The older generation insistently recommends drinking tea with condensed milk to many new mothers. According to established opinion, the use of this product is an effective stimulator of lactation, and breast milk will become fatty and nourishing for the baby. Is it so? Is condensed milk harmful or beneficial when breastfeeding?
The benefits of condensed milk
Condensed milk is a very simple sweet treat that we have known since childhood. If the manufacturer follows GOST standards, the product is made only from cow's milk and sugar.
During processing, cow's milk is condensed to a rich concentrate, and then mixed with sugar using a special technology. The final product contains a fairly impressive percentage of animal protein (35%), and also retains some vitamins:
- Vitamins A and E will be useful for a new mother during the difficult postpartum period; they are important for restoring skin elasticity and tissue regeneration.
- B vitamins, important for hematopoietic function and regulating blood composition.
- Nicotinic acid, necessary for metabolic processes in cells, as well as for the normal functioning of the nervous system.
- Vitamin D, necessary for the absorption of calcium entering the body.
Thus, traditional sweetness becomes a source of important vitamins for a woman and helps her recover during the difficult postpartum period: it normalizes blood composition, improves the absorption of calcium lost during pregnancy, and promotes rapid tissue renewal.
Rules for choosing condensed milk when breastfeeding
Buy condensed milk carefully. It is best to purchase a more expensive product. Cheap options may contain harmful substances that easily pass into breast milk and have a negative effect on the baby’s body.
Milk should be purchased according to GOST: R 53436–2009. This number guarantees the absence of unnecessary additives and stabilizers. Milk produced according to GOST contains nothing but cow's milk and sugar.
When purchasing milk, be sure to look at the expiration date. This is very important, since with its end the milk loses vitamins and microelements and becomes sugared. Even if the expiration date has not yet expired, but there are a couple of months left, it is better not to take such a product.
The jar must have a round shape. There should be no dents on it. The presence of dents may indicate a leak in the seal. If the jar is not airtight, bacteria will accumulate in it.
Does lactation help?
Representatives of the older generation are confident that tea with condensed milk is an effective stimulator of lactation, which will help not only increase the volume of breast milk, but also increase its fat content and nutritional value. Is condensed milk useful for breastfeeding?
The myth about increasing fat content
In fact, no food product can affect the fat content of milk. Its composition is constant, and its “saturation” depends on how well the baby absorbs the breast. If the baby eats quickly, but soon cries from hunger again, it means he drinks only “foremilk” - sweet and relatively runny.
The baby reaches the “hind” milk, fatty and rich, if he suckles the breast for a long time and thoroughly. It is this food that will benefit the child, will promote its growth and development, and will also ensure long sleep for a well-fed baby. Thus, nutritional value during breastfeeding depends not on the mother’s diet, but on the diligence of the baby and the duration of feeding.
The Myth of Increasing Milk Volume
While looking for information about whether you can have condensed milk after childbirth, you have probably come across reviews from nursing women who claim that this treat with tea had a positive effect on milk volume.
The volume of lactation in the initial period of its formation is influenced solely by the ratio of the hormones oxytocin and prolactin. A hot drink can temporarily increase the flow of milk - it is this property that most nursing mothers, when drinking tea with condensed treats, take as a “miraculous” stimulation of lactation.
So, new mothers do not necessarily need to drink tea with concentrated sweet treats all day long; condensed milk is not at all useful for lactation. To improve milk flow, it will be enough to simply drink any hot drink, even ordinary boiled water.
Negative reactions when nursing mothers drink milk
The period of breastfeeding is the moment when the mother gives her baby all the beneficial substances that come to him during feeding. And of course, every mother wants all the healthiest vitamins, minerals and microelements to be passed on to her baby through her milk. Therefore, the diet of a young mother while she is feeding her baby should include foods that are the healthiest for the baby. Many people are interested in the question: can a nursing mother have whole milk, and if so, which product is better to give preference? This question is discussed by many mothers, and judging by their experience, all cases are very individual.
Milk is a product that contains proteins, as well as carbohydrates in the form of lactose and many minerals - calcium, phosphorus, iron, manganese. The benefits of such a product are undeniable for any person. But if a woman is breastfeeding, such a composition can not only be beneficial, but can also be dangerous. Can nursing mothers drink milk? It is difficult to give a definite answer to this question, since the approach is very individual. But in any case, milk is allowed for nursing mothers if there is no proven negative effect on the child. The issue of moderate amount of milk is also important so that negative effects do not appear.
What problems might a mother encounter if she has milk in her diet? First of all, these are allergic reactions and lactose intolerance in a child.
