I'm not sure how to make a poll, but I wanted to ask you mamas what your experiences with eating broccoli (and other cruciferous veggies like cabbage, cauliflower, etc.) while nursing have been. Often when I read or hear breastfeeding advice, broccoli in the mother's diet is mentioned as a likely potential source of gas troubles (i.e. "You may find that you need to avoid certain foods, such as broccoli and other gassy foods, since they can bother baby"). What has your experience been with this?? (For the record, my nurslings have never had a problem with my eating broccoli.)
I am just wondering how common this problem is, since I hear about it so often. ??? Is it really common, or just a widespread breastfeeding myth?
I never had a problem and I love broccoli, cabbage, beans, sauerkraut and spicy things.
I was wondering the same thing - it seems to be such a common thing for people to think and talk about.
Food sensitivities are reasons a lot of moms use for not breastfeeding. They were told by a friend of a friend that you can't eat this and you can't eat that while breastfeeding.
With that said, their are babies who are sensitiive to certain foods. But most babies are not.
I know when my first baby was born he was so colicky, crabby and gassy. Everyone had an answer: Cut this food out or this one. I tried everything and then 3 months later it stopped.
I've come to understand that babies just have undeveloped digestive systems and react differently once they are outside the womb.
With my second child I ate everything and she had her crabby moments but I just relaxed and let her nurse
For the first few months broccoli (or beans) would make ds2 miserable. After about 3 months I started eating it again and now he and I eat it together, usually a few times a week.
Thought I was doing a good thing for me and baby by eating raw cruciferous veggies. After a few days of daily intake, DD was in pain. I laid off and a few days later she was fine. Now and again I eat some cooked brocc when we get take out, and she has no probs. If you want to get the benefits of raw cruc, take prenatals instead. I take New Chapter's Perfect Prenatal.
My daughters didn't react negatively to ANYTHING at all in my diet. DS reacted when I had chocolate (he got fussy and spit up a lot more often.) Nobody ever had a problem with broccolli.
I recomend eating foods that you enjoy eating, and only play around with dietary changes if your baby seems to have a problem.
No problem at all with broccoli... I ate it 12 hours after DS was born and he was fine - my mom warned me that it could cause gas, but i didn't pay attention
Big problem with broccoli.... and anything from the cabbage family...
AND anything dairy, soy, peanut, acidic (no tomatoes, orange, lemon), spicy, AND CHOCOLATE...
Seriously once I found all the triggers, her spitting up reduced from over 10-20 times a day to 1-2 times. It was not reflux. At 6m, it disappeared and I could eat all that again.
No idea what the issue was. Dr didn't know either.
Majorly bit, though, for those 6m.
Broccoli doesn't seem to bother us, but raw onions are a whole other story!!!
I figure the reccomendations say "may affect" so unless we're having a problem, I'm not going to worry about it. I am trying not to "mix" too many at once though, so I have a better idea if something is bothering her.
No problems here either! The only time I noticed any trouble after having eaten something was garlic... like profuse amounts of it, and DS seemed fine except his poop really smelled horrible after that!! LOL
Broccoli never bothered my son, but onions and beans (refried or the varieties that need to soak) certainly did. Now, at nearly 9 mos. he can handle beans and a little bit of onions.
~Betsy
Thanks for all the replies! It seems like broccoli can indeed cause some babes discomfort, but like sensitivities to anything else, not everyone has them. I'm glad to know it's not a myth, though.
It's curious; in mainstream sources I often see the warning about broccoli being potentially gassy for babes, but in crunchy sources, I often see warnings about babes being allergic to dairy, wheat, or other common allergens (this is something I hardly ever hear outside a crunchy environment). From a "breastfeeding education" standpoint, I do think it's important to let moms know that these sensitivities and allergies are a possibility (so that if their babe does turn out to be sensitive to something they'll have an idea of what to do), but not right to dwell on them in such a scary way as to suggest that breastfeeding is always necessarily full of dietary restrictions for mom. I definitely agree that a nursing mom should eat whatever she normally would unless she detects a problem; and then to modify her diet accordingly.
Thank you, mamas, for educating me!
God bless,
icxcnika
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