Dietary taboos for breastfeeding women

There are no absolutely forbidden foods during lactation, and 90% of the various "feedback lists" and "taboos" posted online are not universal. The so-called "taboos" are essentially "to avoid dietary choices that will harm the mother's own health, may affect the baby's growth and development through milk, or clearly cause adverse reactions in your baby." The core principle is never "what not to eat", but "individualization, moderation, and dynamic observation."

Let’s talk about the “breast-feeding foods” that everyone is most anxious about. When I just gave birth to my baby, my mother threw away all the leeks, hawthorns, and malt tea in my refrigerator, saying that if I took one lick, my milk would be gone. This matter is actually quite controversial. Traditional Chinese medicine does believe that large doses of roasted malt have the effect of restoring breast milk. However, it takes more than 60g of boiled malt every day and continuous drinking for three or four days to reach the effective dose. Eating a leek box, nibbling a hawthorn stick, and drinking a sip of milk tea with malt will have no effect at all. My best friend from Jiangsu Province likes to eat scrambled eggs with leeks, and she has enough milk even if she is fed exclusively with breast milk until she is 1 and a half years old. I also have a friend with a sensitive constitution, who drank half a cup of malt water and the feeling of milk engorgement was relieved. So there is no unified answer to this matter. If you are really worried, eat less. If the milk volume fluctuates, don't blame it entirely on one mouthful of food. Most of the problems are due to poor rest and insufficient sucking.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that all the taboos spread online are groundless. There are a few categories that you really need to pay attention to, or even try to avoid. The first to bear the brunt is food containing alcohol. This is really uncontroversial - alcohol will pass through the blood-milk barrier freely, and the baby's liver metabolism is only a few tenths of that of adults. Even a small amount of intake may affect neurological development. So don’t touch confinement wine, rice wine braised chicken, or beer-based duck if the cooking time is less than an hour and the alcohol has not completely evaporated. When I was helping a friend with lactation diet consultation last year, I met a mother who drank less than half a cup of home-brewed rice wine during the confinement party. As a result, her baby usually woke up every two hours for night feeding. She slept for almost six hours that day and couldn't wake up. She was sent to the hospital and the doctor said it was the alcohol in the breast milk that caused the drowsiness. It's scary to think about it. If you really want to eat food with alcohol, cook it for a while and wait until the alcohol has completely evaporated before eating. It is best to wait 3 or 4 hours after eating before breastfeeding.

As for the coffee, milk tea, and happy water that everyone is coveted, alcohol is not as absolute. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that it is safe to consume no more than 200 mg of caffeine per day, which is about one medium cup of regular American coffee, or two cups of unstrengthened milk tea, or three small pieces of 100% dark chocolate. But it really depends on the baby's reaction. I drank half a cup of latte every day while breastfeeding. Nothing happened to my baby, and he should sleep and eat. However, a mother in the same neighborhood took a sip of pearl milk tea and her baby was so excited that she kicked the quilt with her eyes open at three o'clock in the middle of the night. Do you think she should touch it less? So you don’t have to listen to people who say you can’t drink coffee while breastfeeding and you’ll get too greedy. Try drinking less and you can satisfy your craving occasionally when the baby doesn’t respond. There’s no need to compete with yourself.

In the past, old people said that seafood, mangoes, and nuts should not be eaten during breastfeeding for fear that the baby would be allergic. Nowadays, blanket taboos are no longer recommended. The latest feeding guidelines say that unless there is a clear history of allergies in the family, there is no need to deliberately avoid these highly sensitive foods. On the contrary, early intake by the mother and early exposure of the baby to related allergens can also reduce the probability of later allergies. Of course, if you eat something and your child suddenly develops eczema, diarrhea, or cries incessantly for unknown reasons, then you should write down the food, don't eat it for the time being, and wait a month or two before trying it slowly. There is a mother next to me who ate two meals of hairy crabs while breastfeeding. Her baby developed a red rash on his face. It disappeared within three days of stopping. Later, when the baby was 8 months old, she ate it again, and nothing happened.

As for what cannot be eaten cold, cannot be eaten sour, and fruits must be boiled before they can be eaten, these are really misunderstandings of the old concepts. As long as your own stomach can tolerate it, normal temperature fruits, iced yogurt, and even ice cream occasionally in summer are fine. Your baby's stomach and intestines are not connected with you. The cold food you eat goes into your stomach, not directly into the milk. The temperature of milk is always about 37 degrees, right? In winter, I often eat strawberries directly from the refrigerator. My baby's diarrhea has always been normal. Of course, if you have a weak stomach and have diarrhea after eating something cold, then definitely don't do it. After all, if you don't feel well, it will also affect breastfeeding, right? It’s not that you can’t eat anything that’s too spicy or too salty. Just eat spicy food on a daily basis. It’s okay to have mildly spicy hot pot once in a while, as long as it’s not so spicy that your stomach hurts, or so salty that you keep drinking water. Last time I was greedy and ate a very spicy Chongqing hot pot, but I ended up with hemorrhoids. My baby’s buttocks were red and cried for a long time the next day, which is the price of being greedy. But it doesn’t mean that I won’t be able to eat it at all in the future. Just order it slightly spicy next time.

In fact, I think you don’t need to be too tight during lactation. You don’t dare to eat this or touch that. You just drink water and eat boiled meat every day. On the contrary, a bad mood will affect your milk supply. To put it bluntly, you are the one breastfeeding, and your feelings are also important. As long as it is fresh, clean food, there is no big problem if you eat it in moderation. If you are really unsure, just eat a few bites less. If the baby feels no discomfort after observing it for two or three days, then feel free to eat it. After all, only a happy mother can raise a happy baby.