Breastfeeding and Diet - Charlotte,NC

It typically takes 4 to 6 hours for anything that you consume to reach your breastmilk.

Hey T.. I asked my pediatrician a few weeks ago and he said "it takes a couple of hours."

different things take different amounts of time. I know it takes alchol and caffine about an hour to get to the milk. If you eat/drink anything that doesn't agree or isn't good for baby, you should pump before breastfeeding and throw the milk out.

Anything 'gassy' (cabbage, beans, broccoli, etc) or pungent (onions, garlic) comes through several hours later; and probably as with the digestive system, it's different for each mom -- AND depends on how much the baby eats and when. This is just nature's way of introducing the baby to different flavors, enzymes, etc. When our first baby was just tiny (she's turning 32 this Saturday on May Day), I ate 'ramps' (an odoriferous 'weed' in the backwoods of West Virginia that smells like garlic but looks more like a wild onion with broad green leaves), and the next morning she started to nurse and turned her head away with the most awful grimace -- two or three times! Then she decided to 'suck it up' and eat. She's been a ramp lover ever since! LOL

Correction. My mother breastfed all 6 of us. She says that for every mother its different, although, say if your baby is showing signs of intolerance, you should avoid, say for example, dairy altogether until you know, and then slowly add it back in so your baby does not develop an allergy. She did say some thing to go right to the milk though like alcahol, but as far as food goes it depends on the mother and not the food.

Hi T.,

I think it must take a little time - for digestion to take place first, but you should contact your local La Leche League. They are the all time breast feeding experts. They have been around for quite some time and they are a group of mothers teaching other mothers about breast feeding and other things child related. Here is a link http://www.llli.org/ If you can't click it, then copy and paste it.

Hope this helps,
E.

It takes anywhere from 4 to 24 hours for Mon's diet to influence her breastmilk.

It depends on the food you eat and the amount you eat as to what will be in your breastmilk, and to what extent. But, it works relatively the same as chemicals/foods in your blood (though, less would be in your breastmilk as would be in your blood). It would be safe to say that the foods would peak at about 1/2hr to 1 hr after you eat - considering the time it takes to digest the food, and then start to fade. Why do you ask, is there something specific I can help with? www.kellymom.com is a great resource for breastfeeding too.