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Can a breastfed baby be effected by what mother eats or does even if the mother doesn't show any symptoms of herself being effected?
For examples Can the baby get gas due to the food that mother eats, without the mother getting gas herself? Can the baby get constipation due to the food that mother eats, without the mother getting constipation herself? Similarly, can the baby catch cold due to mother's exposure to cold, without the mother catching cold herself?
The important thing to understand is that breastmilk is made in the alveoli using proteins, sugars and fat from the mother's blood supply, not from the mother's digestive tract.
The make up of these 'ingredients' does depend on the mother's diet - for example, if the baby has an allergy to certain dietary proteins then the mother may need to follow an elimination diet to avoid passing these proteins on. A sensitivity or allergy may result in gassiness, fussiness, constipation/diarrhea, reflux, eczema, blood in the stool or hives among other symptoms. However, it is not as simple as thinking that food that makes mum gassy would also make baby gassy - since the digestive gas is not part of the milk-making process!
In the majority of cases, mothers do not need to change their diet for breastfeeding.
If the mother is exposed to a virus such as a cold, or other mild infectious illness then the milk will contain antibodies but not the virus itself. This is the case whether or not the mother has symptoms.
For example, the CDC advice (CDC page on flu + breastfeeding) states that
Flu is not spread to infants through breast milk.
and that
Breast milk is the best source of nutrition for infants and provides protection from infections through antibodies and other immunological factors. Infants who are breastfed are less vulnerable to infections, including severe respiratory illnesses, than infants who are not breastfed. When a mother has flu, her breast milk contains antibodies that can help protect her infant from flu and breast milk remains the recommended source of nutrition for the infant, even while the mother is ill.
Other links that may be helpful - note that this website is for profit (sponsored) and not an authoritative source, but very informative.
Yes. When I was being breastfed by my mother, I broke out in hives. Her doctor put her on an elimination diet, and it turns out that when she cut chocolate out of her diet my hives went away. She's not allergic to chocolate, I'm not allergic to chocolate, but when I was being breastfed she couldn't consume it or it'd affect me.
