If there is one job being a mother I found the most difficult, it was breastfeeding. I’ve been pretty candid about this struggle. It took me 7 weeks to feel comfortable. Seven. That’s 7 agonizing weeks of learning about the right foods to eat to help produce milk, how to pump, when to pump, when to nurse, how to properly save and store milk, and not stressing so you don’t lose your milk. However, there was one tip I learned that was so essential to successful breastfeeding, I’ve been sharing with new moms and seasoned ones as well.
Tip: If your child is gassy/screaming/not responding well after nursing, your diet may be the reason.
Seems simple, right? Not so fast. When you’re nursing, the baby is eating & drinking everything you’ve ingested. Meat, potatoes, vegetables, tacos, that chili dog you just had to have on your date, those spicy chips, etc. So why is this important? Babies are born with pretty sensitive insides. For more reasons than one, we started Laila on a probiotic starting at birth. However, when I nursed, she would have tremendous gas afterwards & her skin would flare up, causing her to scratch profusely.
At first I didn’t think anything of it. I figured it was her stomach adjusting. Then one day, I did some research and found that the dairy I was used to eating was bothering her, causing her eczema to flare and her stomach to hold gas, causing her to cry all the time.
Now, pregnancy, giving birth, and breastfeeding was already three sacrifices that required me to give up some part of myself. However, I had to give up dairy?! No way! I had eaten cheese throughout my pregnancy. Surely she should be used to it, right? Wrong.
I’ve met many moms in the past two years who find themselves with kids who are gassy and screaming during the day and they can’t figure out why. If they are nursing, I always suggest it could be their diets. No judging, whatsoever. However, nursing requires you to be even more selfless and alter your diet to accommodate a little tummy.
When I changed my diet, I rarely ever had a problem (other than the fact that every food on the market is laced and laden with dairy). Was it hard? Yes! I nursed for an entire year, so I went most of that time skipping it. The result? No more random tummy rubs to get her to pass gas #snickersnicker, screaming at the top of her lungs because of a hurting tummy, no more of those random flare ups, & great pump sessions. I had a healthy, happy child.
While I am no doctor, nor can I suggest this change will help, it’s worth looking into, if you haven’t already. Giving Laila the best meant giving up something temporarily to help her develop into a happy baby and ultimately shape her eating habits early.
