Does what I eat affect my breastfed baby's wind?

I am just wondering, I am trying to loose my pregnancy weight, so the last two days I have been eating a lot of vegies and last night Olivia had more trouble than usual getting up her wind. Would that be because of the huge amount of vegies I have been eating, or is it just a coincidence?

Or could it be something else?

I have cut back on dairy cause my doula thinks that baby's mottly skin is an indicator that she may be lactose intolerant. She also has a cold, so cutting back on dairy is supposed to help that too.

I don't eat chocolate or any caffine cause that caused my last baby to not sleep!

Is there anything else I should or should not be eating?

Most definitely. Cauliflower is terrible for wind and I'm sure broccoli can be too. Try eliminating one thing at a time to see if you can work out what the culprit is.

My close friend can't have dairy or coffee while BF as it causes such bad wind in her kids and exasperates their reflux.

Each child is different so it really is just a case of trial and error to work out what foods and drinks effect your breast milk. Good luck :)

Broccoli was a shocker for my DS, as were onions and capsicum (but he can eat them now, at 8 months!) ... peanut butter and chocolate also seemed to effect him!

As he got older, I think he got used to it. I used to burp him a couple of times each feed, so there wasn't one big projected burp with bits at the end ;)

Congrats on your new baby!
Well, the only way to be sure is to trial an elmination diet and see if there's any difference when you reintroduce foods. Soem mothers find there seems to be a connection between certain foods and baby's behaviour. and some babies have serious reactions to certain things, though I think you'd realise if that were the case. I think often though it is just a coincidence as they change so frequently in the early days - sleeping well one day and not at all the next!
Lactose intolerence is extremely rare in babies since lactose is also the sugar in breastmilk - I'm not sure that cutting back dairy would change the lactose content of your milk :dunno: Some babies do react to the proteins in milk, however.
If she has a cold that would explain all sorts of different sleeping/settling/feeding behaviour. Hope she's well soon!

It is so confusing isn't it :hug: As the others have said, some foods can cause unsettled behaviour in babies but this varies so much from baby to baby, and usually settles down quickly as their digestive systems develop. If you feel like some foods are causing a problem, reducing them for a little while is fine, but it is important to see if you can replace the nutrients from those foods with something else so you don't miss out. Most often mums find that if something causes an issue in the first few weeks, they can try it again a couple of weeks later and it's fine.

As MadB says, your doula might know a bit more about birthing than dietetics ;) Babies are very, very rarely lactose intolerant - and you would know if yours was, babies that are lactose intolerant can't have any breastmilk or formula from birth. Cows milk protein intolerance or allergy is possible, but I would think it's too soon to suspect that yet. Is it more than just the pimply rash that babies get? Are there any other signs of food intolerance like snuffly nose?

It sounds like you are doing a wonderful job hun. Is there a particular reason why you are in a hurry to lose the weight now? You are providing the complete nutrition for two humans at the moment so you need to make sure you have enough calories, proteins and fats in your diet. If you don't, you will feel tired (more tired than you are anyway as a new mum), can be more prone to illness and could be missing out on nutrients that you need (your baby will get first choice of what you eat!). Vegies are great for vitamins and minerals but not so good for calories, proteins or fats. If you do want to lose the weight already, would you consider seeing a dietician to help you come up with a suitable plan?

The brassica family - cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and a few others - can cause a bit of trouble. I cut them out between 3 and about 8 weeks, I think? I cut onion and garlic for a little while too, it seemed to help. Chilli was okay though, go figure. Dried fruit and stone fruit (try that one with a Christmas baby!) were no good either.

I also didn't have coffee or chocolate as they made my baby very spewy, but that wore off somewhere between 4 and 5 months.

My SIL also cut out legumes, pulses and beans. As a vego though, there was no way I was doing that! It didn't help her anyway, her baby continued to be fussy at the boob.

I can't think of anything else that would help.

My DD had really mottled skin too, enough to concern the CHN. I don't eat any dairy usually, and the mottled skin went away by itself.

Hope it gets better for your little bunny.

Thanks everyone. I don't think that she is lactose intolerant either. I undressed her this morning and by the time I got her to her bath she was mottley all over, so I think it is a 'being cold' thing. I feel the cold really easily, so I think perhaps she does too.

I want to loose my weight asap so I can get back into my training and short triathlons. I was hoping to compete in the winter season, but due to the number of stitches I got due to tearing, I can't see myself sitting on a bike any time soon!! I have cut back on my vegies to 1-2 small bowls a day rather than 3-4 and her wind seems to have settled. I am trying to keep off the dairy, but keep forgetting, and it seems that her snot flares up on days that I have dairy, so there must be a connection there.

Other than that, and the fact that she has oral thrush, but I got some stuff from the chemist for that, all is well.

Thanks again for your replies!

xox