Congratulations on the birth of your new baby!

Whilst you have been pregnant you have provided all of the food and nutrition that you and your baby has needed. Whilst you breast feed you continue to provide all the energy and nutrients that your baby needs for healthy development during the first vital months of its life. Your diet and nutrition continues to be crucial for a little while longer however, although now at least you have room in your tummy to eat without discomfort!

There is no ‘special’ breastfeeding diet or rules to follow; what you and your baby need is a healthy balanced diet which includes the following :

Energy Intakes During Breastfeeding

Fluid Intakes During Breastfeeding

Maintaining the right fluid intakes are very important whilst breastfeeding. You have your own fluid requirements to meet as well as the additional requirements of producing breast milk. Ideal fluids are water, milk, weak squash, diluted fruit juices, green tea and fruit teas. Limiting caffeine intake is as important during breastfeeding as pregnancy.

Usually when you sit down to breastfeed, you immediately feel thirsty. It’s a good idea to have a glass of fluid by your side before you start to feed your baby.

If you think you might not be getting enough fluids, check if you are showing any of these other signs of dehydration:

• dark coloured urine and not passing much when you go to the toilet
• headaches
• confusion and irritability
• lack of concentration.

Fruit and vegetables Intakes during Breastfeeding.

Many crops are sprayed with chemical fertilisers, anti-microbials, anti-fungals and other chemicals; it’s always a good idea to wash fresh fruits and vegetables before you eat them. Peel foods where possible and buy organic foods if you are able. Some organic foods are now comparable in price to non-organic, but if you feel unable to make a complete commitment to organic produce it can make a difference even if you purchase one or two foods organically, typically those that you eat most of.

Try to eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetable, not just the same ones day in and day out. It’s really useful to choose different coloured fruit and vegetables as, in addition to the vitamins and minerals the different varieties contain, it’s often the bioactive molecules that create the colour that are the health promoting components in fruits and vegetables.

Fruits and vegetables can be fresh, frozen, tinned, pureed or as a juice- variety with minimal processing a key factor.

Carbohydrate Intakes During Breastfeeding

Carbohydrates provide you, and your baby, with energy while you are breastfeeding. You will needs lots of energy while you are breastfeeding, and your baby needs lots of energy to grow. Bread, pasta, rice and potatoes are good sources of carbohydrate.

Carbohydrates are sugars, starch, soluble fibre and insoluble fibre and it’s important to eat a healthy mix of these carbohydrates to balance blood sugars and maintain regular energy release. As a guide, instant release carbohydrates, typically foods that are high in simple sugars, should be eaten in small amounts and where possible mixed with slow release carbohydrate that contain some fibre.

Glucose blood sugar levels can drop quickly in between meals when you are breastfeeding and this can cause dizziness and light-headedness. If you feel like this, it is best to eat little and often to ensure you maintain good energy levels.

Eating Dairy Produce during Breastfeeding

Dairy produce contains calcium and other nutrients that are important for the growth and development of your baby. Try to eat a source of dairy produce such as milk, cheese, yogurt, regularly.  A glass of milk before bed may help you sleep as well as give you the calcium and other nutrients you need for your baby.

Dairy produce can be fat free, low fat or regular, depending on your energy needs. Low fat dairy produce does not contain less calcium, in fact usually slightly more and the calcium in low fat produce is more ‘usable’ within the body.

Protein Intakes during Breastfeeding

Protein is best eaten ‘little and often’ as this allows the body a constant source of amino acids for repair, growth, immunity and hormonal functions in both mother and baby. There are two classifications of protein:

• 1. Animal and fish sources (including red meats, chicken and eggs). These sources offer a complete profile of amino acids and are often rich in additional nutrients such as iron, zinc and B vitamins.
• 2. Vegetable sources of protein (beans, lentils, nuts and seeds) which contain a number of amino acids, but are not complete. It is therefore important that people who rely partially or solely on vegetable sources of proteins need to eat a variety of sources to ensure that they have all the amino acids that they need.

 Foods to avoid during Breastfeeding.

It is sensible to avoid some foods whilst breastfeeding. With regard to oily fish, the current advice for the general population is to eat at least two portions each week. The advice for women that are breastfeeding is the same, but limited to no more than two portions a week.  These recommendations are based on the beneficial effects of the long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in oily fish. Amongst other benefits these omega-3 fatty acids are required for the development of the central nervous system of a fetus and infant and so are very important for breastfeeding women.

Omega- 3 fatty acids are essential for the development of a healthy baby and this creates a difficult choice for pregnant women because the benefits of oily fish must be considered alongside the problems associated with any contaminant that are present.

For this reason it is sensible to consume the key omega-3 fatty acids from these types of fish whilst breastfeeding, through supplementation. High grade omega-3 supplements are extensively purified to ensure virtually all contaminants, such as dioxin and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), are removed. Therefore, during this critical time during the baby’s development, high quality nutritional supplements provide a very safe method of consuming health promoting omega-3 fatty acids  that will benefit both mother and baby, without risk or worry.

Omega-3 fatty acids facilitate infant brain development and it is really important that these fatty acids are transferred from the mother to the infant during the breastfeeding period.  DHAPure Pregnancy is a premium, highly purified, pharmaceutically graded omega-3 supplement, with high concentrations of DHA, designed to provide you with peace of mind – all through fertility, conception, pregnancy and breastfeeding. Visit our shop if you would like to purchase DHAPure Pregnancy or any of the Juliet Wilson Nutrition range.

Evidence and firm advice with regard to eating peanuts and other foods associated with allergies whilst breastfeeding are still unavailable. It isn’t clear from the latest research if eating these foods increases the risk of your baby developing allergies, particularly a peanut allergy, in later life. My advice would be that if either you or your partner are ‘atopic’, that is vulnerable to allergic conditions, severe eczema and/or asthma, it would probably be a sensible precaution to avoid foods that are considered potential allergens. Peanuts, are probably the food to be most cautious about if you suspect you may be susceptible to allergens.

Supplements during Breastfeeding

Taking supplements during breastfeeding is a good way of ensuring you have the right levels of the key nutrients during this key stage of your baby’s development. Breastfeeding women are likely to require a supplement containing vitamin D, although other essential nutrients are also extremely important to ensure both mother and baby have all the nutrients needed. My Advanced Formula Antenatal Pregnancy supplement has been specifically developed to ensure that these nutrients are available to you during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and in an easily digestible form so that you and your developing baby can make most use of these vital nutrients.  

In addition to considering nutrional supplementation, maintaining good energy intakes more generally is also very important during breastfeeding. There is so much pressure on new mums to lose excess pregnancy weight and return to their pre-pregnancy shape within just a few weeks of giving birth. Please try to avoid this pressure if you can! For 9 months your baby has been growing and developing within you, and now its growing and developing in the outside world, but still very reliant on you for energy and essential nutrients. Instead enjoy your baby’s arrival by increasing your fitness levels by walking with your baby and getting out and about, but extreme dieting and exercise will reduce the energy and nutrients available to your baby as well as you.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 at 12:22 PM and is filed under Breastfeeding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.