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Breastfeeding is the healthiest way to nourish your baby. Just as important though, is making sure you are well nourished too. It does take a lot out of you to produce breast milk so it is important to maintain a healthy diet while you are breastfeeding. Your body will produce quality breast milk regardless of your diet (our bodies work to make sure the baby gets what he needs before worry about itself). However, if you are not following a healthy diet it could mean that your body will be seriously lacking the nutrients it needs. Hopefully during your pregnancy you followed a healthy diet, it is important to continue following that healthy diet while you breastfeed.
Here are a few things you should remember to include (or avoid) as part of your healthy breastfeeding diet.
- Follow a well balanced diet that includes lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins. The USDA has developed a special food pyramid for nursing mothers, check it out to make sure you are eating the right foods in the right quantities.
- Make sure you consume plenty of water. It is recommended that you drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. Your body will still produce enough breast milk if you don’t get enough fluids but you are more likely to become dehydrated. One way to make sure you are getting enough fluids is to have a glass of water every time you nurse the baby.
- If you are trying to shed the pregnancy pounds while breastfeeding do so slowly. It is recommended that you not loose more than 1-2 pounds per week. Fad diets are not recommended. Any weight loss should be achieved with a well balanced diet and exercise.
- Limit your intake of fish that is high in mercury (just like when you were pregnant).
- High flavor foods such as spicy food can cause gas in your baby. If you identify foods that seem to cause your baby to be more gassy or fussy you should probably steer clear of those foods (that means no Mexican food for me!!).
- Abstain from alcohol consumption while breastfeeding as the alcohol does enter the breast milk. If you do consume alcohol do so in small quantities and be sure you can wait 2 hours before feeding the baby.
- Talk to your doctor about continuing to take your prenatal vitamins after you deliver as this will ensure you have adequate amounts of essential vitamins during breastfeeding such as calcium and iron.
Breastfeeding your baby gives your baby the best start to life by making sure she gets all the nutrition she needs. It is important for you to get all the nutrition you need as well so be sure to take care of yourself while you are breastfeeding. Talk to your doctor or a dietitian if you have questions about what you should or shouldn’t eat, what vitamins you should take, or any other questions you may have about your diet while you are breastfeeding.
My how time flies when you’re having fun. I can’t believe it has been over 8 weeks since our daughter was born. It is hard to remember what life was like before she arrived. The last two months of watching her grow and change have been a blast. She seems to get bigger everyday and is always surprising us with something new that she can do. It is fun to sit and watch her as she takes in the world around her. When she smiles it just melts my heart. We may have had the worst night with her getting up every few hours or more but when I go into her room in the morning and she smiles up at me from her crib I forget all about it.
Breastfeeding was a challenge at first as I had mentioned, but I stuck with it and now it is a piece of cake. She is eating about every 2 hours or so during the day and then goes about 4-6 hours between feedings at night. Now that her schedule is more predictable it has become easier to do things like cleaning, visiting with friends, going for walks, and all that. The trick now is going to be reintroducing the bottle. We supplemented at the very beginning and she took the bottle just fine but I stopped giving her a bottle while I worked on establishing the breastfeeding. She wasn’t at all interested in the bottle when we tried to give it to her the other day so I’ll have to start working on that. Luckily I’m not returning to work so I don’t have time pressure, I can take my time reintroducing the bottle.
We just had our first visit to the pediatrician that involved vaccinations. It was horribly painful to hear her screams and see her terrified little face as she was getting the shots (4 of them). Once it was over and I picked her up she calmed right down though so that was comforting. The pediatrician said it is often worse on the parents than it is on the babies. When we got home from the doctor’s office I gave her a little Infants’ Tylenol as recommended by the pediatrician, then she ate and went right to sleep. I had been warned that she would probably be fussy for the rest of the day (maybe two) but she wasn’t too bad.
