Editor’s note: Previously on New Beginnings, Ta-Sha wrote briefly about her daughter’s experience with food allergies while they were breastfeeding, along with more of her breastfeeding experiences. We’re grateful to hear more of her story this year for Black Breastfeeding Week. You can read the first story here. Black Breastfeeding Week is celebrated annually August 25-31. This year’s theme is: Boots on the Ground; Rooted in Breastfeeding Success, Grounded in Community Support. You can learn more about special events going on for Black Breastfeeding Week here.
The first day that we introduced egg to my daughter, Shemsi, my wife, Keren, and I thought the rash she developed was her eczema flaring up. The second day, she developed a red rash on huge parts of her body. We quickly put her in a breast milk bath, gave her some allergy medicine, and lathered her with moisturizer. We took her to see an allergist quickly. The allergy doctor confirmed Shemsi’s egg allergy. She also has a dairy sensitivity that flares her eczema.
We discovered her sesame allergy the night that we introduced her to hummus. She loved it! But a few minutes after she finished eating it, there was a red rash around her mouth, plus on her face and hands. We did the breastmilk bath, allergy medicine, and moisturizer trifecta again. We were a little sad because we could tell she really liked the hummus. A happier side note on Shemsi’s love of hummus – we were able to find a local retailer who sells a sesame-free hummus that she eats by the spoonful. One of our La Leche League friends recommended the brand to me. We have to buy two packs at a time because she loves it so much!
After nailing down her sensitivities and triggers, I completely cut eggs, sesame, and dairy out of my diet, because I am breastfeeding. It was really hard for a very long time. I lost so much weight because I wasn’t taking in enough calories and protein. I thought very often about weaning Shemsi.
We paused offering her solids for a bit just to try to figure out what we were going to offer her. Eggs were a huge part of our diet, but now we had to get rid of eggs and all of the foods that had eggs in them. I slipped a few times and had food without looking at the allergens list first. I remember one time in particular when I got a chicken nugget meal. I wanted one, but I didn’t get a brownie because I know brownies have eggs in them. I nursed Shemsi, and she had a reaction. That’s how I found out that the nuggets had eggs in the batter! But once I started getting a good handle on what I could easily cook and eat, I would just offer her whatever I was having.
My wife, Keren, has definitely been my biggest support through this. She has cooked for me, sat with me to create menus, researched and purchased me a lot of vegan alternatives, and does the bulk of the grocery shopping for the house.
My local La Leche League has also been a huge support. It’s such a safe space to vent to people who truly understand what you’re going through and who can offer sound advice. I recommend LLL to breastfeeding families all of the time. My breastfeeding journey truly would have been just a few weeks long if I hadn’t been connected to my local LLL.
A few people have given me unsolicited advice to just stop nursing her, but the majority of the people in my life have supported my decision to continue nursing. Our families are very accommodating when we visit and ask about what foods they should have in the house for Shemsi and me. Those supports have really enabled us to perservere!
Now that I am nursing a toddler myself, I reflect back on how I used to think it was funny to see children nursing who could walk and talk. I taught an early childhood education class and had a two-year-old in my class years ago who would always try to pull up his mother’s shirt when she came for our circle time at the end of the day. She would look at me, and we would laugh together.
I had a teacher in middle school who talked to me about how she nursed her daughter until she was three. Her daughter was very intelligent and well-rounded. So from a young age, I had a positive image of breastfeeding toddlers. When we got pregnant with Shemsi, I knew I wanted to try to nurse her as long as I possibly could.
Nursing a toddler is definitely easier said than done. She was just so active and would hurt me sometimes with her nursing acrobatics. I stuck to the boundaries I set, and things eventually got better. “We sit when we nurse” was a helpful phrase in our nursing relationship.
I sometimes get unsolicited comments and questions about nursing a child that was so big and could walk. That always confuses me since she’s so big and healthy because of my breastmilk!
Why would you want me to take that away from her?
I will admit that I did start to question if I should wean her after she turned one. Being connected to so many people in my LLL group that nursed children well past two years old gave me the confidence to keep going – I didn’t feel alone.
I took a breastmilk training class years ago, when I worked for a childcare center. I learned about the overwhelming benefits of breastmilk in the first six weeks of life. I knew that if I ever had a child, I would want to breastfeed for at least the first six weeks. So my very first goal, before even having Shemsi, was six weeks.
My overall goal when discussing breastfeeding with Keren was to go until Shemsi naturally weaned herself, however long that was. With our challenges, I ended up setting goals for six months, then a year, and then the two year current CDC recommendation.
As we get closer to weaning, I’m a mix of ready, sad, and nervous. I feel like Shemsi will have a hard time with me saying no. I was talking to Keren about possibly weaning her from nursing but still pumping to offer her breastmilk from a cup. Shemsi never took a bottle and refused to drink my pumped milk from any of the cups we’ve purchased for her, so I’m not completely sure if she would now. I also don’t want to waste my milk and time if she’s not going to drink it. But I’m hoping that will change once she understands that she won’t have the option of getting her milk through nursing. I have a lot of “what if” scenarios playing in my head, but I won’t really know until it’s actually happening.
I’m very proud of my breastfeeding journey and all I’ve overcome. We’ve been through overproduction, mastitis, Shemsi’s allergies, overstimulation, and anxiety. I believe she got many health and relationship benefits from the 20 months we’ve been at this.
