How Fast Does Food Affect Breast Milk

One main concern I heard from other mummies including myself is how fast does food affect breast milk? There are many myths out there about how your food intake will affect the quality and taste of your breast milk. After some research and advice from some lactation consultant, I want to help answer some of these commonly asked questions about food that affect breast milk.

How long does it take for food to pass into breast milk?

The average time it takes for food to reach breast milk is around 4-6 hours. This is a piece of important information as you will know what food triggers food related reaction on your little one.

What foods can upset a breastfed baby?

Here is a list of foods that can upset a breastfed baby

1. Coffee and tea – Too much caffeine consumption may cause a bit of fuzziness in your baby. It may also affect their sleeping time as they tend to become wakeful
2. Alcohol – Drinking alcohol may affect the amount of breast milk your baby drinks. Studies have also shown that alcohol in breast milk may affect your child cognitive development in the latter stages of their life.(Source)
3. Chocolate – too much chocolate may cause running stools to occur for your little one. You may like to refrain from the temptation for now
4. Chilli or spicy foods – The taste of your chilli or spicy food will flow into your breast milk. Your breastfed baby may drink lesser or even reject the milk. However, if the baby is not rejecting it then you can still continue your intake of chilli or spicy foods.
5.  Garlic – Breastfed baby accepts most taste from your food intake. However, garlic is not a popular choice and may affect your baby breast milk consumption
6. Gassy foods – You may like to avoid gassy foods like beans, brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. Including the colic your baby already have, it may just compound their misery
7. Medications – This may be dangerous in some cases as the medications flow into your breastmilk. You may like to consult your medical care provider or lactation consultant before taking any medications while breastfeeding.

My usual practice is always to observe the newborn for any abnormal behaviour after being breastfed. I also jot down my diet so that I can identify what food will trigger a bad reaction to my infant. 

Does smoking affect breastmilk

There may be possibilities that some other foods or behaviours outside of this list may also affect your baby. One example is smoking which is a strict no-no as the nicotine can be passed to the baby.

Smoking while breastfeeding is known to cause developmental issues to the baby in the latter stages of their lives.  If you need to smoke, take note that it takes around 95 minutes for half of the nicotine to be eliminated from your body. (Source)

Does food affect breast milk

Yes, it does. As mentioned above, your breast milk will taste like what you have eaten 4-6 hours ago. So if you do not want your little minion to have any nasty surprise, it is best to observe your diet. Related post: Check out also how long is warmed breast milk good for

How long after eating dairy does it affect breastmilk 

If you know that your baby is sensitive to dairy products,  remember it can take 10 days to 3 weeks to eliminate cow’s milk protein from your system. It may take a full 2-3 weeks before you can observe the results. (Source)

Does spicy food affect breast milk

Spicy food does affect the taste of your breast milk. However, from what i have seen in mummies forums, some mummies did it on purpose. The main reason is to expose the baby to all sorts of taste so they will be less picky on solids after 6 months old. 

Foods that cause gas in breastfed babies

Besides the foods I mentioned above, you may like to avoid dairy products in your diet. Foods like cheese, pudding, milk, yoghurt, wheat, corn, eggs and peanuts are known to create problems.

However, do not limit your diet too much afraid of causing harm to your baby. You can still eat in small moderation and adjust accordingly if the infant is having a bad reaction.

Symptoms of not eating enough while breastfeeding

When you are not eating enough during nursing, you may experience fatigue or have difficulty maintaining or gaining weight. According to Lactation consultant Katrina Pinkerton, dizziness and muscle cramps are also common symptoms. 

A breastfeeding mummy will need an extra 400-500 calories a day while breastfeeding the baby. A malnutrition mummy will still have all the nutrients in her breastmilk to her baby but may damage her own body in the process.

Breastfeeding diet

A healthy breastfeeding diet will most likely be eating more than what you eat before because of the extra calories required. Drinking more water, having more fruits and vegetables and healthy fats helps greatly. Check out 7 best foods to increase milk supply.

Having moderate exercise and sufficient sleep is also crucial to nursing mothers. There are also breastfeeding supplements in the market that can help to maintain a good diet for mummies. I have written a comprehensive guide about the available options you have for breastfeeding supplements in the market which you can check it out here. 

Can a mother’s diet affect baby poop

Mother’s diet does affect the baby poop and normally you can identify by the different color of the stools. According to lactation consultant Jay Gordan, Breastfed baby poop normally are brown, green, yellow or orange in color. (Source)

He mentioned that you can identify some common symptoms just by the color. Greenish or yellow/brown is considered healthy. Frequent watery stools greener than usual may be signs of diarrhoea in a baby.

Black stools normally come before constipation. Green, frothy stools may mean hindmilk or foremilk imbalance. These are good indicators to check whether your diet is affecting the baby. Most of the time your lactation consultant should be able to help you find a nursing pattern to combat these issues.

Summary of how fast does food affect breast milk

To sum it up, nursing mummies have to be careful about diet and understand how fast does food affect breast milk. It is always good to seek advice from your lactation consultant if you sense anything abnormal.

Feel free to share your personal experiences in the comments before if you encounter any food that affects your infant. You may also like to check out this article where I review some of the best breast pump for flat nipples and also the best running stroller in the market.