The diet for nursing mothers should be as safe as possible for the baby, balanced and varied. There are products that are not only possible, but also highly desirable to include in the diet during breastfeeding. They allow you to effectively fill the need of the female body for vitamins and minerals.
Breast-feeding
Breast milk is an ideal food for the newborn. Female milk, which is normally produced by a young mother, contains the most important substances for a small body in the right proportions. It is well digested by the infant’s fragile digestive system, performs a protective function, boosts the baby’s immunity, contains all the necessary minerals, vitamins and special proteins.
Breastfeeding reduces the risk of a baby having allergies, various infections and diabetes, and prevents obesity. The feeding process itself has a beneficial effect on the normal emotional, psychological and physiological development of children, forms resistance to the effects of adverse external factors, strengthens the bond between mother and baby.
It is also beneficial for a woman to feed her baby with her own milk. So she recovers much faster after childbirth and can more effectively establish contact with her baby. Young mothers who breast-feed are less likely to experience postpartum depression.
The benefit of milk for a child depends on its quality composition and quantity. The protein content in it practically does not depend on how much protein the mother consumes, but the amount of vitamins, minerals and other useful substances can fluctuate depending on the diet of the woman. That is why the diet for nursing mothers should be balanced and varied. These are the basic principles of nutrition.
As for the calorie content of the diet, in the first six months of the life of the baby, the wife should consume 500-600 kilocalories more than usual. This is not very much, so there is no need for two - the extra calories will settle on the hips and waist. Here it is better to adhere to another rule: there is not for two, but for two.
The diet of a nursing mother
An effective diet for nursing mothers must comply with several rules. The body must be provided with a complete set of nutrients, sufficient calorie content of food. The menu should be not only balanced, but also varied.
Nursing mother should choose products that do not contain preservatives, dyes, nitrates, a variety of artificial additives. It is advisable to eat all natural. Food should be consumed often, about five to six times a day, preferably half an hour before feeding.
The following are diet tips for a nursing mother. Consider in more detail products whose use is permissible and prohibited foods. An example of a weekly diet menu for a nursing mother will also be provided.
Varied nutrition
The diet for nursing mothers should include the main groups of products. What if the doctor did not give any specific recommendations about the diet? In this case, the diet for nursing mothers should contain about 200 g of lean meat per day, poultry meat (in the form of meatballs, meatballs, boiled) or low-fat fish (pollock, hake, cod, pike perch, carp), 100-150 grams of cottage cheese with low fat, 20-30 grams of hard cheese, 200-300 grams of fruit, a pound of vegetables, 15-20 grams of butter, 25-30 grams of vegetable oil.
The postpartum diet for nursing mothers must necessarily contain dietary fiber, which stimulate intestinal activity. In this regard, it is necessary to include in the daily diet at least 400 grams of fresh or processed vegetables, approximately 300 grams of fruits and berries, about a glass of juice with pulp.
Both freshly prepared and canned are suitable. Do not include tropical fruits (except bananas) in your diet for nursing mothers, which can cause allergies. It is good to add dried fruits, oat and buckwheat, millet cereals, which are rich in dietary fiber, to the menu.
Milk (about one liter) and products with milk should only be consumed in processed form: casseroles, concentrated milk without sugar, cottage cheese pancakes. Excess whole cow's milk can cause a reaction in the newborn. Partially, it is desirable to replace it with dairy products, namely kefir, yoghurts or fermented baked milk. It is good to alternate these dairy and sour-milk products.
Many young mothers are happy to eat special cereals for nursing, which are sold in supermarkets in the same departments as baby food. These cereals are enriched with trace elements and vitamins that are beneficial for women and safe for children. Some women bake pancakes or pancakes, cook porridge in baby formula.
Confectionery and sugar should be consumed in a very limited form, since such products not only contribute to the deposition of excess fat in the body, but also have an allergenic effect.
Security
The list of products in the diet for nursing mothers should ensure the safety of milk for the baby and the absence of some substances in it that can have an extremely adverse effect on the digestive tract, other organs and systems of the newborn. So, dishes should not contain ingredients that can cause an allergic reaction. In this regard, it is necessary to limit the consumption of foods that contain a large amount of salt and essential oils: smoked meats, canned foods, onions and garlic, broths on fish and meat, pickles, sausages.
