I read that one should avoid eggs when cooking for nursing mothers. Can
anyone tell me why?

And are there any other pitfalls out there?


TIA

Michael Rolfe wrote:

> I read that one should avoid eggs when cooking for nursing mothers. Can
> anyone tell me why?
>

That's a good question. My nephew's wife told me a few weeks ago children
under two should not be fed egg whites because they are likely to cause an
allergy to develop. That was the first I heard of that. My son used to love
eggs, and my wife has always eaten a lot of them. I did a little surfing
and found that most sites recommended that nursing mothers eat at least four
servings a day of high protein foods, including eggs. I found a single site
that suggested that mothers should avoid eggs if the baby is showing signs
of distress following feeding.

"Michael Rolfe" > wrote in message
...
> I read that one should avoid eggs when cooking for nursing mothers. Can
> anyone tell me why?
>
> And are there any other pitfalls out there?
>
>
> TIA

I don't know about eggs but I'd definitely pass on garlic and maybe onions.
Babies tend to not like those flavors.

Kathy

"K. Reece" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Michael Rolfe" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I read that one should avoid eggs when cooking for nursing mothers. Can
> > anyone tell me why?
> >
> > And are there any other pitfalls out there?
> >
> >
> > TIA
>
> I don't know about eggs but I'd definitely pass on garlic and maybe
onions.
> Babies tend to not like those flavors.

Depends on the baby. My cousin's infant wouldn't nurse if she'd eaten
either onions or garlic. My 3 never had a problem with me eating curry.
Imagine if Indian infants didn't nurse because their moms ate onions and
garlic!

While in the hospital after delivering my second child, the head nurse on
the maternity ward would go around and take things off nursing mothers' food
trays. Thus I didn't get my green beans, rutabagas or spicy anything. Once
I got home I ate anything I wanted and I never found a correlation between
what I ate and baby's disposition.

Eggs never came up when nursing nutrition was discussed. In all baby
classes they recommended no egg white until the age of 1, specifically
because eggs are high on the list of food allergies. My boys were allergic
to them as toddlers, but both outgrew that allergy. I made the first boy an
egg white frosting for his first birthday cake. He was hives from finger
tips to elbows and face -- he reacted to egg white on his skin in the same
way that his sister did to milk on her skin.

Gabby

In article >, "K. Reece" >
wrote:

> "Michael Rolfe" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I read that one should avoid eggs when cooking for nursing mothers. Can
> > anyone tell me why?
> >
> > And are there any other pitfalls out there?
>
> I don't know about eggs but I'd definitely pass on garlic and maybe onions.
> Babies tend to not like those flavors.

Research has shown that babies who taste garlic in their mother's milk
nurse more and eat more than babies who don't.

The standard advice is to watch the baby for bad reactions, and
eliminate the foods that cause the reactions from the mother's diet.

Miche

--
If you want to end war and stuff you got to sing loud.
-- Arlo Guthrie, "Alice's Restaurant"

in article , Gabby at
wrote on 5/30/04 3:35 PM:

>
> "K. Reece" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "Michael Rolfe" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> I read that one should avoid eggs when cooking for nursing mothers. Can
>>> anyone tell me why?
>>>
>>> And are there any other pitfalls out there?
>>>
>>>
>>> TIA
>>
>> I don't know about eggs but I'd definitely pass on garlic and maybe
> onions.
>> Babies tend to not like those flavors.
>
> Depends on the baby. My cousin's infant wouldn't nurse if she'd eaten
> either onions or garlic. My 3 never had a problem with me eating curry.
> Imagine if Indian infants didn't nurse because their moms ate onions and
> garlic!

Brahmin cooking, particularly in Maharashtra, completely avoids all onions
and garlic, so it would be pretty easy to adapt that to cooking in any area
of India.
Larry

"Larry Preuss" > wrote in message
...
> in article , Gabby at
> wrote on 5/30/04 3:35 PM:
>
> >
> > "K. Reece" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >>
> >> "Michael Rolfe" > wrote in message
> >> ...
> >>> I read that one should avoid eggs when cooking for nursing mothers.
Can
> >>> anyone tell me why?
> >>>
> >>> And are there any other pitfalls out there?
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> TIA
> >>
> >> I don't know about eggs but I'd definitely pass on garlic and maybe
> > onions.
> >> Babies tend to not like those flavors.
> >
> > Depends on the baby. My cousin's infant wouldn't nurse if she'd eaten
> > either onions or garlic. My 3 never had a problem with me eating curry.
> > Imagine if Indian infants didn't nurse because their moms ate onions and
> > garlic!
>
> Brahmin cooking, particularly in Maharashtra, completely avoids all onions
> and garlic, so it would be pretty easy to adapt that to cooking in any
area
> of India.

The point is "why should they"? Babies adapt. Sure if a particular kid
reacts in a serious way to a particular food eaten by mom you eliminate that
food. I don't see entire households changing the family's diet just because
a new kid arrives. In some area of India most of the dishes start with
onions.

