Gas! When you breastfeed, the foods you eat also nourish your baby. That means a well-balanced diet with plenty of fresh fruit, veggies, whole grains, healthy fats, and lean protein is good for both of you. Eating a range of different foods may even help your baby enjoy a wide variety of flavors for years to come.
However, if you have a very fussy and gassy breastfed baby, you may wonder whether certain foods in your diet – especially those that tend to make you gassy – are to blame. Here’s what you need to know about foods that may cause gas in breastfed babies.
Food sensitivities and gas in breastfed babies
Some moms swear that when they eat foods such as dairy products, broccoli, cabbage, bananas, eggs, or garlic, their babies are gassy and fussy for up to the next 24 hours. While there are few quality studies on the topic, the evidence suggests that a small number of babies may be sensitive to dairy products in a breastfeeding mother’s diet, resulting in excessive gas.
The research on infant sensitivity to other foods is less clear – although you may find that symptoms such as gas and colic improve when you avoid eating certain foods that you’ve linked to stomach troubles in your baby.
Keep in mind that people of all ages get gas, no matter what they eat. Gas is simply a part of how the digestive process works. It happens when gut bacteria break down food in the intestine, as well as when you swallow air.
Infants tend to have more gas than older children and adults, and that’s normal. Babies’ immature digestive systems aren’t yet efficient at breaking down the food they eat. Because they’re still getting the hang of eating, they also swallow more air – and what goes in one end comes out the other. Plus, babies don’t hesitate to let it rip when they’re gassy.
If your breastfed baby doesn’t seem bothered by gas, there’s no need to adjust your diet. Usually, breastfeeding moms can eat a wide range of foods without problems. Foods to avoid when you’re breastfeeding (or limit) typically include high-mercury fish, some herbs, alcohol, caffeine, and chocolate.
Food allergies in breastfed infants
A small number of breastfed babies – about 2 to 3 percent – have a true allergic reaction to a food in Mom’s breast milk, usually a cow’s milk allergy.
It’s possible that other allergenic foods in a breastfeeding mom’s diet – such as eggs, wheat, fish, peanuts, and other nuts – could cause an allergic reaction in babies, although there’s not much quality evidence.
Babies with a food allergy usually have not only gas but severe colic, skin rashes, vomiting, diarrhea, or difficulty breathing that lasts a few hours after they eat. If you notice any of these symptoms in your baby, call your doctor right away, since severe food allergies can be life-threatening.
If anyone in your close family has a food allergy, talk to your doctor about whether it’s a good idea to avoid certain foods while breastfeeding.
Foods that may cause gas in breastfed babies
The most likely culprit for a gassy breastfed baby is dairy products in your diet, which include:
- milk
- cheese
- yogurt
- pudding
- ice cream
- any prepared food that contains milk products, casein, whey, or sodium caseinate
Other potentially allergenic foods – including eggs, wheat, peanuts, soy, fish, and tree nuts – might cause gas and other symptoms. However, the few studies that have been done have come to conflicting conclusions. There’s no guarantee that eliminating these foods from your diet will help with your baby’s gas.
Anecdotally, some moms say other foods that commonly cause gas in adults, such as broccoli, cabbage, beans, cauliflower, garlic, or spicy foods, make their breastfed babies gassy or irritable. You may find that your baby’s gas improves when you eliminate a suspect food from your diet.
Does broccoli cause gas?
Some people get more gas when they eat cruciferous vegetables, including broccoli. This is because the stomach and small intestine don’t entirely digest certain carbohydrates, notably fiber, found in broccoli. When these carbs reach the large intestine, they get digested by gut bacteria that in turn produce gas.
Just because broccoli causes gas in you, however, doesn’t mean it necessarily will in your breastfeeding baby – so there’s no reason to avoid it just in case. The fiber that causes gas in you doesn’t pass into your breast milk. And there’s no good evidence suggesting that cutting broccoli out of your diet will reduce gas and fussiness in your baby.
That said, some moms have linked broccoli to gas in their babies. If you do notice that your baby seems gassier and fussy every time you eat broccoli, you may want to try eliminating it from your diet to see if your baby’s gas improves.
Know that once your baby starts eating solids, they may have gas when you feed them broccoli for the same reason you do. Nevertheless, it’s a good idea to expose your baby to many flavors, including broccoli, as often as possible when they’re little. That way they’ll learn to enjoy these healthy foods at a young age. Start with very small portions and gradually increase the amount you serve, which helps reduce or even eliminate noticeable gas problems for many people.
Does cabbage give you gas?
Cabbage is another high-fiber cruciferous vegetable that can cause gas in adults and babies who eat solids. Again, the fiber reaches the large intestine intact, where it’s broken down by naturally-occurring gut bacteria that produce gas.