The problem of a child's allergy to milk protein is actually not common. Therefore, if there are no reactions to milk in the family, then the mother should under no circumstances refuse milk in advance. In fact, avoidance of cow's milk by a breastfeeding mother may even increase the baby's chance of developing cow's milk allergies. Mothers who drink cow's milk have higher levels of secretory IgA in their breast milk. Breast milk with high IgA blocks the absorption of undigested cow's milk protein by intestinal cells. Therefore, the risk of developing such an allergy is reduced to some extent. Therefore, nursing mothers who are not allergic to milk should drink cow's milk.
Milk allergies in infants are much less common than many people think, and milk intolerance is even rarer. To make matters even more confusing, many people do not know the difference between an allergy and a milk intolerance.
Milk allergy: When this allergy occurs in infants, the baby's immune system reacts negatively to the proteins found in milk. If a baby is exclusively breastfed, he reacts to the milk that his mother has eaten. In either case, the immune system views the milk proteins as foreign substances, and in its efforts to fight off the invaders, the body releases histamine and other chemicals that cause allergic symptoms in the body.
Milk intolerance has nothing to do with cow's milk proteins or the immune system. This occurs when the baby is unable to digest the sugar in milk (lactose). This is why milk intolerance is also called lactose intolerance. Lactose is the sugar in milk. The amount of lactose in breast milk does not depend on the mother's consumption of lactose and practically does not change. The milk that a baby receives when he first starts breastfeeding contains the same amount of lactose as the milk at the end of breastfeeding.
Lactase is an enzyme that is necessary to digest lactose. Lactose intolerance occurs when a person does not produce this enzyme, or does not produce enough of it, and is therefore unable to digest lactose. If it is not digested and broken down, it cannot be absorbed. If this happens, lactose continues in the digestive tract until it reaches the colon. This is where bacteria break it down, producing acids and gases.
Symptoms of lactose intolerance include a thin, sometimes green, foamy discharge and an irritable baby who is colicky due to gas. Congenital lactose intolerance (milk intolerance in infants from birth) is an extremely rare metabolic condition. Lactose intolerance is more common in older children and adults. In this case, the only source of calcium for a nursing mother may be lactose-free milk. Is it possible for a nursing mother to have cow's milk in this case? If your child has this sensitivity, then yes - if you drink or consume dairy products, it can cause various problems in your child. The severity of a food reaction is usually related to the child's sensitivity and the amount of problem food the mother ate—the more food consumed, the stronger the reaction. Food reactions can occur within minutes, but symptoms in infants often appear 4 to 24 hours after the mother ingests milk. If the child has suspicious symptoms associated with allergies, for example: bloating and colic, diarrhea, constipation, itchy skin and red rash, swollen eyes, face or lips, problems with weight gain, then cow's milk should be stopped completely until further examination. What is the possibility of using goat milk for a nursing mother in this case? If there is a confirmed diagnosis of allergy to cow's milk protein, then there may be a cross-reaction to goat's milk, so you should not take it either.
If you think your baby may be sensitive to dairy in your diet, remember that it can take 10 days to 3 weeks for cow's milk protein to be eliminated from your body, and 2-3 weeks for the protein to be completely eliminated. If your child is sensitive to dairy proteins, you may be able to relieve your child of symptoms by only eliminating obvious sources of dairy. These include milk, cream, yogurt, butter, cheese, sour cream, ice cream, cottage cheese.
If your child has a severe allergy, it is necessary to eliminate all sources of milk proteins, which requires careful reading of the food label. In certain cases, a nursing mother should not drink homemade or store-bought milk during the acute period. Also, soy milk is not recommended for a nursing mother to consume, as cross-reactions can occur. Particular care should be taken if you include cookies, sweets, or cereals in your diet, because they may contain traces of powdered milk, and a nursing mother should also not take powdered or baked milk if she has a confirmed allergy. If you've removed dairy from your diet because your breastfed baby is sensitive to cow's milk proteins, you can gradually reintroduce it after a few months. Many breast-sensitive children outgrow their sensitivity between 6 and 18 months, and most outgrow it completely by 3 years. To begin with, to expand the diet, you can start a mother who is breastfeeding by drinking tea, coffee, cocoa or Nesquik with milk. If after two days there is no reaction in the child, then you can switch to drinking milk more often. In the future, it is recommended that the nursing mother drink store-bought boiled milk with the gradual introduction of concentrated milk.
Possible harm from condensed milk
Condensed milk has been actively used during breastfeeding by several generations of mothers, but now experts have a very negative attitude towards its use. The inclusion of this product in the diet of a nursing mother can lead to negative consequences:
- The most important possible harm that a modern mother may encounter when eating condensed milk while breastfeeding is the risk of lactose intolerance. Nowadays, more and more often, experts diagnose children with an inability to digest lactase - cow protein. But it is contained in colossal quantities in concentrated condensed milk. Traces of cow's protein in breast milk can cause painful stool problems in some babies - constipation, diarrhea and flatulence.
