Food Allergies and breastfeeding

by Margaret
(VA)

I am currently breast feeding. I was told to stay away from eating all seafood (including fish) since my husband is allergic to fish and seafood and it could be possible for my baby to also be allergic. Is it true that if I do eat fish or seafood, it could be passed through my milk and make my baby have an allergic reaction? And if it is true, and I do eat fish or seafood, how long do I have to wait before feeding my baby my breast milk? I pump and have plenty of breast milk stored up so I going to pump and dump my milk until the seafood got out of my system and just feed my baby the frozen milk until then. The problem is I'm not sure for how long I need to pump and dump. Please help.
Answer from the lactation consultant
Did you eat fish during pregnancy? Your baby was getting doses of the fish histamines during pregnancy if you did eat it. Thus building up a tolerance. Was your husband breastfed, I would guess not because people with severe anaphalactic type food allergies were statistically not breastfed.
Personally, I would not stop eating fish all together. I would start with a fish like Talapia or Cod and see how your baby responds. If your baby is older than 6 months, having benedryl on hand just in case would be wise. Mostly shellfish are the culprits with severe allergies.
But if you want to ere on the side of extreme caution, then I would nurse the baby immediately before eating, pump and dump one time then resume feeds. So 4 hours without feeding your milk should clear most of the histamines from your milk. Drink lots of water during that time as well.
When breastfeeding my oldest daughter she had two instances of a rash after I ate shellfish, but I did not stop eating it and it resolved. She is 9 and has not sensitivity to it now.
Good luck.
Liz Pevytoe, RN, IBCLC