nursing moms

[MARY1616]

I have a question for the nursing moms. I nursed my ds for about a week and gave up due to lack of knowledge, this time I plan on giving it another try. My question is if you have to avoid certain foods and artificial sweetners like when you are pregnant?(boy do I miss splenda)I am one of those people that try to follow the rules as close as possible,but every now and than I do indulge. Thanks

 

[scm]

Hi Mary, I'm nursing my second child now. The information given to me by the nurses from the hospital, they say that the foods you eat can affect your baby. HOWEVER, the baby gets such a small portion of what you consume that most anything is ok as long as it's in moderation. You can even have *some* alcohol.
I was concerned since I had a c-section and was given a narcotic pain killer when I left the hospital.

Susan C.M.
[link=http://lilypie.com][img noborder]http://bd.lilypie.com/elmYm5.png[/img][/link]

 

[FiddleFit]

Hi Mary,

www.kellymom.com is an amazing website for breastfeeding information.

You don't have to avoid any foods while breastfeeding, although you might find that some foods you eat will make the baby gassy. If that happens, you'll probably want to avoid them until the baby's system is a little more mature. Every baby is different, so you'll have to experiment a bit to see what affects him/her and what doesn't.

I hope you have a better nursing experience this time around!

Cheers,
Sandra

 

[shellnc]

Hi,

I'm nursing my second baby now (he's 5 months on the 17th). I nursed my first for 9 months. I haven't found that any particular foods bothered either one. I use splenda in moderation. I also try to limit myself to only one cafenated beverage a day - -I haven't found it affects the baby, but it's dehydrating so it's purely from a wanting a good milk supply rule I have for myself.

Good luck to you. My hospital has a breastfeeding center...if it weren't for them I wouldn't be nursing. Information is the key to success.

For me the first two months of breastfeeding just wasn't fun from a pain standpoint...but then both times miraculously after the two month mark both times, it just became easy and pleasant. I've had latch issues and thrush both times around and the women were amazing at the center. I highly suggest such a resource if you have one.

Best wishes!

 

[Monica11]

I haven't noticed any foods that have bothered my baby, and I eat a lot that are supposed to be irritating (beans, fruits, veggies, chocolate, soy, dairy). It just seems like everything good for you might be trouble, so I just eat it and pay attention to changes in her temperament.

I wanted to add my encouragement to give bfing a shot and sticking with it. It was really hard at first because my supply was inadequate so the baby didn't gain any weight for about two weeks. We had to supplement with formula using an eyedropper to avoid nipple confusion (not easy!). Add to that the usual pain associated with the beginning of bfing and I was pretty miserable. But now (11 weeks) it's just great. In fact, I would do it even if there weren't health benefits because it's really easy and convenient, and also because it's incredibly effective for soothing my very fussy baby. I have no idea how I would handle her if I wasn't nursing her. It's the only trick that ALWAYS works. In fact, sometimes I worry that I'm creating bad habits but hey, parenthood is survival, right?

 

[MARY1616]

Thank you for all your support. I thought with my 1st that I would just sit down and start b'feeding. It is amazing how many people do NOT support the decision to nurse, especially older people. My mom and her sisters grew up never nursing. They would say that I could not know how much food he is getting so it could be dangerous(go figure) I was also suffering from baby blues so I guess it was a little easier to influence me. I am making my plan very clear this time to everyone in my family, and if it does not work out based on my own decsion than thats ok. Thanks again

 

[shopaholic]

Mary, prior to DD's birth, SIL/BIL downed breastfeeding so much I figured I wouldn't do it. I decided to try for the first few weeks honestly since I was told it is increases weight loss. The first month of it stinks, it hurts, and is time consuming. But, Alexis was healthy and at 2 1/2 has had only 1 ear infection. I nursed DD til she was 9 months old. I plan to nurse #2 but will pump early on to introduce the bottle. DD refused the bottle until about 6 months old since I introduced too late. I joined a breastfeeding group and made lots of friends and got the support I needed.