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By Kimberly Dawn Neumann
From Health magazine
From Health magazine
Breastfeeding? Here’s how to tweak your diet for our Feel Great Weight plan.
Slightly increase your calories. Aim to get 300-500 extra calories per day.
Up your intake of H20. To keep from becoming dehydrated (which can lead to a decrease in milk production), drink an extra two quarts of water per day.
Limit caffeine and alcohol. They can be passed on to your baby through your milk.
Watch your vitamins.
- Vitamin C: Since much of what you take in passes right back out through your breast milk, you need to get 120 mg (vs. the usual 85 mg) per day. Good sources: red peppers, oranges, broccoli, strawberries, kiwi, tomato soup, cantaloupe.
- Vitamin A: You lose a lot of this through breastfeeding as well, so aim for 1300 micrograms per day (vs. the usual 700 micrograms). Some examples: spinach, carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and kale.
- Omega-3s. Your baby’s brain needs DHA, a key omega-3 fatty acid found in fish and fish oil supplements, to develop properly. Since your milk is your baby’s only source of nutrients (at least during the first few months), you’ll want to get at least 200 mg per day.
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Comments (10)
It’s very annoying seeing plugs for nursing stuck to an article like this. I’m lucky enough to be able to nurse my son since I work from home, but not everyone has a schedule that aligns, nor can everyone physically manage for one reason or another. I just hate to think of tired, hardworking, loving, careful moms feeling inferior because they have made another (valid and healthful) choice for their baby.
I work full time and I also breastfeed my son. I don’t think that working full-time is an excuse for not giving your child the very best. I pump during my lunch-break and my sitter keeps frozen milk on hand always. On the weekends I breastfeed as usual. If you can’t afford a pump there are many government programs that allow working women to rent for free breastpumps. I do understand that a small percentage of women have legitimate medical reasons. But I also hear a lot of excuses from women that are perfectly fine – its so much easier to open a can. The loving sacrfices that come with breastfeeding is too much for a lot of women.
Good article. Thanks for all the comments, too, about DHA and how to get it…very helpful! Amanda, your comment made me laugh….wonder if your baby will grow up loving garlic and vanilla too?
So important to continue to eat nutrient packed foods after you give birth and move on to breast feeding. Two things babies can taste in thier mothers breast milk is Vanilla and Garlic…. two things that I enjoy … garlic pasta and real vanilla bean ice cream!
All this is true, but it is important to note that even if all you eat is cheetos and coke, your breastmilk is still nutritionally complete and superior to formula.
This is not to say that a mother’s nutrition is not important- it certainly is! But breastmilk is best, even if you don’t take the extra steps outlined above. please reference The World Health Organization and La Leche League for further questions.
What about mothers who are alergic to fish? Aren’t there other ways to get it without making vitamins?
You can also find vegetarian DHA in flax seed, flax seed oil, and walnuts, although the flax seed is best. If you’re using the seed and not the oil, be sure to grind it first (a coffee grinder works great) or your body won’t be able to process it.
This is totally untrue. There is no DHA in flaxseed. There are omega-3s in flaxseed, but they are not the same as DHA.
For DHA, you need to either eat fish or you can buy the vegetarian algae capsules that have DHA in them.
I would add that it’s important to keep taking the extra calcium + vitamin D you started (hopefully) while pregnant. Prenatal vitamins do not contain enough of this mineral, and the baby is going to get it out of you body one way or another. If not from your diet, then from your bones.
its great to speek about nurthing mother but its importing olso to spek about pregnent women how can dont take too much kg