​You or your baby can't eat that!
Food rules for breastfeeding Moms are so ridiculous. You have eaten these foods for a long time. You ate them while you were pregnant. Why suddenly can't you eat something now that you are breastfeeding? Let's walk through it.
Don't eat that it will make your baby gassy? ​

Guess what? We are all gassy! Every single one of us burps and farts. May some things make your baby more gassy? Yes but usually they make you more gassy too. If you and broccoli don't get along then don't eat it. However, if you have been eating spicy/crunchy/'gassy'/sweet/etc while you were pregnant then your baby has been eating that already. If your baby is over 6 months old and has started solids the same thing applies. As your baby is feeding themselves, they will decide what they like and what they don't. Remember for children it takes 10 times of a food introduction before they truly decide if they like something or not. Bottom line throw out the food rules and you and your baby (6months old and up) should enjoy the bounty.
A word of caution:
Be gentle with yourself and the sweets. With warm houses, warm clothing, stress and lots of sugar, it is the season of thrush (candida/yeast overgrowth). The easiest way to avoid this overgrowth is to limit your processed sugar intake (eat one piece of pecan pie not the whole thing 😁; I would never eat a whole pie because I was stressed out at a family function!😇). Dress in layers so that if you are warm you can take something off. Be gentle with your self. If the function you are at is getting stressful leave if you can or remove yourself and your kids from the situation for a while. Start taking a probiotic and keep taking it for the next 6 months. Wash your breasts gently with soap once a day. If you are worried CALL RIGHT AWAY.
So here's the wrap up!
Enjoy the food. Enjoy a drink if you want. Be confident in your parenting choices. TRY not to argue. Allow yourself plenty of extra time for anything you want to do. Be gentle with your self and your personal family. This is your family. You have made the choices that are right for you. You do not need to prove that these are the best choices. The one thing that I have learned about these situations is that if you look the person who is questioning your choices straight in the eye with confidence (whether you have confidence or not), thank them for their concern and then keep doing what you have been doing, life is much easier.
Snuggle your family close whether there are 2 of you or 10. Be thankful for the blessing that each of you are for each other. Smile and laugh a lot because life truly is ridiculous.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your experience. It is truly my honor and my pleasure.

​Food:
Almost as contentious as sleep. If your baby is older than 2 weeks, someone will probably ask if you've started rice cereal yet. (Especially if you are tired and they perceive that rice cereal will of course make your baby sleep).
It's the standard first food. Grandma's and great aunties swear by it. So maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea? Rice cereal is a high processed carbohydrate. It has no nutritional value. It does however change the entire way that your baby digests. It slows the peristalsis so that your baby's body basically shuts off as many processes as possible to focus on digestion. Your baby doesn't sleep, they shut down or they cry uncontrollably from a belly ache! More importantly rice cereal completely changes your baby's intestinal chemistry. Why is this important? We know now that your intestines are the basis for your immune system. By breastfeeding you are introducing and keeping balanced the microbes that will help your baby stay healthy throughout their lifetimes. If you introduce solids before your baby's body is ready for them (at approximately 6 months; easiest indicators are that baby can sit up BY THEM SELVES, and that baby can move things from tray to mouth BY THEM SELVES) you inhibit their digestion and their immune system. You are working hard to do what is right for your baby and your baby's growth. However what you are doing isn't the gold standard or the best. It is what is NORMAL. Your baby was made to breastfeed.
So what do you say when the rice cereal (or any kind of food before your baby is 6 months old) debate starts?
Aunt Betty, if we were going to start solids, I would rather have you go through Dunkin Donuts and get my baby a plain donut. It's just as much of an empty carb but at least it has some fat so the donut is better than the rice cereal. 
Should shut the conversation right down!
PS is all lost or wrecked if someone 'sneaks' your baby a taste of something?(people are really stupid during the holidays. They do stuff they never would do at other times) No, you are breastfeeding. Your body knows something has changed in your baby's body. Your body will adjust your milk to reset your baby's microbes back to balance. It might take a few days and if you have kids like mine it will not be a happy few days. Balance does reoccur. 
In the meantime, that's when you make sure you sit next to Aunt Betty with the crying, fussy baby as much as possible!
Tomorrow: Alcohol (dum, dum, dum!) 😱