It is undesirable to eat food that violates the functions of the digestive tract. These are grapes, confectionery, cottage cheese pastes, cheeses, sweet cereals, alcoholic products. Products with a high allergenic activity include tomatoes, peanuts, crabs, eggs, honey, crayfish, strawberries, citrus fruits, chocolate, cocoa, as well as any food that previously caused a woman an adverse reaction and manifestations of food intolerance. It is advisable to avoid eating meat of young birds, as their protein can with high probability cause allergies.
Specialized foods can saturate a diet for nursing mothers (positive reviews of women) with necessary vitamins and minerals, a sufficient amount of protein. These are “Femilak”, “Dumil Mama Plus”, “Olympic”, “Enfamama” and others. Such cereals are made on the basis of milk; the most important useful substances, vegetable oils, and mineral salts are added to it. With insufficient production of breast milk, the Milky Way is suitable - a special product for nursing mothers that stimulates lactation.
Drinking regimen of a nursing mother
A young mother should drink (that is, in addition to the usual 1.5-2 liters of pure water per day) about one liter of various fluids. Juices, fruit drinks, tea and milk are suitable. But you can’t inject more fluid into a strict diet for a nursing mother after childbirth, you must first wait for the production of real breast milk, not colostrum. Up to this point, the amount of liquid should be limited to one liter. Otherwise, on the second or fourth day after delivery (at this time lactation usually begins) the amount of breast milk may be too large, which will complicate its normal separation.
Lactation Enhancing Products
The quality and quantity of milk is determined, more likely, by a predisposition at the genetic level than by a diet, but with a shortage of the main product, the baby should first of all pay attention to the correct drinking regimen. This was discussed above. In addition, to increase milk production, you can use special products that are recommended in the diet for nursing mothers for the first month of the baby's life and beyond. The use of specialized juices enriched with nutrients is very useful. Teas with plant extracts (anise, nettle, fennel, caraway seeds, lemon balm and others) are also recommended. A very important issue for a nursing mother is the normal functioning of the intestines. The chair should be daily or at least once every two days. To prevent constipation, you need to eat enough fruits and vegetables, oatmeal and buckwheat cereal, juices and stewed fruit, dairy products.
Diet after cesarean section
If the caesarean section is planned, then the diet needs to be adjusted in advance. A few days before the operation, foods that increase flatulence should be excluded from the diet. Such are whole-wheat bread, nuts and grapes, legumes, cabbage. Eight hours before cesarean, in general, it is impossible, and on the first day after the menu should not be plentiful or too high-calorie. It is advisable to drink more mineral water or ordinary purified. You can acidify it a little with lemon.
On the second day, you can diversify a lean diet with chicken stock, but it should be cooked without excess fat. It is enough to drink 200-300 ml, but not at a time, but during the day, because the food should be fractional (6-7 times a day). You can eat a little fat-free cottage cheese or natural yogurt without additives.
As for drinking, the diet after cesarean for nursing mothers should contain a rosehip broth, jelly, tea, fruit drinks, compotes. You can drink a maximum of 1.5 liters per day. On the third day you can already eat steam cutlets, meatballs, baked apples (no more than one or two per day). In the first few days after the operation, baby food is excellent. Next, you need to gradually introduce buckwheat, oatmeal, millet porridge into the menu, but it is better to postpone fresh vegetables, berries and fruits until the beginning of next month.
Lactose free diet
In some newborns, breast milk is not well absorbed, resulting in a deficiency of lactose. In this case, a lactose-free diet is needed for nursing mothers. A woman needs to give up products with a high content of milk sugar, such as whey, whole and powdered milk, ice cream, soups in bags, “fast food”, croquettes, loose spices, purchased salad dressings and so on. Against the background of lactose deficiency, it is necessary to continue breastfeeding, if possible, otherwise a special infant formula is used.
Hypoallergenic food
A hypoallergenic diet for nursing mothers with allergies should exclude all products that theoretically can harm the baby. Modern doctors argue that if a young mother is not allergic, then there is no need to maintain such a diet, but in case of anxiety it is better to seek help from a specialist in compiling a menu.
It is necessary to exclude the use of foods that most often cause allergies in children. These are fish, honey, chocolate, citrus fruits, bananas, confectionery. It is worth giving up nuts, caviar, coffee, hard cheese and smoked meats, spices, berries, vegetables and fruits that are red in color, hot vegetables (horseradish, radish, radish), eggs, mushrooms, pastries, alcoholic beverages.
