Breastfeeding Diet

As a lactating mother, breastfeeding diet plays a vital role in the proper growth and development of your baby.

Breastfeeding Diet Tips

You must eat the right kind of food to give your baby the required macronutrients and micronutrients through breast milk. You will need an intake of about 550 calories more each day in the initial six months as part of your breastfeeding diet to produce the required amount of milk for your baby. From the seventh month, your daily intake needs to be increased by only 400 calories. Ensure that your intake of excess calories is distributed across meals. Although you need to eat a little more than usual, a breastfeeding diet should give more importance to the quality and not the quantity of food taken by the lactating mother.

Eating well means eating real food such as whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables and other food in their natural form if possible. You should also increase your consumption of water and liquids slightly per day. You may need to continue with your prenatal vitamins or vitamin supplements to make up for any deficiencies in your diet. Your doctor may advise you to take iron and folic acid tablets for at least the first six months. During this period, feeding the baby exclusively on breast milk is recommended. The best sources of minerals in your diet are from unprocessed foods. Leafy greens contain magnesium which help in the letdown reflex process.

You should eat a variety of foods because the breast milk has various flavours depending on what you eat. This gives your baby the chance of trying different kinds of food. It serves as the first step in helping your baby decide the food that she will eat later on as she grows up.

Although you may want to lose weight after pregnancy, it is not advisable to diet during breastfeeding because this could affect both your and your baby's health. If the required nutrients are missing in a breastfeeding mother's daily diet, the food supplies stored in the mother's body are used up. The nutritional requirements of your baby are met before yours.

Avoid drinking aerated juices which have no nutritive value and are high in calories. You can opt for lassi and citrus juices. Avoid alcohol, caffeine and toxins like tobacco.