In the previous Halachot we have mentioned that after eating meat, one must wait six hours before eating dairy products.
A Woman who has Given Birth or is Nursing
A woman who is within thirty days of having given birth may eat dairy products after eating meat and she need not wait six hours. It is sufficient for her to clean her teeth well and she may then proceed to eat dairy products. Regarding a nursing woman who must consume milk in order for her to accumulate mother’s milk to feed her child, the great Rishon Le’Zion, Hagaon Harav Yitzchak Yosef Shlit”a writes that such a woman may eat dairy products after having waited one hour from the time she has eaten meat; if possible, she should likewise clean her teeth well so that no pieces of meat remain stuck in her teeth.
Eating a Dish Cooked with Meat without Eating the Actual Meat
If one eats a food cooked with meat without eating the actual meat, such as one who eats the gravy of a meat dish without eating the actual meat, the Sefer Kenesset Ha’Gedolah writes that the prevalent custom is to act stringently as if one has eaten the meat itself. Even if one does not wish to eat actual cheese and only wishes to eat foods cooked with cheese, one must likewise wait six hours. Hagaon Rabbeinu Akiva Eiger and Hagaon Ben Ish Hai rule likewise.
Based on what we have written in the previous Halacha that if one waits five-and-a-half hours between eating meat and dairy products, one has on whom to rely and there is especially room for leniency after having eaten only poultry, there is similarly room for leniency in a situation where one has eaten only a food cooked with meat and not the meat itself in which case one may begin to consume dairy products after five-and-a-half hours.
Summary: A woman who has recently given birth may eat dairy products immediately after having eaten meat as long as she cleans her teeth well in order to make sure than no pieces of meat remain. Similarly, regarding a woman who must drink milk in order to nurse her child, she may drink milk after having eaten meat as long as waits at least one hour and cleans her teeth well.
If one eats a dish cooked with meat without having eaten the meat itself must wait six hours before eating dairy products. If one waits only five-and-a-half hours though, he has on whom to rely.
If one eats a food cooked together with meat without having eaten the meat itself, one must nevertheless wait six hours before eating a dairy food. In this situation, if one waits only five-and-a-half hours, one has on whom to rely.