The first month of the baby’s life
The diet for nursing mothers for the first month should contain a large number of fruits and vegetables, while raw food should be preferred. The basis of nutrition should be such products (unless, of course, there are contraindications):
- Boiled or stewed meat, but not fatty.
- Dairy products and milk, a little bit and not very often.
- Fish (zander, cod, hake).
- Eggs, one in two to three days is enough.
- Wholemeal bread.
- Coarse wheat pasta.
- Wheat, buckwheat, oatmeal.
- Olive, sunflower, corn oils, butter.
- Fresh or boiled vegetables, can be steamed. Do not abuse potatoes.
- Marshmallows from natural ingredients, pastille, only once or twice a week, and even then only a little.
Prohibited foods (they should not be used until the baby is 3 months old):
- nuts
- cabbage;
- coffee;
- mayonnaise;
- cream cheese and blue cheese;
- dried fruits;
- honey;
- sausages;
- legumes;
- whole cow's milk;
- ketchup;
- sauces, except soy;
- semi-finished products;
- vegetable marinades;
- strong tea;
- juices;
- alcoholic drinks;
- homemade pickles;
- any canned food.
Mom's nutrition: two to six months
The older the baby becomes, the more the nursing mother can expand her diet. From two to six months, you can enter into the menu lean borsch, freshly squeezed juices, homemade jam (apple or cherry), fresh onions and honey, raw fruits and vegetables according to the season, cherry, blueberry, currant fruit drinks.
Diet from six months to a year
At this time, the nursing mother can already treat herself to something fried, but not greasy. You can try seafood, garlic, chocolate, legumes, exotic fruits. Everything should also be abandoned from mayonnaise, sweet soda, processed cheeses, refined sugar, fast food, sausages, canned goods, semi-finished products, smoked products.
For kids over one year old
When a child is already over a year old, a young mother can gradually return to her usual diet. But this does not mean at all that you need to switch to fast food, eat dry food or only once a day. It is advisable to adhere to the general rules of a healthy diet, but sometimes you can treat yourself.
Example menu for the week
The nutrition of a woman who is breastfeeding a baby can not only, but also must be varied. Even with such a small, it would seem, list of allowed foods, the diet can be made quite tasty, healthy and not annoying. Below is an example of a suitable menu for several days.
Lactating mom's diet
A diet for nursing mothers for weight loss is not much different from a normal healthy diet, which does not harm the baby. You just need to completely abandon fatty and starchy foods. If a woman begins to gain weight after childbirth, then it is necessary to abandon bread, pasta, nuts, oily fish, pork, confectionery, soda and seeds. A diet for nursing mothers for weight loss must necessarily contain cereals, vegetables and fruits, meat can be eaten once a day. Eat should be fractional. From drugs and dietary supplements for weight loss during this period, in general, it is necessary to refuse, as they can harm the newborn.
Here are examples of dishes that a nursing mother can eat, who wants to quickly return to the previous parameters after childbirth:
- Breakfast: toast and some Edam cheese; one egg and three bran bread toasts; some unsweetened cereal with milk and toast.
- Lunch: 150 grams of boiled potatoes, some Edam cheese, peach or pear, a salad of seasonal vegetables; a slice of ham, two slices of bread, low-calorie yogurt and a little cheese; banana, boiled beans and two toasts; any vegetable salad seasoned with yogurt sauce and a teaspoon of oil, a bun.
- Dinner: 150 grams of jacket potatoes, 200 grams of chicken, some vegetables, an orange; cheese, banana, vegetable salad; spaghetti with sauce, apple, vegetable salad; cod steak, mashed in low-calorie milk, natural yogurt.
- Snacks: a sandwich with jam, crackers, salad, cheese, a piece of biscuit, a bun.
As you can see, there is nothing complicated in the diet for a nursing mother. In most cases, this is just a healthy diet with a small list of prohibited foods. It would be good if mom would continue to adhere to healthy principles in nutrition, because it will help maintain the body in a normal state, provide energy, all the necessary nutrients, will make you feel good and look great. Yes, and the child will benefit if he is taught from early childhood to the correct principles of nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. Why not start doing it right now? The menu of a nursing mother is an excellent start for further following the rules of a healthy lifestyle.