[Submitted Question]

I have been looking forward to breastfeeding my daughter. Now my friend told me that you have to be very careful of what you eat or drink when you nurse. Of course I knew that alcohol was out but she said you also need to avoid caffeine, citrus fruits, beans, broccoli, garlic, and maybe even milk. Is she correct? To tell the truth I have had enough of a restricted diet during pregnancy and really would like to get back to eating what I like.

[WombToBloom]

It’s true that eating certain foods while pregnant may cause some discomfort for your baby. But which foods will vary from mom to mom and baby to baby. I know several moms who did have to cut out dairy because it made their babies terribly gassy. And too much caffeine is probably not a good idea in general. But really, a very, very small percentage of what you consume ends up in your breastmilk – so one regular Diet Coke probably isn’t going to throw your baby’s day out of whack. My babies did not appreciate anything tomato-based – I mean, they got gassy if I ate Italian with red sauce. That was the extent of my diet-restriction while breastfeeding. It is worse for some people – but it’s something you’ll have to figure out as you go along!

[noel0077]

Yes she is correct but can take milk because milk helps you to increases the production of your milk, so if your production is good then it will be good for your baby also.