Nursing 101: Sensitive Stomachs
This is Part XI on a series for new moms about breastfeeding. Check out Part X on Knowledge is Key.
Most pregnant women are very careful about what they eat since they know that they are the main food source of their growing baby. Usually when women are pregnant they all of a sudden become very conscious about what they eat and start being healthy. Well, that’s because we care about that little human being growing inside of us and we want to do what is best for our baby.
The same can be said for nursing moms. What you eat, your baby will eat. But it will be in the form of milk! Apparently the milk can taste different depending on what you ate before nursing. Sounds pretty neat, huh? Well it can really do some tricks on your baby’s belly.
In those first few months, your baby’s digestive system is still working out all the kinks and is very immature. Some foods you eat your baby will not be able to handle well. Your baby might be up all night crying and you are thinking, “oh she/he is just a baby and baby’s cry.” The real problem could be what you ate that night and your baby might have an upset stomach. (There is medicine to help with an upset stomach but we never used it. Instead we would do belly rubs.)
I’ve heard that a lot of babies have bad reactions to green vegetables, especially broccoli. You really don’t know until you try it but I highly recommend eating green vegetables in low amounts until you know if your baby will have a reaction. Mary Rene couldn’t handle broccoli and I had to cut it out of my diet.
The first few weeks we were really blessed with a lot of free meals. Nearly 75% of these meals were some form of red sauced pasta. Those nights we had problems getting Mary Rene to bed but we just thought it was because she was a baby and didn’t understand bed yet. It wasn’t until a couple months later that we connected it to the red sauce! I cut red sauce out of my diet entirely and she hasn’t had issues since. Now that she is older she can tolerate red sauce but I didn’t try red sauce again until recently. I was too darn scared and didn’t want to see my baby fussing over what I ate.
Another issue we had was spicy food. She never had a problem with Mexican food (thank goodness!) but her poor little belly couldn’t handle the spicy cajun seasoning I had on my pasta one night. She was up all night fussing and I thought she was hungry so I would keep nursing her. But each time I nursed her she would get more upset. She wanted to be comforted so bad and nursing is usually what she did for comfort. But the nursing was upsetting her more. We were up nearly the whole night and eventually Frank gave her a bottle of milk I had in the freezer and she fell right back to sleep.
Another thing you need to watch is your caffeine intake. A little here and there won’t hurt but if you have too much caffeine in one day it can really get your baby wired. One night we had chocolate covered strawberries and I must have ate too many (they were SO SO GOOD!) because when we put Mary Rene to bed that night she was very jittery. I nearly cried watching her shaking in her sleep because I knew it was the chocolate. I felt like such a horrible mother and vowed I would never do that again. Well, I’ve had chocolate since, actually I have had a lot of chocolate, but now I am more careful about the amount I consume.
Babies are fussy regardless of having an upset stomach or not. But if you are lucky, your mother’s intuition will kick in and you’ll be able to tell if the fussiness has to do with what you ate. If you figure that out and remember what you ate, eliminate it from your diet for awhile and see how happy your baby becomes!
Next week I will write about: Dressing for the Job .
For all you moms who read my blog, please add your tips to the comment section. The more tips the better!
June 14th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
I just wanted to add that BM is a natural antacid. My guy had really bad acid reflux. There were some times when all he wanted to do is nurse. I finally called the LC b/c I thought I may not be making enough milk. After reviewing his history she figured out that he had reflux. An adjustment of food and finally meds helped him.
Also, once you stop eating a food it can take as long as two weeks to clear the system (per my pediatric allergist). If your baby has extreme fussiness I suggest keeping a food log, noting when you stopped consuming the particular food and see if there is any improvement over the course of 2-3 weeks. It is possible for babies to have food allergies (where the immune system actually attacks the “foreign particle”) as compared to just an intolorance. If severe it may be recommended that Mom does an elimination diet of the top 8 allergens.
June 15th, 2009 at 6:56 am
We had the same issues with red sauce…Natalie did not like it and her pediatrician said that red sauce commonly does not agree with infants. I also cut this out of my diet, but now I can eat anything and Natalie does not mind!!
June 28th, 2009 at 7:43 am
[...] This is Part XII on a series for new moms about breastfeeding. Check out Part XI on Sensitive Stomachs. [...]
September 11th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
Super-Duper site!. Im a nurse student ready to do my NCLEX exam - so I need to learn as much as possible :). Thanks!