Gabby

in article , Gabby at
wrote on 5/30/04 4:23 PM:

>
> "Larry Preuss" > wrote in message
> ...
>> in article , Gabby at
>> wrote on 5/30/04 3:35 PM:
>>
>>>
>>> "K. Reece" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>>
>>>> "Michael Rolfe" > wrote in message
>>>> ...
>>>>> I read that one should avoid eggs when cooking for nursing mothers.
> Can
>>>>> anyone tell me why?
>>>>>
>>>>> And are there any other pitfalls out there?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> TIA
>>>>
>>>> I don't know about eggs but I'd definitely pass on garlic and maybe
>>> onions.
>>>> Babies tend to not like those flavors.
>>>
>>> Depends on the baby. My cousin's infant wouldn't nurse if she'd eaten
>>> either onions or garlic. My 3 never had a problem with me eating curry.
>>> Imagine if Indian infants didn't nurse because their moms ate onions and
>>> garlic!
>>
>> Brahmin cooking, particularly in Maharashtra, completely avoids all onions
>> and garlic, so it would be pretty easy to adapt that to cooking in any
> area
>> of India.
>
> The point is "why should they"? Babies adapt. Sure if a particular kid
> reacts in a serious way to a particular food eaten by mom you eliminate that
> food.

As an allergist, I completely agree with you. Sometimes, however, it is not
recognized either by the family or the doctor that food the mother is eating
might be causing obscure difficulties in the child. If the problem is truly
immunologic, is allergic, adaptation cannot be counted on. For this reason
some advisors take a mass population approach and say that nursing mothers
should not eat.....whatever. I think this is inefficient and once again, I
agree with you.
Larry

"Michael Rolfe" > wrote in message
...
> I read that one should avoid eggs when cooking for nursing mothers. Can
> anyone tell me why?
>
> And are there any other pitfalls out there?
>
>
> TIA
>
Having had and nursed my babies while living in a Polish neighborhood, I
would warn you about the 'adverse' effects of kielbasa. Flatulance. Just
like the grownups, the little nursing nippers get gassy from it the same
way.
-Ginny

Michael Rolfe wrote:
> I read that one should avoid eggs when cooking for nursing mothers.
> Can anyone tell me why?

If there's a family history of atopy (allergies to anything, eczema, or
asthma), the recommendation is to avoid peanuts (and potentially tree nuts).
Other than that, mom can eat anything she wants.

If the baby seems to be reacting to something, keep a food diary of
everything you eat and the baby's reaction for a week or two, then look back
to identify likely suspects. If the reaction is eczema (which can take
awhile to develop or clear up), cow's milk and eggs are the most common
dietary triggers.

FWIW, my DD reacts to cow's milk (common), wheat (less common) and oats
(pretty uncommon) in my diet, but is fine if I eat eggs.

Phoebe
--
yahoo address is unread; substitute mailbolt

Dave Smith wrote:

> That's a good question. My nephew's wife told me a few weeks ago children
> under two should not be fed egg whites because they are likely to cause an
> allergy to develop.

Perhaps more likely than to carrots, but not "likely" in general.
I ate everything I could get my hands on while nursing, no problems.
However, when a couple has a colicky baby, they become slightly deranged
and will find causes and effects everywhere in that very human attempt
to make sense of that which makes us suffer.
blacksalt

On Sun, 30 May 2004 19:30:18 +0200, "Michael Rolfe"
> wrote:

>I read that one should avoid eggs when cooking for nursing mothers. Can
>anyone tell me why?

Babies shouldn't be fed egg whites before the age of one because of
allergy risks, but I've never read or heard anything that says b/fing
moms shouldn't include eggs in their diets. Where did you read this?
Not trying to be argumentative, just curious.

Mary--proud nursing mom of a 16-month-old

Michael Rolfe wrote:

> I read that one should avoid eggs when cooking for nursing mothers. Can
> anyone tell me why?
>
> And are there any other pitfalls out there?
>
> TIA

To keep the leetle fellar from staying up all day & all nite, I had to avoid
anything with caffeine, including lots of soft drinks (Sunkist Orange, who
knew?), coffee, tea and pure chocolate stuff. A bite or three of chocolate
cake or ice cream wasn't a problem.
Edrena

On Sun, 30 May 2004 13:04:50 -0600, "K. Reece" > wrote:

>
>"Michael Rolfe" > wrote in message
...
>> I read that one should avoid eggs when cooking for nursing mothers. Can
>> anyone tell me why?
>>
>> And are there any other pitfalls out there?
>>
>>
>> TIA
>
>I don't know about eggs but I'd definitely pass on garlic and maybe onions.
>Babies tend to not like those flavors.
>
>Kathy

Depends largely on the kid, and in some cases, the age. My DD never
seemed to have a problem with garlic, but did have some problems with
ginger and raw onions when she was a newborn. She would also scream
when I'd nurse her a few hours after eating Thai or Indian food. She
outgrew all of that, though, by the age of 6 months or so. Since then
(she's 16 months old now), she's never had a problem with anything
I've eaten.

Mary

"Michael Rolfe" > wrote in message
...
> I read that one should avoid eggs when cooking for nursing mothers. Can
> anyone tell me why?
>
> And are there any other pitfalls out there?
>

As others have mentioned, it does depend on the baby. I've had friends
whose babies reacted when mom ate strawberries or tomatoes. My own kids
were fine with anything I ate.

At first, when they were newborns, I avoided gassy foods like cruciferous
veggies and beans. But after little while, I started eating everything
(though I wouldn't pig out on those gassy foods) and had no problems.

Haven't heard about not feeding eggs to mom. Definitely no egg whites for
baby until they're at least 1 year old.

Chris
(a nursing mother who is thrilled when anyone cooks for me)!

Miche a écrit :

> The standard advice is to watch the baby for bad reactions, and
> eliminate the foods that cause the reactions from the mother's diet.
>
> Miche

Yup. My eldest had colics when I ate berries (took me 3 times to realize what it
was), with my youngest it was grapes. I ate garlic and onion with no problem at
all (me, live without garlic? Argh!).

Nathalie in Switzerland