Nutrition During Breastfeeding – This Is What Mothers Should Know

The diet during breastfeeding should be varied and balanced in any case. Because now you and your baby absolutely need enough nutrients and energy. It is also important to avoid flatulence in the baby and to relieve the baby’s intestines as much as possible. The things you eat will have a decisive influence on the composition and thus the quality of your breast milk.

Here you can find out what you need to look out for in your diet during breastfeeding.

The Ideal Breastfeeding Diet Is Varied And Diverse

You can eat as much of your favorite fruits and vegetables as you like. Too much pasta or potatoes, on the other hand, could lead to increased body weight. Vegan nutrition is not particularly recommended during pregnancy and especially during breastfeeding.

Low-fat cheese, fish, lean meat and low-fat sausage may well land on your plate occasionally. Provided you choose really high-quality products from animal-friendly, organic farming.

It is also good for your body if you eat a few eggs now and then, as well as milk, yogurt and quark. These foods are refreshing, nutritious and therefore essential for your child’s health.

If you feel like it, a piece of chocolate is also allowed now and then. Enjoy snacks or salty potato chips, too – but in moderation. Although snacks of this kind are not necessary for a healthy diet, they sometimes simply do you good and are sometimes even a small piece of “well-being for the soul”.

What Do I Have To Do Without?

If you want to keep your breastfeeding diet as healthy as possible, you should – as paradoxical as it may seem at first – do without as few things as possible. Many mothers do not allow themselves to eat certain foods, even though they are normally only too happy to eat them.

Out of consideration, as well as with a view to avoiding any allergy risks for the baby, so-called flatulent foods are often taboo for freshly baked moms. Flatulent foods include legumes such as beans, peas and lentils.

Cabbage vegetables and milk and dairy products also fall into this category. Freshly baked bread, wheat germ, and whole-grain products are also flatulent foods that are rigorously eliminated from many a menu because of this characteristic.

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You Don’t Have To Do Without Anything If You Eat A Healthy Diet While Breastfeeding

Medical experts agree that no pregnant or breastfeeding mother has to do without the foods she is accustomed to during the breastfeeding period. According to the motto: “What is good for the mother can’t be bad for the child”, you are well-advised to make your diet as varied and colorful as possible.

The advantage of this is, on the one hand, the full supply of essential vitamins, minerals, trace elements, etc. On the other hand, the taste buds of the little ones are already sensitized. Even the smallest ones love variety and are therefore grateful for every innovation that you offer them during your breastfeeding diet.

Important

You don’t have to avoid any particular foods as part of your breastfeeding diet, for example to prevent flatulence in the baby or to prevent your child from developing an allergy.

Experience shows that most moms can eat just about anything they feel like without their little darling getting sore or reacting sensitively in any other way. On the other hand, you can do your child more harm than good by not eating or by eating a relatively one-sided diet.

If the diet is too one-sided, it is difficult to give the child exactly the nutrients it really needs through breast milk. What’s more, your offspring will love being able to experience changing flavors through breast milk. Because the fact is that everything you eat is found in tiny amounts in the milk.

Tips

Sometimes turbulent times await you with your newborn. Despite this, don’t forget to eat regularly and drink plenty of water. It’s best to plan fixed times every day for this and consciously create “free spaces” for it.

Only if you eat at least three balanced meals every day will you benefit from a “solid” energy supply – and thus be able to master the challenges of everyday life with flying colors. And that both during the day and at night.

The Right Nutrition During Breastfeeding – The Most Important Foods

To ensure that you can adequately cover your high-calorie requirements during the breastfeeding period and provide your child with the best possible supply of nutrients, you should ensure that your daily diet is as balanced as possible and thus rich in vitamins and minerals.

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Many mothers think that they have to follow a diet during the breastfeeding period in order to protect the baby and prevent illness. The opposite is true. Reach for rice, cereals, oatmeal, and fruits and vegetables, and enrich your favorite foods with couscous, pasta, and potatoes.

Starchy foods literally make you and your child “stronger”. In fact, they are a valuable source of energy that is an essential part of a healthy breastfeeding diet.

These Foods Are Important

  • Rich sources of protein such as eggs, chicken, legumes (such as kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils).
  • Healthy fats from avocados, mackerel, salmon and olive oil.
  • Fish and lean beef.
  • Tofu.
  • Dairy products.
  • Sesame seeds, nuts.
  • Green leafy vegetables.
  • Carbohydrates, for example from bulgur or wheat meal, brown rice, potatoes, fresh vegetables.

Tips

Assuming that you eat foods that are rich in allergies, such as nuts or peanuts, or ginger, the likelihood of your little darling having an allergic reaction to them or developing a hypersensitivity to them is extremely low.

By eating such foods, you are actually doing your baby some good, because you are “familiarizing” his little body with the ingredients at an early age. Because what is contained in these foods is passed on to your child in tiny amounts through the mother’s milk.

The calorie requirement is comparatively high during the breastfeeding period. In order to adequately cover this increased calorie requirement, breastfeeding mothers need around 500 to 600 calories more per day than women who do not breastfeed.

