What is good for a breastfeeding mother to eat if her infant has acid reflux?
My daughter is 4 weeks old and has Acid Reflux and I feel like I am starving. Can anyone give me ideas on what I can eat, I am currently avoiding dairy and citrus foods. So I am eating potatoes, bread, pasta and pears. So if anyone has been thought on this and can give me an idea of a diet that would be great. Seriouse answers only please, thanks.
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June 27th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
you are eating alot of carbs try some protiens I.E red meat and take Iron tablets while breastfeeding also maybe try feeding goatmilk formular once or twice a day theres lots of nutrients in goats milk that might help stop reflux
June 27th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Hello, My kids have also had reflux. I would advise getting rid of all gluten foods next (wheat, barley, and rye) and see how your daughter does. There are a lot of gluten-free foods at health stores. I hope that helps–it made a huge difference for my 2 daughters w/reflux. You can research celiac disease on-line. It has really helped all of my kids (and my husband and I).
June 27th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
This has some info on reflux and breastfeeding…. it says NOTHING about the mother’s diet.
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/reflux.html
Generally the rule is there is no food that is off limits UNLESS a baby has a specific allergy or sensitivity to that food. Dairy is the most likely culprit, but it does not cause reflux exactly, it’s different, and it’s not lactose intolerance either, it’s a food allergy. (Other “popular” food that can cause problems in some babies are wheat, soy, eggs, nuts - some babies cannot handle the protein that flows into the milk)
You need to take in a good amount of protein, if you’re a vegetarian eat a lot of beans and tofu, if not eat some meat too. Carbs and pears are not a healthy diet. You’re not harming your milk, but you will make yourself sick. What goes in your stomach does NOT go into your milk. It is the nutrients that flow through your blood that pass into your milk, so the usual things we think of that upset our stomachs are not what upset our nursing baby’s.
This link is all on mother’s diet while breastfeeding:
http://kellymom.com/nutrition/mom/index.html
June 27th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Unfortunately, it is trial and error. Every baby is different. Just like what causes you heartburn won’t affect someone else, and vice versa. I had to stay away from anything that had tomatos when I breastfed my daughter. I couldn’t eat pizza, marinara sauce, chili, no raw tomatoes, cooked tomatoes, etc. Experiment with foods. Eat bland plain foods for 2 out of 3 meals until you can pinpoint what in the “3rd” meals is causing her Acid Reflux to flare up.
June 27th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
If your baby has reflux the child needs medication, no matter what you eat the baby will still have reflux. Your baby’s Ped. will have to give you a RX.
June 27th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
I thought it odd that your diet has been limited. My son (soon to be 9) had reflux in his infancy and my diet wasn’t an issue. I’ve been looking to see if recommendations have changed since then but it still looks a lot the same. Over half of all infants have some form of reflux, in my son’s case he had to take medication. In most cases, it’s gone in the first year.It was never discussed that my diet may have contributed to his problem. Has cutting out the dairy and citrus helped? I don’t understand the citrus since your body breaks down food into it’s basic building blocks (vitamin c) before it becomes milk. I can understand the dairy being bad due to the growth hormones and other chemicals given to the cows. But how that contributes to the reflux isn’t clear and you can get organic dairy.
I would think if you buy organic and get your meats from a local butcher (stay away from the store chain meats), you should be able to eat whatever you choose.
I was led to believe that the foremost cause was the baby’s body getting used to eating and as they develop, it gets better.