How mom's eating habits affect baby

Did you know the food choices of breastfeeding and pumping moms have the potential to influence their baby's future eating habits?

Studies show that the flavors of foods that moms eat can be found in their breast milk. Some flavors, like garlic and vanilla, have even been shown to keep babies nursing longer at the breast. Another study showed that babies who were exposed to the carrot flavor through breast milk were more likely to eat carrots as solid foods. Some flavors that present in breast milk come through more intensely than others, and some flavors present sooner after ingesting those flavors than others. The transfer of flavors from mom's diet to baby via breast milk may be one of the factors in studies that show breastfed infants have more adventurous palates in early childhood. It may also provide a link for why studies show breastfed babies are more likely to consume higher amounts of vegetables as they grow — they are being introduced to those flavors early, in their mother's milk. One study showed that for babies who were breastfed at least 16 weeks, each additional serving of vegetables their breastfeeding mom consumed, led to a 22 percent increased chance of those babies consuming a diet high in vegetables at age six. Just another way our bodies truly are amazing!