The calorie requirement depends on the age of the child, its size and, of course, how much appetite your little darling has. In addition, your physical constitution or BMI (body mass index) and your lifestyle also play an important role.

So if you are one of the more active people, your calorie requirement will be higher than if you prefer to spend time with your baby on the couch in peace and quiet. Of course, whether you are breastfeeding a child, feeding twins, or even multiples is also important in terms of calorie consumption.

A Filling Piece Of Cheese Or Mozzarella During Pregnancy?

Cheese is known for its high satiety effect. However, soft cheeses such as mozzarella during pregnancy could cause digestive problems for the baby. Yet mozzarella in particular is a valuable source of protein and calcium because it can help develop strong bones.

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For this reason, many doctors and nutrition experts recommend mozzarella during pregnancy.

Not All Mozzarella Is The Same

If the mozzarella was made from buffalo milk, there is a high risk of developing the bacterial infection listeriosis. Especially for unborn babies as well as for newborns, this is extremely dangerous.

Mozzarella in pregnancy, on the other hand, made from cow’s milk, turns out to be completely harmless. This is because, during the manufacturing process, dangerous microorganisms and germs are successively killed by pasteurization. So there is nothing to stop you from enjoying your favorite cheese as part of your breastfeeding diet.

Flatulence In Babies – How To Prevent It

As mentioned above, you do not need to avoid flatulent foods as part of your breastfeeding diet. Meteorism or flatulence in babies is usually caused by too much air in the intestines.

Especially in the first phase of life of the dear little ones, they have to fight with it comparatively often. Flatulence in babies occurs mainly directly after feeding. The air is caused by gases that are present in relatively large quantities in the gastrointestinal tract due to decomposition processes.

It is also conceivable that too much air accumulates as a result of incorrect drinking – this is known as aerophagy. A not yet fully developed intestinal flora can also be to blame.

Support Your Baby Lovingly And Gently

Often the baby swallows too much air when sucking on the mother’s breast, which is deposited in the gastrointestinal tract only a short time later. If your baby’s body cannot adequately transfer this accumulation of gas, the air will build up in the stomach.

A burp or a small fart can already help the baby to balance the pressure inside. If he does not succeed, cramping pain or colic is the results – and the baby reacts by crying loudly. But this also allows more air to enter the baby’s body, and the flatulence can worsen.

Typical Symptoms Of Flatulence In Babies Are:

  • Frequent, persistent crying.
  • Vomiting after feeding.
  • Loss of appetite.
  • Indigestion or constipation or diarrhea.
  • Cramped leg or body posture.
  • Hardened abdominal wall.
  • Bloated belly.

Notice:

Baby bloating should not be confused with the dreaded three-month colic. The latter is a so-called regulatory disorder, which the baby tries to compensate for by crying for three hours a day, three days a week.

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You can relieve the baby’s flatulence with warm compresses or a warm bath, as well as by placing a cherry stone pillow on the baby. A gentle abdominal massage and slowly pushing the baby’s legs up towards the abdomen often have a soothing and pressure-relieving effect.

Anise, fennel or caraway tea stand out for their digestive properties, which can be helpful for flatulence in babies.

Buttermilk Is Healthy – For You And Your Child

Practically “every child” knows that buttermilk is healthy. It is precisely because it contains high-quality protein and vital calcium that buttermilk is so healthy. And not only for your baby, to alleviate flatulence in the baby.

It is also the ideal nutrition for you during breastfeeding. Experience shows that many pregnant and breastfeeding women suffer from dental problems. Whether it is due to hormonal changes, frequent vomiting during the first phase of pregnancy or changes in eating habits.

Buttermilk is a real “tooth booster” and strengthens the teeth from the inside out. It also provides numerous vitamins and makes mother and child stronger and more resilient overall. Buttermilk is therefore healthy and should not be missing from your daily nutrition program.

Conclusion

The ideal diet during breastfeeding should, among other things, aim to cover your increased calorie needs. This calorie requirement does not only result from the fact that you are there for your child almost around the clock now that it has seen the light of day.

Rather, the high-calorie requirement results from the fact that your child practically “drinks away” your energy during breastfeeding. In this respect, your breastfeeding diet must be calorie-rich and of high quality. However, your breastfeeding diet should not contain too many calories either, so that you do not gain too many kilos.

Enjoyable Variety

When it comes to your breastfeeding diet, focus on eating well, balanced, rich and regular food. You cannot completely prevent flatulence in your baby by avoiding flatulent foods.

But you can maintain your calorie needs and your baby’s energy levels by eating well during breastfeeding. As a result, you will be more relaxed overall and will be able to react in a more relaxed manner, even when things get turbulent.

In order to relieve flatulence in the baby, it is often enough to massage the tummy and enjoy a wholesome diet during the breastfeeding period.

Sources

https://www.elevit.de/stillzeit/ernaehrung-in-der-stillzeit/

http://www.stillen-institut.com/de/ernaehrung-der-mutter-in-der-stillzeit.html

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