Research shows mixed results about whether maternal food restrictions during breastfeeding will lessen the risk of food allergies in babies. In fact, a study presented at the 1996 meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology showed a surprising result: The children of breastfeeding mothers who withheld allergenic foods from their diet later showed an increase in food allergies.
At present, there is some scientific basis for believing that cow’s-milk products in a mother’s diet can cause colicky symptoms in a baby, and therefore it would be wise for a breastfeeding mother with a family history of cow’s-milk allergies to withhold dairy products from her diet, at least during the first year. It would be wise for a breastfeeding mother to seek nutritional advice from a doctor or nutritionist before going on a restrictive diet; otherwise she (and perhaps her baby) could run the risk of nutritional deficiency.
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