[wanttobemommy]

Ok so I was talking christmas plans with my mom and was telling her that I was looking forward to drinking some eggnog this year. She flipped on me and told me that since I still plan on breastfeeding Jaxon that under no circumstances am I to drink eggnog. I thought that if it was pasterized it was ok. Am I wrong?

[twinzplus3]

Eggnog is fine. . .even unpasteurized eggnog is fine unless you're one of those people who never ever licked the brownie batter bowl because it had a little raw egg in it. Here's why it's okay to indulge:

First of all, you do not pass on food borne illnesses through your breastmilk. So eating eggnog made with a contaminated egg might make you sick. . .it won't harm your baby.

Secondly, you do not pass food through your breastmilk to your baby. So it's not like if you eat a raw egg, your baby is eating a raw egg via your breastmilk. Breastmilk is made completely separately and is still fine for you baby regardless of what you eat. Even mothers in bad health who are nutritionally malnourished. . .make good breastmilk.

Thirdly, breastmilk is highly antibacterial. Seriously. . .it can be used to treat minor cuts, and pink eye. . .it's that good at fighting off infection. That's why you can have a house full of sick people and a healthy baby (or at least one who is less sick).

So go. . .enjoy your eggnog pasteurized or not and don't worry about the baby. On a side note, for your sake, I wouldn't eat unpasteurized egg nog! You may fare much worse than the baby.

[MommaColleen]

good question Kristen.

So Val, is it a myth or fact that certain foods I eat can effect Emma (like make her gassy or fussy)? I get different stories for different people/places.

[twinzplus3]

It's both fact and myth. Babies who are allergy prone are definitely sensitive to foods you eat. And 'allergies' in babies tend to show up as sensitivities like gassy, fussy, etc. And remember that things you ingest can pass through your breastmilk. . .like drugs for example. Bacteria otoh, does not pass through bm. So you can ingest things that affect your baby but it tends to be much more rare than we think. . .OTOH
They did a major study on caffeine and breastfeeding. They let bfing mums drink coffee galore. . .like 10-12 cups per day. Compared them to another group of moms who drank maybe caffeineted soda but no coffee, and another group where the moms swore off caffeine. . .

Babies in all 3 groups were the same. No set of babies were fussier, no set of babies were more awake (like you'd think) and the conclusion was essentially that caffeine has little if any effect on your baby. I'd have to look for a link but my LC told me about it when I saw her with Meghan.

But no, generally speaking, you should be able to eat whatever you want to eat. Strong flavors like garlic or spicy have been thought to 'flavor' the breastmilk but if it doesn't bother your baby you can eat those too. ( My twins LOVE hot pepper sauce and salsa and garlic hummus. . .and gefilte fish--ewwwwww.) So it's mostly myth with a little truth to it.

Also think about moms in Africa. They are heartily encouraged to bf although many of them are pretty malnourished. And still their babies' lives are saved bc of bm. And on top of that, the babies are adequately nourished as long as the mom exclusively bf despite her own nutrition. Okay. . .so now that's probably more than you want to know.

[wanttobemommy]

Thanks Val I appreciate your wisdom very much. My mom is the type that said I couldnt eat garlic and spicy foods (I love both and cant stop eating them) But she did have me concerned about the egg nog and caffine. I am a caffine junkie so now that I know I can have it and it wont affect Jaxon I will be stopping by Starbucks more often . Thanks again. I think all of us new mommies who are BF would be lost without you

[angelic_ky]

Originally Posted by twinzplus3

Thirdly, breastmilk is highly antibacterial. Seriously. . .it can be used to treat minor cuts, and pink eye. . .it's that good at fighting off infection. That's why you can have a house full of sick people and a healthy baby (or at least one who is less sick).

a few weeks after having Gabby i had a sore on my leg that wasn't healing much and then a bit on bm leaked on it and the next day it was so very much better

i read somewhere that in India they actually incourage mothers to eat garlic as they believe it helps the milk

my family is very much these types that say you can't eat this and you can't eat that, i just ignore them, the only food i was careful on was dairy cos my DH is lactose intolerant but after cutting lactose out of my diet and observing no difference in Gabby i concluded Gabby was fine on lactose. I was at my friend's babyshower and she had cheese and i decline them and her mil [piped up and told her that i was right to decline as some cheeses has bacteria that can harm the baby but that wasn't my reason for declining

i'm pretty sure (but could be wrong) that the bacteria that makes you sick from eggs will only live in the digestive track so i'm fairly sure your milk will be prefectly safe

on a side note; seeing we are talking about food and BM, you don't need to drink milk to make milk, i mean do you see a cow drinking milk and they make heaps of milk... of course with all that calcium and zinc in milk it would be good for you to have some

[twinzplus3]

Food and grandmas and breastfeeing just don't mix! The idea that you have to be careful about what you eat, I personally think, comes out of the formula days where women were told that formula was better for the babies. Why else would so many women think that? And Kylie you're right. . .bacteria doesn't pass through breastmilk so as far as I'm aware. . .your baby cannot get any bacterial infection through your breastmilk. Which actually makes sense if breastmilk is designed to kill bacteria. Some viruses can pass through breastmilk. . .like HIV and hepatitis. . .but the common cold will not. And remember breastmilk is full, full, full of antibodies so even if a virus does pass through. . .you're also being given the antibodies to fight it. They're now recommending that HIV positive mothers (in Africa and similar nations) breastfeed for 6mos despite the risk of transmitting HIV bc the antibodies that the babies get are more likely to save the baby from other preventable diseases. (So the risk of a baby dying of dyssentary there is higher than getting HIV. . .and breastmilk saves them from that.) Okay sorry. . .that was OT. . .

Anyways, I now treat pink eye with breastmilk after one of the twins caught it on a holiday weekend and I wasn't about to go pop myself in the emergency room and wait 5 hours for pink eye medication. It worked sooooo much better.

And thank you very much ladies. . .I'm happy to share what I know. Especially when it results in helping a fellow caffeine junkie get their Starbucks!

[pattiewrites]

I love when I hear people say you have to drink milk to make milk. Calcium is important, but doesn't have to be from milk. Your baby will get enough calcium, but your body will take it from your bones in the absence of a dietary source.

All the advice here is great. I just wanted to add that some babies show a senstitivity to dairy, which gets better when mom cuts it from her diet. These are babies who have an allergy to dairy. My babies never had trouble with anything I eat, but we have no food allergies in our family either. If you have a family history of food allergies, it's something to watch out for, since these are often hereditary.

I'm happy to hear about the HIV recommendation. Last year I read about a mother losing custody of her baby to the state for breastfeeding, as she was HIV positive. Glad to see that is changing!

[twinzplus3]

Pattie. . .that's from WHO and thus far, only applies to nations where other preventable diseases kill more than the risk of transmitting AIDS.

[MommaColleen]

Thanks Val and everyone for your input.

Emma has been really fussy the past week or so and right away my MIL said I should stop nursing and put her on formula...that I MUST be eating/doing something wrong. When you get sleep deprived, have a fussy baby on your hands and then you hear that, your confidence that you are doing the right thing by BF'ing goes in the toilet.