Food for Breastfeeding Moms: Recommendations and Tips

Nutrition for nursing moms

Often inexperienced (and sometimes even with many children) moms restrict themselves so much in everything related to the child. Feeding the baby on schedule, the mom’s diet also strictly scheduled, and even a strict diet. Detailed recommendations and expert tips on personalized nutrition after childbirth during breastfeeding are available at the momslab.com online course.

Many women unnecessarily forbid themselves from adding dishes they love to their menu, preferring boiled chicken breast and buckwheat. Postpartum nutrition for a breastfeeding mother should be complete, balanced, and varied, as she needs energy to recover more quickly after childbirth and to care for the newborn. Moreover, a meager diet of a breastfeeding mother negatively affects the quantity and quality of breast milk.

The main rule of nutrition for a nursing mother should be correct eating, without “junk food.” Let this become a way of life. Forget about sodas and alcoholic drinks, and stop consuming chips, crackers, and other snacks. There is also a whole list of foods that nursing mothers should exclude from their diet. But the main principle is minimalism. You shouldn’t eat a kilogram of oranges at once, so to speak, even if you really want to.

It’s especially important to monitor your diet during the first days and months of a child’s life because the newborn’s digestive system is not yet fully developed. Introduce new foods into your diet carefully and gradually. A food diary might help, where you can conveniently jot down notes about the consumed food and the baby’s reaction to it, including any allergies or colic. This can help the mother identify allergens.

Nursing mother’s nutrition according to the child’s age:

– First month

Meat should be consumed in moderation to avoid overloading the baby’s liver and kidneys. Fish and poultry are preferable. Fruits and vegetables are best eaten only after thermal processing.

– In the second month

Gradually introduce grains such as barley, buckwheat, and wheat. It’s permissible to diversify the menu with vegetables like pumpkin, carrots, turnips, and zucchini. The diet of a nursing mother can be enriched with boiled chicken, turkey, rabbit meat, beef tongue, as well as pasta from hard wheat varieties, homemade crackers, and low-fat cookies.

– Third to sixth months

It is allowed to drink fresh juices: for example, carrot and apple. Closer to six months, you can gradually introduce legumes, beef, seafood, and toasted white bread. At this time, children are usually introduced to complementary foods, so experiments with products are permissible. It should be remembered that allergies in a baby do not appear immediately and can have a cumulative effect. Therefore, each new product should be tested over several days.

Important nutritional advice after childbirth during breastfeeding:

1) A woman’s diet during lactation should be balanced: you shouldn’t eat only two or three permitted foods and forget about all the others. The daily diet must include proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals.

2) It is recommended to eat 4-6 times a day in small portions. There is also a special approach to nutrition postpartum that helps one stay slim. Its motto is: “Eat when you are hungry.” The scheme is simple: eat when you feel hungry and finish your meal when you feel full. Enjoy your food and take pleasure in it.

3) It is important to remember to stay hydrated (about 2 liters of water a day). This promotes timely milk production. However, this does not include tea, as it actually contributes to fluid loss in the body.

4) Do not be afraid of extra weight. First, a breastfeeding woman’s body requires more calories during lactation, second, the breastfeeding mother’s menu generally does not include high-calorie foods that can lead to weight gain, and third, walking with your baby for two to three hours daily, along with workouts via the online course at momslab.com — provide good physical exercise.

5) It’s important to remember the sense of moderation. Avoid overindulging even in permissible foods, as this can adversely affect the child’s body. To prevent colic or allergies in the baby, eat everything in moderation and don’t give preference to any one food.

6) It’s recommended to add fruits and vegetables to every meal (preferably after thermal processing).

7) Minimize simple carbohydrates in your diet. Ideally, avoid top-grade wheat flour, and use whole grain instead.

8) It’s better to soak nuts and legumes beforehand to release phytic acid and improve their digestibility.

9) Ideally, consume freshly prepared food.

10) The last meal should occur one and a half to two hours before sleep.