3 breastfeeding recomendations i just dont do.

 

1. avoid spicy foods

if you know me, you know that i dump put hot sauce on everything i eat (except for dessert).  so did i stop when esther was born?  heck no! spicy food is traditional, and in many societies the majority of the food they eat is spicy.  women in these societies dont stop eating normal foods when they start to breastfeed, so why should i?  in fact, some experts believe that eating a wide variety of foods while breastfeeding gives baby a more versatile palate, making them less likely to be picky eaters in the future.  since i make lots of spicy foods, esther needs to get used to the flavor, and the sooner, the better :)

2. supplement vitamin d

doctors are starting to see many babies that are low or deficient in vitamin d.  this is a concern, since vitamin d is one of the most important vitamins (from my research I would say it is far and above the MOST important one!), and vitamin d deficiency has been linked to diseases from type 1 diabetes to cancer to eczema to obesity.   the solution? recommending vitamin d supplements.

these doctors have one thing right: breastmilk is often deficient in vitamin d. but their solution is wrong.  they should be working to up mom's vitamin d (the root of the problem), but instead they take the easy route and prescribe artificial vitamin d (which isn't well absorbed by baby anyways).  in addition, they need to encourage more time in the sun so that baby can produce more of his/her own vitamin d.

the problem is, to up mom and baby's vitamin d, they would have to go back on two common medical falsehoods: recommending low fat milk and avoiding the sun.

when esther is older, i will start giving her cod liver oil at some point.  but for now, i am concentrating on getting her out in the sun a lot (the best way for her to get vitamin d) and boosting my own vitamin d, so that there is enough in my milk (i do this by drinking full fat milk (raw when it fits into the budget), eating fatty fish, pastured butter and liver, taking cod liver oil, and spending plenty of time in the sun).

3. avoiding "gassy" foods (like broccoli, cabbage, beans, etc.)

again, traditionally people have always eaten these foods. i see no reason to avoid them.  some doctors just like to impose lots of arbitrary rules on pregnant and breastfeeding moms.  i dont follow them :)