milk

LUNCH
Dark leafy green salad w/ a protein (I used grilled chicken, but assuming no one has gluten issues, you could use seitan)

DINNER
Protein (again, seitan might be your best option if you need to avoid soy and wish to avoid meat) cooked up with some curry paste (just check the label for soy), with rice, maybe shitake mushrooms, and -- again, dark leafy greens

DESSERT
Fresh fruit (I had this intense craving for mangoes during this period -- no idea why, and it got kind of expensive, but maybe I wasn't getting enough potassium, I don't know...)

Anyway, from what I've read, you're better off getting the majority of your calcium from dark leafy greens than from a commercial milk substitute. Mushrooms are good for vitamin d, and there are actually a lot of wonderful vegetable sources for vit. e -- avocados, etc..

The oatmeal is also really key to this diet b/c you need something filling in the morning if you're breast-feeding. I honestly never really craved the "forbidden" foods and I lost the pregnancy weight like *that.*

Oh, and my son is almost 4 now and still can't have dairy (though he can have eggs, soy, etc.) Every morning he and I make a "green smoothie," -- just throw orange juice, one fruit (peach, mango, etc.), a big handful of spinach and maybe a squirt of honey in the blender). This gives kids as much calcium as a glass of rice or soy milk, only w/o all the sugar and preservatives.

That was sort of disorganized -- sorry -- but I hope it's helpful.

Mira

Okay, so every one is different, but I very successfully breast fed one baby while pregnant with my second. I got pregnant when the first was 5 months old and breast fed him until the second was born. I too was worried about nutrition for me, my feeding child, and the one I carried, but everyone came out great!!!!

Coconut milk is a very good option - and the brain fats, or DHA/EPA can be obtained many other places - even in supplement form (just be sure that the supplement does not contain soy in the form of Vitamin E or mixed tocopherals).

I am a food educator and write a blog, AllergenFreeCooking.com - all my recipes are free of the top-8 allergens and provide many options for preparation.

Raw nuts and seeds are really great to much on when feeling sick. Almonds are especially high in Vitamin A and E. Pumpkin seeds are very nutritious as well.

Fresh raw veggies, in large quantities - especially broccoli (calcium). You may also consider consuming Nutritional yeast as it is high in B12 and the rest of the B vitamins (it is a dead yeast - does not contribute to Candida).

Blessings to you and yours!

You don't have to get pregnant now.
As Lisa K. below said.
It does affect the breastmilk. And some babies will 'reject' nursing, when a Mom is pregnant. And you said you want to continue breastfeeding...

Ask your Ped., what you can try and give her... some people use rice milk, almond milk, goats milk...
But from 1-2 years old... it is imperative that the milk "fats" is a major "nutrient" in the milk, because milk "fats" is highly important for brain development. Hence, the recommendation for "whole milk" from 1 years old. But since your baby cannot drink dairy, I would really ask your Ped., for comparable choices.

all the best,
Susan

continue not eating meat, best way to go.

i am a vegetarian who has allergies, you can manage , just try different things

My daughter cannot drink dairy. We recently tried coconut milk and she really likes it. Coconut milk is creamier and has more nutrients than rice milk. It also has less processing than rice milk and most, if not all, other commercial nut milks.

Having another baby is a big decision and I can't speak to nursing while pregnant. My little one has allergies and I highly recommend the website Kids With Food Allergies. I encourage you to bf as long as you can but there are formulas for kids with allergies. My daughter is on Elecare and will be until she is at least 2. Milk substitutes don't have fat and protein to take the place of formula or breastmilk, especially rice milk which doesn't have much of either. You can use rice or coconut milk for cooking or as a drink but not to replace breastfeeding.