Just as with broccoli, there’s no reason to systematically avoid cabbage while you’re breastfeeding just because it gives you gas. But if your baby seems gassy and fussy every time you eat cabbage, you may want to avoid it to see if your baby’s stomach troubles improve.
Do bananas cause gas?
Fruits including bananas, apples, peaches, pears, and dried fruits can cause excessive gas, especially in people with gastrointestinal (GI) disorders including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). That’s because these fruits contain fructose, a type of sugar their GI systems poorly digest. Fruits with high-fiber skin, like apples and pears, tend to cause more gas than bananas.
Research shows that fructose can pass through breast milk. And children can have IBS, especially if a parent has the condition. IBS causes other symptoms beyond gas, including abdominal pain as well as constipation and/or diarrhea. If your baby has these symptoms and you’re concerned it’s IBS, talk to their doctor. They may suggest an elimination diet for you and possibly probiotic drops for your baby.
Do eggs cause gas?
Eggs are actually less likely to cause gas than many other foods. However, when they do, the gas tends to be stinky.
Egg allergies, on the other hand, are one of the most common food allergies in children and can occur as early as infancy. Children who are allergic to eggs have other symptoms, including skin rashes, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or trouble breathing, in the hours after eating.
Research suggests that breastfed infants are unlikely to experience food allergies from allergenic foods that their moms eat. But if you think your baby has a food allergy – and especially if they have any other symptoms after you eat eggs or other allergenic foods – talk to their doctor.
Does garlic make babies gassy?
Garlic commonly causes gas for people with IBS and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). It’s a high-FODMAP food, meaning it contains certain sugars – in this case, fructans – that people with these conditions have a hard time digesting, causing gas and other GI symptoms like constipation and diarrhea.
There’s no evidence proving that the gas-causing properties of garlic make it into your breast milk. But you may want to consider eliminating garlic from your diet if it seems to cause tummy troubles in your baby.
Strong flavors like garlic can make your breast milk taste and smell different, although this usually doesn’t make babies fussier. In fact, research has found that babies whose moms eat garlic extract tend to feed for longer and prefer more flavors in breast milk, which may ease the transition to solid foods.
What to do if your breastfed baby is gassy
For the most part, baby gas isn’t something to be concerned about. In the vast majority of cases, a little gas is completely normal and doesn’t bother most babies. Chances are you can eat what you want without upsetting your baby’s tummy.
However, you may want to try one of the following tactics if your gassy breastfed baby seems to be uncomfortable or colicky, cries for no discernable reason, or consistently has a challenging witching hour.
Check for latching problems
Many newborns struggle to find a good breastfeeding latch. If your baby isn’t latching on well, they’ll swallow more air, resulting in gas. A poor latch may also make your nipples sore, bruised, red, or cracked. If you think your baby might not be latching properly, talk to their doctor and consider visiting a lactation consultant.
Manage oversupply
If you have an abundance of milk, your baby may be suffering from lactose overload. This happens if your baby gets a lot of foremilk, which has lots of lactose, and less hindmilk, which is high in fat to slow the digestive process. As a result, the enzyme in your baby’s system that digests lactose becomes overwhelmed and can’t do its job. Babies with lactose overload may also be fussy at feedings and have loose, green, explosive stools.
To ensure your baby is getting enough fatty hindmilk, allow your baby to nurse for as long as they want on the first breast. Your baby may only nurse a little – or possibly not at all – on the second breast. It’s a good idea to talk to a lactation consultant to make sure oversupply is the problem before you try nursing on only one side, so you don’t inadvertently cause your milk supply to drop.
Keep the air out
The more air your baby swallows during feedings, the gassier they’ll be. Try to feed your baby before they start crying, because babies swallow air when they’re upset. Also burp your baby after (and even during) every feeding.
Talk to your pediatrician about probiotics
Gas is partly a byproduct of certain bacteria in the intestines. Some evidence suggests that giving breastfed babies probiotics to feed healthy bacteria in the gut can help ease colic (which is commonly thought to be linked to gas). Talk to your doctor about whether it might be helpful to give your baby infant probiotic drops.
Try an elimination diet
Still concerned that your baby might have a food sensitivity? You don’t need to severely limit your diet (which can lead to nutritional deficiencies, especially when you’re breastfeeding) or avoid all foods that are gas-forming for you.
Instead, take notes on your diet and your baby’s gassiness and look for patterns. Then eliminate one potentially problematic food at a time for two to three weeks to see what happens. If your baby is sensitive to that food, you should see an improvement within a week. (Though babies with true food allergies will need at least a month for symptoms to resolve.) After a week, try the food again to see how your baby responds.
If you decide to eliminate one or more foods from your diet, talk to a registered dietician and/or a lactation consultant. They can evaluate the situation and help ensure you’re meeting your nutritional needs. In most cases, you should be able to return to your normal diet when your baby is around 6 months of age.
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