Breastfeeding & Food Allergy Prevention
Breast milk is the best nutrition for babies up to 6 months of age. Where there is a high risk of cow’s milk allergy (parent or sibling), mothers establishing breast feeding should avoid using any cow’s milk based infant formula. Studies to date have failed to demonstrate clear evidence that hydrolysed formula may reduce the risk of allergy in high-risk infants (Boyle et al., 2016).
There is no evidence yet, that food allergy prevention can be achieved while a baby is exclusively breastfed. Current proven methods of food allergy prevention only begin when the infant is introduced to solid foods. Breastfed babies will be exposed to food allergens along with the natural antibodies and immune protection that breast milk also provides.
Based on current evidence, breastfeeding women:
- should eat a varied and balanced diet in accordance with recommendations which can be found at www.mychild.ie