These first couple of months have been so rewarding and so much fun. I can’t wait to see the changes that take place in her over the next few months. They grow so fast and learn new things everyday, it truly is amazing. I’m sure before I know it she’ll we be a little toddler walking around and talking up a storm.
When your baby reaches 4-6 months of age you will begin introducing solid foods into his diet. At first it will be simple things like cereals so you won’t have to worry too much about it. As your baby gets older you will begin introducing other foods into her diet. There are some foods that are unsafe for babies that you will need to avoid. Always talk to your pediatrician when you have questions about what foods are safe and OK for your baby. If in doubt don’t introduce the food until you talk to your pediatrician.
Here are some foods to avoid based on your child’s age.
Newborn through 4-6 Months:
- All solid foods: Babies should be fed breast milk or formula only at this age unless directed to do something different by your child’s pediatrician.
4-12 Months:
- Citrus Fruits and Juices: introducing citrus into your baby’s diet before 12 months of age can induce an allergy. This risk increases of allergies to citrus run in the family.
- Egg Whites: as with citrus, introducing egg whites prior to 12 months of age can induce an allergy. If you think your child is at risk for an egg allergy talk to your pediatrician about holding off until age 2 before introducing egg whites. It is OK for your baby to eat the yolks at this age though.
- Honey: honey can harbor spores of bacteria that cause botulism. A baby’s digestive system is not able to prevent these spores from growing like an adult’s system can.
- Peanut Butter: peanuts can cause severe allergic reactions in children with nut allergies. Avoid introducing nuts until your child is over 12 months of age. Also, because of the consistency of peanut butter it can be difficult and unsafe for babies to swallow.
- Cow’s Milk: babies can’t digest the protein in cow’s milk in their first year as their digestive systems can’t handle it yet. Stick with breast milk or formula until your child is over a year old.
- Large Chunks: your baby could choke on pieces of food that are too large. All food should be in pea sized pieces or smaller.
- Small, hard foods: like nuts, popcorn, hard candies, raisins, etc for the obvious reason that they could choke on them.
- Any foods that could pose a choking hazard or presents a risk of allergic reaction. Talk to your pediatrician about what is safe for your child prior to one year of age.
12-36 Months:
- Low-fat Milk: toddlers need the high fat and calorie content of whole milk as they develop.
- Foods that pose a choking hazard
- Foods that present a high risk of allergic reaction or foods you know your child is allergic to.
Always talk to your pediatrician about your child’s specific needs and situation. If you have doubts or questions about a food you want to introduce into your child’s diet talk with your pediatrician or a pediatric nutritionist. When you are introducing foods you should always do so one at a time so you are better able to identify a food that has caused an allergic reaction.
I don’t know if you happened to see this fascinating episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show about the secret language of babies. I saw it a couple of weeks ago (it was a rerun) and was just absolutely amazed by the lady that was being featured, Priscilla Dunstan. She claims to have found the secret language of babies. Apparently every baby, regardless of culture or language, says the same things with his cries. According to Priscilla there are five “words” a baby says. She listens to the pre-cry sounds that a baby makes to identify what the baby is asking for or telling her. The five words are “neh” which means hunger, “owh” which means sleepy, “eair” which mean lower gas, “eh” which means upper gas (needs to burp), and “heh” which means discomfort. She has studied and recorded thousands of babies making these sounds and has a dvd out so that parents can learn what their babies are saying to them and better tend to their needs (if you click on the picture above for more info on the dvd).
Recently I was contacted by the creator of a new blog, PPDConnect, who is trying to spread the word about this new site where women can share their stories about postpartum depression. I checked out the site and think it is a fantastic idea. Postpartum depression often makes moms feel isolated and they often feel like no one else feels like they do or is going through what they are going through. Having a place to go to share their story and read other women’s stories will be both comforting and helpful to those women suffering from postpartum depression. Sometimes having someone to talk to you who knows what you are going through can make all the difference.
Be sure to stop by and check out PPDConnect. Even if you have never suffered from postpartum depression it is both interesting and helpful to read the stories.