Dietary taboos for breastfeeding mothers

Alcoholic foods/drinks, undercooked meat, eggs, milk, and aquatic products, foods that are known to cause allergies to you or your baby, excessive amounts of high-caffeine drinks, and other ordinary foods as long as they are hygienic and you do not feel uncomfortable after eating them, there is no need to deliberately avoid these foods.

Seriously, don’t be fooled by those “10 foods you should not eat during breastfeeding” on the Internet. I was with my distant cousin during confinement a while ago, and her mother-in-law wouldn’t let her touch even room-temperature yogurt, saying, “If it’s cold, it will overflow the milk to the baby and cause diarrhea.” My cousin secretly drank a box of it because she was greedy. She didn’t have any stomachache or diarrhea, and the baby continued to sleep as usual even after drinking milk, and there was nothing wrong with it. In fact, the ice food you eat has to be heated through the digestive tract, and the "cold air" will not be transferred to the milk at all. The milk has a constant temperature of about 37 degrees. How can it turn into ice milk tea just because you eat ice cream?

Speaking of which, I think of Spicy, which has been blacklisted by many people. My best friend in Chongqing started clamoring to eat hot pot on the third day after giving birth. Her family stopped her for half a month, but in the end I couldn't help but go with her to eat spicy hot pot. She even cooked it during the whole process. After drinking water, the baby showed no reaction at all when I went home to feed her. On the contrary, she had eaten bland confinement meals for the past two months, crying every day, and lost a lot of milk. After eating the hot pot, she felt better and her milk supply returned. Of course, it doesn’t mean that everyone can make it casually. If you find that your baby’s bottom is red, crying, or has a rash after eating spicy food, then eat less in the future. Individual differences are here, so there is no need to bear it.

The controversy over "foods that restore breast milk" is even greater. According to the experience of the older generation, leeks, malt, hawthorn, and bitter melon are the "hardest hit areas" for restoring breast milk. Some even say that eating celery can also restore breast milk. However, according to the current evidence-based medical research conclusions, in order for these foods to reach the dose that affects prolactin secretion, you have to eat two or three pounds at a time. The daily intake of frying a plate of leeks and making a cup of malt tea will not have the effect of restoring breast milk at all. There are two examples around me: there is a mother who ate three leek dumplings, and her milk supply dropped by one-third that day. There is also a mother who drinks hawthorn water every day to eliminate food accumulation, and her milk supply is stable enough to feed twins. There is really no need to listen to other people's advice on this kind of thing. You will know after you try it once. If you eat a certain food and your milk volume drops, just avoid it in the future. If there is no reaction, eat it as you should.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that there are really no taboos during breastfeeding. There are a few things that you really need to pay attention to, and don’t make fun of yourself and your baby’s health.

When I was working as a volunteer at a community hospital, I met a mother who believed in the folk remedy of "drink rice wine and boiled chicken to release milk" and drank two large bowls at one meal. As a result, the baby slept for six or seven hours after feeding and could not wake up. When she was sent to the hospital, it was found to be mild alcohol poisoning, which frightened the family. You must know that alcohol can directly enter the milk through the blood-milk barrier. Even a small amount may affect the baby's neurological development. It is really recommended not to touch a drop. If you are really greedy and take a sip of fruit wine, it is best to wait for more than 4 hours before breastfeeding. Don't believe the saying that "it will be fine if you squeeze out the foremilk". Alcohol is evenly distributed in the milk, so squeezing the premilk is useless.

You should also try to avoid foods that are not fully cooked, such as soft-boiled eggs, half-cooked steaks, sashimi, and pickled raw fish. It may not be a problem to eat on a daily basis, but the immunity of breastfeeding mothers is weaker than that of ordinary people. These foods can easily carry listeria and salmonella. Diarrhea and fever are trivial matters. If the germs are passed to the baby through milk, it can easily cause severe diarrhea in the baby. Last time, a mother ate undercooked Japanese food and had diarrhea for two days. The baby had to stay in the hospital for a week. It was really not worth the gain.

If you have a history of food allergies, or your baby has been found to be allergic to certain foods, then the corresponding foods must be avoided. For example, if your baby is found to be allergic to milk protein, you have to temporarily avoid foods containing milk such as milk, cheese, and cakes. If you are allergic to mangoes and seafood, don't eat them with the mentality of "giving it a try." There is a mother around me who ate half a piece of mango without believing it. As a result, the baby got a red rash on his face the next day, which took almost a week to go away.

As for the coffee and milk tea that people often ask about, you really don’t have to give up completely. It’s perfectly fine to drink one cup of medium American or one cup of regular milk tea a day, as long as you don’t drink three or four cups of strong coffee a day. If you find that your baby is extremely excited after drinking and stays up until midnight, then drink less or try not to drink in the future. Again, individual differences are more effective than any standard answer.

To be honest, I have seen too many breastfeeding mothers who dare not eat this or touch that. They drink millet soup and boiled vegetables every day. In the end, they become malnourished and anemic, and their milk production cannot increase. It is completely unnecessary. The most important thing to pay attention to during lactation is never "what not to eat", but "how to eat enough nutrition". Supplementing more protein, calcium and iron is better than anything else. Taking care of a baby is tiring enough. Being able to eat what you want and feel comfortable is the best way to release breast milk.