Hi Everyone,
I have been eating vegetarian for a little over a month now and I am making the transition to vegan. I am a little concerned about detoxing and having harmful stuff come out from my body into my breast milk. My daughter is 15 months old and is eating a lot but still nurses quite often too. Does anyone know anything about this and if it is harmful. I have been pregnant and/or nursing for almost 7 years now and wanted to wait to go veggie/vegan until I was done. Well, I figure I'm close enough but still slightly concerned. Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks

I avoided doing hardcore detoxes for that reason but if you are already vegetarian I don't think eliminating dairy will that big of a deal.  There are plenty of people that have to eliminate dairy while breastfeeding because of milk allergies or even have to do a more serious elimination diet to figure out what other allergies might exist so it should really be fine.  You could always do it more slowly, maybe starting with milk and then cheese.

 I'm not a doctor so I can't this with any certainty, but since a lot of toxins are stored in our fat cells, as long as you aren't burning fat quickly and drastically, I don't think you would be expelling a harmful amount of toxins into your milk.  So keep up your calorie intake!

I breastfeed (exclusively) my 3 month old.

About three weeks ago my husband and I stopped eating meat cold turkey and significantly dropped our dairy intake (we are just trying to finish up the dairy in the fridge so not to waste).

We are going through a detox now, it was rough the last couple of days, but it hasn't effected my baby.  She's probably getting a lot more nutrients now than she was before I changed my diet. 

This however is only my experience, better to confirm with your doctor.

I second everyone - your baby will probably be the beneficiary of your stopping dairy.  I'm an acupuncturist who works a lot with womens health, and often advise women to go off of certain foods if their child is having issues (colic/rashes/constant crying etc...) and dairy is almost always the answer.  

Thanks everyone, I am getting tons of veggies now and she is enjoying them too. She even ate my tofu with napa and bokchoy yesterday! (She isn't veggie though) I haven't noticed anything going on with her, she's teething now so it's been rough but if anything, she's been happier since the dairy is gone.

I also exclusively breastfeed (my baby is 3 months old) and I haven't noticed any problems (I haven't had dairy in a month). I think he's probably getting a lot more nutrients now

I have been a vegetarian for 20 yrs (since I was 15) and recently became vegan and breastfeed my 5 month old. I think it will actually be better for him as I am now way more concerned about what I am putting into my body. What about the detox tea in Alicia's book? Is that safe while breastfeeding?

I always notice when I eat dairy that my breastfeeding son gets a runny nose.  It goes away as soon as I stop (when I start eating cheese I usually eat it for several days in a row or more).  I guess that is his body immediately detoxing since we TRY to avoid dairy.

Even my mainstream pediatrician suggests laying off dairy, and says that medicine is starting to support this diet change because so many studies are finding it to be the culprit to infants' health problems.  They are even relating it to colic. 

I love that Alicia came up with the term "flirting."  It really helps me to describe my experience.  I had been flirting for many years, and have committed to going vegan while breastfeeding.  It was partially accidental :).  My son (now 6.5mo.) had painful reflux.  My previous ped. prescribed baby Zantac for him.  I left her office and never went back.  How counterintuitive to treat a digestive issue with heavy medication without even TRYING first to make a change in diet!  I did my own research and found that by eliminating dairy in mother, baby will most always recover from this ailment.  Of course, his reflux and other symptoms cleared up for good after 2 days.

It didn't take long for me to become repulsed by the idea of drinking/eating another animal's milk.  As a lactating mammal myself, fully understanding the purpose of milk, it really grossed me out to essentially suck udder.  Before going vegan, I only shopped for organic,
 grassfed meats and dairy, so I felt comfortable with the fact that I was not buying factory meat and milk.  However, the primal experiences I have had with my body in the past couple of years, from pregnancy to natural birth to nursing, have connected me with other mamas and babies of all walks of life.  I can't live a conscious life, while simultaneously stealing milk from a baby (no matter how kindly it was stolen) and eating flesh (no matter how kindly that creature was raised).  I know that the animal on my plate was raised only for slaughter so that I could eat him/her.  I choose not to be that selfish. 

Thanks to the mama who started this discussion.

I switched to vegan only a week or so after my son was born. He is 2 months old now and i'm still exclusively nursing him with no problem. I haven't had any concerns. Tracking the foods that I have been eating i'm getting all the nutrients I need and then some.

my blog if anyone is interested http://eco-kidfriendly.blogspot.com/

My daughter was 15 months when I became vegan (no flirting, straight over).  I was omni just before.  No issues what~so~ever.  She is now 3 years and 3 months and still breastfeeding at least once daily.  Mother nature only puts the good stuff in our breastmilk.  The stuff that comes out of your body while detoxing usually exits by other means.  Breastmilk is almost always superior to the alternative.

This is my first time really exploring this site and my jaw dropped when I read the title to this post. I am breastfeeding my 7mo old son and just became vegan a few weeks ago (fairly cold turkey). I have felt so alone because there are no other vegans in my life, let alone breastfeeding vegans! Just wanted to say thanks....oh and also, I have not had any detox issues that I'm aware of and my son is as healthy as can be! 

I second what imblissful said. Our bodies are wonderful at making sure that very, very minimal amounts of toxins get into breast milk.

Also, keep up the good work with breastfeeding :-) I have a 18 month old son who breastfeeds 4 times a day (during weekdays), and 6 times a day (during weekends), and I don't think he will be weaning anytime yet!

 

In response to Orchards comment: Amen sister! I love the way you think!

 .