- The high sugar content in condensed milk leads to another possible unpleasant consequence - colic in infants. Traces of glucose in breast milk cause increased, painful gas formation in babies. Nursing mothers, especially in the first month, should completely exclude sweets from their diet.
- Another risk for the baby’s well-being when the mother uses condensed milk during breastfeeding is the manufacturers’ failure to comply with the traditional recipe. If the product was made according to GOST, only from milk and sugar, then its moderate consumption will not bring any harm to the baby. But, unfortunately, most manufacturers apply different standards and make condensed milk according to specifications, adding potentially harmful substances to the milk, to which the baby may have a food allergy.
Is it possible to have condensed milk while breastfeeding?
Condensed milk has a large number of protein molecules. Proteins are necessary for a woman's normal lactation function. Enzymes and hormones are formed from proteins.
Also, protein molecules are needed for the baby, who feeds on mother's milk. Proteins are considered building blocks. They participate in the formation of the muscle frame, bones, connective and nervous tissue. Protein molecules are involved in the synthesis of enzymes and hormonal substances.
Microelements and vitamins are preserved as much as possible in condensed milk, since its processing temperature in production is up to 70 °C.
The product has a high calorie content, which ensures quick satiation of the baby, so during breastfeeding it benefits both mother and child. But such milk also has its drawbacks.
Features of introduction into the diet during breastfeeding
Experts recommend introducing a little condensed milk into your diet during lactation from about the second or third month. During this period, the baby’s intestinal function is practically stabilized and the digestive system is able to accept the new addition to the mother’s diet.
Modern breastfeeding consultants prohibit eating sweet treats and drinking tea with condensed milk in the first month. The newborn’s body is just beginning to adapt to feeding on milk, and traces of sugar and lactase in mother’s milk can lead to dangerous malfunctions in the baby’s digestive system.
To prevent condensed milk from causing unpleasant consequences for the baby during breastfeeding, you should follow the recommendations when introducing this product into the diet:
- Before trying condensed milk, nursing mothers must make sure that the baby normally accepts cow's milk in their diet.
- You need to start eating condensed milk a little at a time. For the first time, you can try the treat on the tip of a teaspoon and then observe the condition of the baby’s skin and the nature of his stool for 2-3 days.
- Experts recommend consuming condensed milk during breastfeeding in the first half of the day. This way you can track a possible negative response from the baby and respond to it in the event of a severe allergy.
- If negative reactions occur, consuming sweets while breastfeeding should be stopped. Mom will be able to try to reintroduce condensed milk into her diet in 1-2 months.
- The maximum daily dose of this sweetness, which is allowed during lactation, is 2 teaspoons. It is best to make tea with condensed milk, so the concentrated delicacy will not harm the health of the baby.
Can nursing mothers have boiled condensed milk? Its composition is no different from the classic “raw” one, so a nursing mother, after introducing the product into her diet, can change the delicacy options in her menu from time to time.
Composition and beneficial properties of condensed milk
Before giving arguments for and against this product, you need to find out what is included in its composition. The main ingredient of condensed milk is cow's milk, in addition to it it also contains water and sugar. Manufacturers sometimes use small amounts of ascorbic acid, sodium and potassium as a stabilizer.
Natural condensed milk is white, or sometimes creamy, and its consistency is uniform. It is not difficult to distinguish a low-quality product, since it is usually either too thick or too thin. Natural condensed milk does not contain dyes or preservatives. Thanks to this, it is a healthier sweet than candy or cake.
A large amount of sugar, as well as a high percentage of fat in condensed milk, are the main reasons why nutritionists recommend avoiding its excessive consumption. A healthy adult can take only 2 tablespoons of this product per day (about 40g).
Raw product
A woman during lactation must remember that the foods she eats enter the baby’s body. Particular attention should be paid to foodstuffs that contain cow's milk. Lactase deficiency is a disease characterized by the fact that lactose received by the baby during feeding is not absorbed by the body. The baby begins to suffer from allergies and problems with the gastrointestinal tract.
Everything listed above also applies to sweet treats. Before you start drinking condensed milk during breastfeeding, you need to do an allergy test. Symptoms that the baby’s body does not accept the product include:
- Some time after feeding, the baby begins to develop foam or mucus from the mouth.
- Bloating or constipation may be diagnosed.
If these symptoms are absent, then you can safely consume the treat, but do not abuse it.
