How to Adjust Your Diet When Breastfeeding a Colicky Baby

Many babies experience colic, or crying for at least 3 hours per day, 3 days or more a week. If you're a breastfeeding mother, you can combat colic by adjusting your diet to eliminate foods that might trigger the condition. Follow these tips.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Eliminate all milk products from your diet for 7 to 10 days to see if your baby's colic improves. A protein found in cow's milk is a known trigger for colic, so abstain from eating all dairy foods for awhile.
2. Reduce the amount of spicy food you eat, or only enjoy these foods when you're not approaching feeding time.
3. Select foods that do not contain wheat, a known allergen that may cause colic. Instead, opt for gluten-free foods found in your grocery store's natural foods section.
4. Eat cruciferous vegetables, such as cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower, in moderation only. These vegetables irritate young breastfed babies.
5. Drink alcoholic beverages and those that contain caffeine sparingly. Both may cause colic.
6. Abstain from eating nuts and strawberries, two highly allergenic foods. Avoid foods containing garlic.

Tips & Warnings

• Slowly reintroduce any foods you abstained from if your baby's colic seems better after several days. Allow a few days between reintroductions to see if you can pinpoint which ones are causing the colic.
• Eliminate those foods you've targeted as the cause of the colic until your baby is 3 months old. At this point, he will likely outgrow his sensitivity.