Send your story ideas to Kylie at [email protected]
Resources about breastfeeding with allergies:
Supporting Breastfeeding Families–Today, Tomorrow, Always
Please consider donating to La Leche League USA.
Your gift helps support this blog and the website!
Donations of any amount are gratefully accepted. Thank you!
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Posted: August 26, 2025 by Yael Breimer
Black Breastfeeding Week: Ta-Sha’s Story Continues
Editor’s note: Previously on New Beginnings, Ta-Sha wrote briefly about her daughter’s experience with food allergies while they were breastfeeding, along with more of her breastfeeding experiences. We’re grateful to hear more of her story this year for Black Breastfeeding Week. You can read the first story here. Black Breastfeeding Week is celebrated annually August 25-31. This year’s theme is: Boots on the Ground; Rooted in Breastfeeding Success, Grounded in Community Support. You can learn more about special events going on for Black Breastfeeding Week here.
We discovered her sesame allergy the night that we introduced her to hummus. She loved it! But a few minutes after she finished eating it, there was a red rash around her mouth, plus on her face and hands. We did the breastmilk bath, allergy medicine, and moisturizer trifecta again. We were a little sad because we could tell she really liked the hummus. A happier side note on Shemsi’s love of hummus – we were able to find a local retailer who sells a sesame-free hummus that she eats by the spoonful. One of our La Leche League friends recommended the brand to me. We have to buy two packs at a time because she loves it so much!
After nailing down her sensitivities and triggers, I completely cut eggs, sesame, and dairy out of my diet, because I am breastfeeding. It was really hard for a very long time. I lost so much weight because I wasn’t taking in enough calories and protein. I thought very often about weaning Shemsi.
We paused offering her solids for a bit just to try to figure out what we were going to offer her. Eggs were a huge part of our diet, but now we had to get rid of eggs and all of the foods that had eggs in them. I slipped a few times and had food without looking at the allergens list first. I remember one time in particular when I got a chicken nugget meal. I wanted one, but I didn’t get a brownie because I know brownies have eggs in them. I nursed Shemsi, and she had a reaction. That’s how I found out that the nuggets had eggs in the batter! But once I started getting a good handle on what I could easily cook and eat, I would just offer her whatever I was having.
My wife, Keren, has definitely been my biggest support through this. She has cooked for me, sat with me to create menus, researched and purchased me a lot of vegan alternatives, and does the bulk of the grocery shopping for the house.
My local La Leche League has also been a huge support. It’s such a safe space to vent to people who truly understand what you’re going through and who can offer sound advice. I recommend LLL to breastfeeding families all of the time. My breastfeeding journey truly would have been just a few weeks long if I hadn’t been connected to my local LLL.
A few people have given me unsolicited advice to just stop nursing her, but the majority of the people in my life have supported my decision to continue nursing. Our families are very accommodating when we visit and ask about what foods they should have in the house for Shemsi and me. Those supports have really enabled us to perservere!
Now that I am nursing a toddler myself, I reflect back on how I used to think it was funny to see children nursing who could walk and talk. I taught an early childhood education class and had a two-year-old in my class years ago who would always try to pull up his mother’s shirt when she came for our circle time at the end of the day. She would look at me, and we would laugh together.
I had a teacher in middle school who talked to me about how she nursed her daughter until she was three. Her daughter was very intelligent and well-rounded. So from a young age, I had a positive image of breastfeeding toddlers. When we got pregnant with Shemsi, I knew I wanted to try to nurse her as long as I possibly could.
Nursing a toddler is definitely easier said than done. She was just so active and would hurt me sometimes with her nursing acrobatics. I stuck to the boundaries I set, and things eventually got better. “We sit when we nurse” was a helpful phrase in our nursing relationship.
I sometimes get unsolicited comments and questions about nursing a child that was so big and could walk. That always confuses me since she’s so big and healthy because of my breastmilk!
Why would you want me to take that away from her?
I will admit that I did start to question if I should wean her after she turned one. Being connected to so many people in my LLL group that nursed children well past two years old gave me the confidence to keep going – I didn’t feel alone.
I took a breastmilk training class years ago, when I worked for a childcare center. I learned about the overwhelming benefits of breastmilk in the first six weeks of life. I knew that if I ever had a child, I would want to breastfeed for at least the first six weeks. So my very first goal, before even having Shemsi, was six weeks.
My overall goal when discussing breastfeeding with Keren was to go until Shemsi naturally weaned herself, however long that was. With our challenges, I ended up setting goals for six months, then a year, and then the two year current CDC recommendation.
I’m very proud of my breastfeeding journey and all I’ve overcome. We’ve been through overproduction, mastitis, Shemsi’s allergies, overstimulation, and anxiety. I believe she got many health and relationship benefits from the 20 months we’ve been at this.
Send your story ideas to Kylie at [email protected]
Resources about breastfeeding with allergies:
Supporting Breastfeeding Families–Today, Tomorrow, Always
Please consider donating to La Leche League USA.
Your gift helps support this blog and the website!
Donations of any amount are gratefully accepted. Thank you!
Follow us on:
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Category: Black Breastfeeding Week, Breastfeeding and Allergies
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