I see this question all the time on social media: What do I need to eliminate from my diet for my baby? And I’ll preface this by saying I am NOT a medical doctor, and nothing I say is to treat, diagnose, or prescribe.
This question is typically coming from a mama who’s got a baby struggling to latch, struggling to keep breastmilk down, itching from rashes, or who fusses all. day. long.
There is hope, mama!
On finding answers
First, what I love is that so many mamas are now looking to food for the answers. They take on elimination diets, try rotating foods through, try decreasing their intake of certain things, are taking supplements, seeing chiropractors, talking to naturopaths, and really digging to find some solid ground on which to start building some blocks of empowerment. We moms have a gut sense about our babies, and we know when something is off. We don’t deliberately ignore things — we remedy them.
What I mean is this … we remedy the eczema with warm water, Aquafor, and socks over the hands to avoid bleeding from the constant itching. We try bleach baths, we try creams, lotions, and potions. We spend oodles of time and energy trying to manage it at home.
And when we don’t feel like we’re winning, we turn to social media. We take pictures of our sweet babies’ arms legs and cheeks and ask our friends and followers what they think.
We get LOTS of advice. LOTS.
What to do with the advice
And then we need to decide what to do with that advice. The advice from well-meaning people, advice from people who feel like sharing everything they know (and don’t know), advice from people who are judgmental and unkind, advice from those we do want to hear from … WE GET IT ALL.
The advice I’ll give here is one I have learned through having three children of my own. To any advice (and I mean ANY), I’ll say: Cool, thanks, I’ll consider that.
I repeat: Cool, thanks, I’ll consider that.
What’s so great about this line is it frees me from whatever the person is telling me, whether I agree with it or not, AND it often shifts the conversation OFF the topic and on to other things.
Here is my suggestion
I didn’t just stumble into Nutrition Response Testing by accident. We sought muscle testing from a chiropractor starting when my current 17 year old was 6 weeks old. I started to realize it as a possibility for my own practice about 11 years ago and it’s made a night and day difference. It has made a ginormous difference in the health of our family, and it has made a huge difference in the health of our community as our practice continues to grow by leaps and bounds.
When this touchy subject comes up of wondering what to eliminate (or not) from the diet of a breastfeeding mama, here is my answer:
Dear mama,
Postpartum is hard enough. We are under-slept, overworked, undernourished in most cases. We love on these babies though pine for just one moment alone. We would give our right arm for the health and wellbeing of our wee ones, and at the same time we struggle along so much trying got sort things out on our own. Kudos to you for taking that on.
Here’s where my work comes in. With advanced training in Nutrition Response Testing, we can help guide you toward what foods you should or shouldn’t be eliminating from your diet. We help to nourish you and help you feel satisfied with your eating, because you are still eating for two. We give you specific direction and nutrition support to begin healing the body’s challenges.
The time and energy it takes to figure out what works and doesn’t for your baby while breastfeeding is more than most mamas have. And yet we do it anyway.
Let us help.
Love,
Nichi
So mamas, there you go. Sometimes it’s not food related at all. Sometimes the body is dealing with other challenges, and again, we can help guide you toward the steps to further the healing process for both you and baby. Book a free discovery call to get started.
