Health Care

Many nursing moms wonder what their breast feeding diet should be. They have heard many old wives tales about breast feeding diets. They have been warned to avoid dairy like the plague, drink no caffeine, and that spicy foods will give their baby gas. Are these things true? Is there a special diet for breast feeding moms?

Breastfeeding and Calories

A breastfeeding mother will expend at least 500 calories per day more than she normally would. Now, this does not mean that breastfeeding moms need to go on a high-calorie diet. But this is the reason why breastfeeding and dieting are usually things your doctor will discourage you from combining. Strict dieting will not affect the quality of a mother’s breast milk, but will rather damage her overall health. The body naturally makes the production of the baby’s milk the number one priority, and strict dieting will only deny your body essential nutrients that it needs.

Eating Healthy

The nursing baby will receive a thousand calories per day from his mother’s breast milk. This is truly amazing! Because the baby needs so much, the body needs the proper fuel to create the milk. A good breastfeeding diet will consist of an increase in water consumption. Nursing moms should drink around three quarts of water a day. Much of the water a mother takes in goes straight to her milk, so water increase is essential to avoid dehydration.

The breastfeeding diet should intake about 2,500 calories per day. These calories should not be from sweets, if the mother wants to loose the “baby weight,” Instead, she should stock up on protein and fruit. Absolutely no nicotine should be consumed by the nursing mom, as it is transferred to the baby through the milk. Also, alcohol should be limited. Caffeine can be transmitted to the baby, and cause the baby to be hyper. Also, caffeine depletes the body of needed water, so nursing moms should avoid caffeine in large quantities.

Special Considerations

Some babies are born with a predisposition to be sensitive to certain foods. If a breastfeeding mom finds that her baby is extremely gassy or fussy, she should look at her diet. The most common sensitivity is to dairy. The proteins from cow’s milk are transferred to the mother’s milk, and babies often have trouble digesting it. Breastfeeding mom’s diets should reflect the sensitivities of her baby. If your baby is fussy when you drink milk, then avoid it! Often, the baby will outgrow the sensitivity as they mature.