People believe that there are multiple foods to avoid while breastfeeding, but the only thing women need to be careful of is alcohol.  Alcohol does pass through the breast milk so if a woman does have a drink she should avoid breastfeeding for the next four hours and express and discard the milk produced during that period.

Women are often told they should not have chocolate, coffee or certain vegetables but none of these are actually harmful to the baby.  Some babies will react to certain foods a mother has eaten, but this varies greatly from baby to baby and mother to mother.  It is always wise to try foods you like even if they are “gassy vegetables” and watch for a change in the baby’s behavior.  If there is no change then there is no point in restricting yourself.   From my own personal experience, my oldest son was never upset about my eating chocolate or coffee but was not thrilled with tomatoes but my youngest one really did not like my eating chocolate. (Probably why I lost the weight faster the second time around.)

– Linda Ducholke