Can Gassy Foods Affect Breastmilk? What Science (and Mamas) Say
You’ve probably heard the myth that if you eat gassy foods, you’ll pass that gas on to your baby through breastmilk. Let’s clear that up right now: the gas bubbles itself doesn’t pass into your breastmilk. Your digestive system and your milk supply doesn’t work that way.
Do Gassy Foods Affect Breastmilk?
While the gas from your food doesn’t make it into your breastmilk, the way your body reacts to certain foods can. If something you eat causes bloating, digestive upset, or inflammation in your body, your immune system may release inflammatory messengers (like cytokines). Its these little cytokine messengers that can be passed through your milk.
How Inflammation Can Pass Through Your Milk
When your body responds to food with an inflammatory or immune reaction, small molecules like cytokines, histamines, and other immune factors can show up in breastmilk. This doesn’t mean your baby can react to your body’s inflammatory response, but if your baby’s already sensitive (e.g. have reflux, eczema, or gut imbalance), even small amounts may contribute to digestive discomfort or fussiness.
Why Some Babies React to Breastmilk After Certain Foods
For babies with immature or sensitive guts, oversupply, forceful letdowns and even minor shifts in breastmilk composition can be enough to trigger symptoms like:
Gassiness or bloating
Colicky and refluxy symptoms
Fussiness after feeds
Mucusy, green, runny and/or explosive poos
Skin flare-ups
Sleep disruption
This isn’t about the food you consumed passing through your breastmilk to your baby. It’s about how your body processes and responds to the food you ate, and how your immune response might influence your milk.
How to Tell if The Food You’re Eating Is Affecting Your Baby
You know your body and your baby best. If you notice that:
You feel bloated, gassy, or inflamed after certain foods
Your skin has break outs too - think eczema, dry skin, pimples
Your baby frequently becomes unsettled or uncomfortable after feeds
You spot patterns between your meals and their symptoms (symptoms can also occur 24 hours after you’ve consumed something that may have upset their belly)
…it might be worth digging deeper.
What You Can Do:
Pay attention to your body! Your symptoms can be just as telling as your baby’s
Track your meals and your baby’s behaviour using a symptom tracker or a food diary
Support your gut with a whole-food, anti-inflammatory diet
Work with a lactation consultant to explore gentle adjustments
Want help spotting the patterns? Our Reflux Symptom Tracker is designed to help you track how often your baby is experiencing symptoms, so you can start to connect the dots and notice trends without having to rely on memory alone (because let’s be honest, newborn life makes that impossible).
FAQ: What Parents Ask
Can gas from food pass into breastmilk?
Nope! The gas stays in your digestive system. But any inflammation that may occur in your body from food can alter your milk.
Do certain foods make breastfed babies gassy?
Some do but not directly. The way it makes your breastfed baby gassy is through immune responses that influence milk and your baby’s gut function.
Should I cut out all gas-producing foods?
Only if you’re seeing a consistent pattern. But, we recommend working with a lactation consultant or lactation dietician, before restricting your diet.
Your body and your baby are in constant communication, even if it doesn’t always feel clear. If something feels off, it’s not just in your head, and you’re not being an overprotective or overly anxious mama. Sometimes the answers are subtle, and they show up in the most unexpected places…like your baby’s poop, their skin, sleep patterns, feeding and breathing.
If breastfeeding your baby feels overwhelming, you don’t need to navigate it alone! With the right tools, support, and a little digging, we can uncover what your baby’s body is trying to tell us and get you both feeling more comfortable, connected, and confident.
Let’s decode the clues together. You bring the gut instinct, I’ll bring the experience.
By Brenda Munz, RN, Endorsed Midwife & IBCLC