When nursing our babies, they are receiving nutrients from us. If you eat chili dogs for dinner, then your baby is eating chili dogs when he consumes your milk. That is why doctors advise not to smoke, drink alcohol or ingest any drugs that can cause harm to our babies while pregnant and while nursing. If you notice a difference in your baby, it could be something that you are eating or it may not. Some babies have sensitivity to dairy or broccoli. Some babies have sensitivity to caffeine. If you are consuming these, you can take one out of your diet for a few days to see if there is a difference in your baby. Think back to when you were pregnant. If you had a healthy pregnancy, think back to what you liked to eat and what you did not like to eat. This could give you an idea as to why your baby is gassy or irritable.
Sometimes it is not what we are eating but what we may not be eating. This also works when your baby is eating solids. Try giving your baby something that you craved when you were pregnant. When I was pregnant with my son, I craved fries with gravy. My son is thirteen years old and from when he was one year old, he craved fries with gravy. It is one of his favourites. My mother used to crave pistachio ice cream. To this day, that is my favourite flavour. I did not know that she craved pistachio ice cream until one day I said to my mom, “Let's go to the ice cream shop. I feel like having pistachio ice cream.” My mom was puzzled. She then told me the pistachio ice cream craving story. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I would crave gala apples. When my daughter started eating solids, she would not eat jarred food from the store. One of the jarred foods that she would not eat was apples. I tried all kinds of different jarred apples. I thought that she did not like apples. One day I went out and bought some gala apples that I used to crave. I cooked and mashed the apples. To my surprise, she did like apples, but a certain kind of apple. The apples were the ones that I craved for when I was pregnant with her. It does not hurt to try different things.
Another thought could be the latch when your baby is nursing. Make sure your baby has a good latch. I found that the football position helped relieve gassiness with my daughter while nursing. If you are giving your baby formula, try propping your baby to a forty-five degree angle when giving the bottle and make sure that the nipple on the bottle always has milk in it when your baby is drinking. Less air can get to your baby if there is always milk in the nipple. These are just a few ideas to try.
