Breastfeeding Diet – Do it for you and your baby’s health

As when you were pregnant, being a nursing mother requires that you eat for the benefit of yourself and for your baby.  So if you’re like I was, you’re probably wondering what a breastfeeding diet entails.  In this blog, you will come away with a better idea of what diet is best for you and your baby.

Your diet is important for a number of  reasons.  First, it  provides you with the energy needed to make it through a busy day with an infant.  It also provides you with the proper nutrition to make good quality milk and good quantities of milk for your little one.  When I had my first child 8 years ago, it was recommended that I eat an extra 500 calories of food every day, however, new literature is recommending that moms pay more attention to what they are eating rather than how much.

As at anytime, it is advised to follow a well-balanced diet to do this.  This involves eating all four food groups, with a special emphasis on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and calcium-rich foods.  However, you may have heard that eating certain foods such as gaseous vegetables like broccoli and cabbage may make your baby fussy.  While this is true for some babies, there is no clear-cut rule on what foods will or might affect your baby.  I don’t remember my second child reacting to any foods, other than the one time I drank a lot of  prune juice, which seemed to affect my baby’s stools.  That was fun – not!   My first child reacted badly when I ate garlic.  This is because some flavors will pass into the breast milk as well.   The best thing for you to do is to take note of what you eat, and see if or how your baby reacts ex) more fussy, more gassy, decreased sleeping.  Occasionally, when a mom drinks cow’s milk, it has been known to affect babies.   Whether you drink milk or not, it is a really good idea to supplement your diet with a high-quality prenatal multivitamin/mineral.  A vitamin/mineral supplement should not be taken to replace eating a well-balanced breastfeeding diet, but it should be used to supplement what you might be missing or lacking in your diet.  Just as when you were pregnant, your body’s number one priority is to make milk for your baby, and it will do so even if it means stealing from your own body’s reserves. You’ll also want to avoid certain fishes in your diet such as shark, swordfish, and tuna steaks  in your diet as they are high in mercury content.   Canned tuna should also be limited to less than six ounces per week.  Something else I noticed was that because I was chained to the rocking chair all day nursing my baby, that constipation was a problem for me.  Ensure you include fiber-rich foods in your food selection.

You’ll also want to avoid alcohol.  If you do not want to abstain totally, then it is advised that you have a small drink right after you finish nursing.   This will decrease the amount of alcohol that will pass through your breastmilk to your baby the next time you have to feed.  It is not true that pumping and throwing away the milk will keep your baby safe from ingesting alcohol.   However, given that alcohol is a known neurotoxin, and will likely affect the growing baby’s brain, you may want to rethink that drink.

You’ll probably also notice that you’re more thirsty than usual.  This is normal.  One lactation consultant recommended that I have a glass of water every time I sat down to nurse the baby.  I thought that this would be difficult to do as I am someone who doesn’t often have the sensation of thirst, but this all changed when I was nursing my babies.  Suddenly, I was thirsty all the time.  It must be mother nature’s way of keeping you well-hydrated while producing lots of milk for your baby to drink.  I read somewhere that a breastfeeding mom produces between 23 – 27 ounces of milk/day!!  Wow!  No wonder you need to drink more when nursing!

As you can see, a breastfeeding diet is for your benefit and for your baby’s benefit.  I hope that you have come away with a better understanding of what diet is best for you and your baby, and can use this information in the weeks to come.  Blessings!

P.S.  If you’re looking for a great way to lose weight while breastfeeding (and eating well), you’ll like this book Eat Well, Lose Weight, While Breastfeeding: The Complete Nutrition Book for Nursing Mothers.