Healthy eating when breast feeding
If you're breast feeding, your baby gets all of their nourishment from you, so it's important to maintain the healthy eating habits you developed during pregnancy. Motherhood can be demanding and tiring, especially during the early days, so eating the right foods will provide you with much needed energy and nutrients.
Take time to eat healthily
Looking after yourself is as important as looking after your baby. Making time to eat healthy, energy and nutrient-filled meals will help maintain your energy requirements while minimizing the need for your own body to draw on your reserves to meet baby's nutritional needs. Inadequate intake of nutrients or energy may mean your body needs to rely heavily on its reserves which can eventually deplete them leaving you and your milk supply unable to meet the demands of caring for a new baby.
Eating a variety and balance of foods is essential for well-being, may help keep you sustained longer and provide you with the nutrients your body needs.
- Complex carbohydrates such as wholegrain bread, cereals, pasta provide long lasting energy and should make up a large part of your diet.
- Include plenty of vegetables and fruits as they will provide you both with essential vitamins, minerals and fibre. You can get protein - vital for your baby's growth and development - from meat, pulses, fish and eggs but stick to moderate quantities and choose leaner meats.
- Calcium rich foods such as skim milk, cheese and yogurt or fortified alternatives are also important.
- Fats are important in a balanced diet but need to be limited. Include "good fats" which are mono- or polyunsaturated and found in sources like olives, oily fish, nuts, seeds, canola and sunflower oils. Limiting your intake of trans-fats and saturated fats is advisable, as they have been found to cause detrimental effects on health.
- Foods with a high saturated fat or sugar content such as biscuits, pastries are high in energy are often low in nutritional value, so are best avoided or just kept as an occasional indulgence. If you're on the go or don't have time to cook, a handful of sunflower or pumpkin seeds, a wholemeal sandwich filled with lean meat, tuna, cheese, salad, a thin spread of yeast extract, or a bowl of high-fibre, fortified cereal with milk, yogurt and fruit are easy, nutritious snacks.
Many mothers will report feeling hungry as part of the demands brought on by breast feeding which is normal considering the continual demands of producing breast milk. Eating small meals with nutritious snacks in between may be a good way to address the extra energy needed for breast feeding.
The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating has been developed for the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing and is based on research in nutrition. The Guide provides information about the amounts and kinds of food that adults need to eat each day to get enough of the nutrients essential for good health and well-being. View the Australian guide to healthy eating for adults.
The breast feeding diet
If you're breast feeding, all the energy your baby needs will come from you, which means you'll need more energy than usual. While some of this energy will come from the fat stores you lay down during pregnancy, the rest should come from your diet.
As a general guide, women who are breast feeding will require an additional 2000-2100kJ per day, assuming an infant is fully breast fed for the first 6 months and partial breast feeding thereafter. The energy requirements will vary depending on your individual weight and how much fat has been stored in pregnancy, your individual metabolism, how much you are breast feeding, and how physically active you are.
Whilst breast feeding, it's important to make sure you're drinking plenty of water. You'll need about 2.6 litres a day (about 9 glasses of water or other fluids) to maintain your own hydration and equally, it's essential to the production of breast milk, given breast milk is mostly composed of water. You might find you feel quite thirsty while nursing so drink whenever you feel the need. Many mums find getting a glass of water for themselves before sitting to breast feed or keeping a large bottle of water handy can help. An indication that you're not getting enough fluids is if your urine seems dark or has a stronger smell than normal. Urine should be clear to pale yellow. Remember, water is the best choice but milk and unsweetened fruit juice are also good options for keeping you hydrated.
It's advisable to avoid alcohol when you're breast feeding as it can pass from your blood into your breast milk and on to your breast feeding baby. Although you can still enjoy a cup of tea or coffee, keep an eye on your caffeine intake as too much may cause over-stimulation in your baby. Some women report that certain strong flavoured or spicy foods upset their babies.
If your baby is unsettled after a feed, cries a lot, or has difficulty sleeping it may be helpful to make a note of what you're eating and drinking and see if you can find a trigger. It is also important to ensure that proper attachment and milk transfer is occurring as sometimes a baby may "seem" latched but isn't removing milk effectively.
If you pinpoint a particular food that you think may be upsetting your baby, try avoiding it for a couple weeks and see if things improve. And if you have a specific concern, speak to your health care professional. Keep in mind that babies are unsettled for a lot of reasons and some studies have shown that women will perceive this as attributable to their milk or their milk supply when in reality it is not. If you have concerns about your milk supply not being adequate or having an adverse effect on your infant then contact your health care professional first before giving up on breast feeding.
If there's anything you're unsure of regarding breast feeding or your diet at this stage, call the team for expert advice on 1800 438 500.
