Eating well while breastfeeding.

If you've chosen to breastfeed, you've made a great decision, as you’re giving your baby the best start in life. But your choice to breastfeed means you need to take extra special care of yourself and make sure you’re eating a healthy, well-balanced diet. However, experts now say you don’t necessarily have to consume extra calories, unless you’re breastfeeding twins (see breastfeeding twins).

Eating well will ensure that you're producing enough milk for your baby and providing him with the vital nutrients he needs for healthy growth and development. You should make sure that you eat enough protein, complex carbohydrates and vitamins (you’ll likely be advised to keep taking your prenatal vitamin while breastfeeding) to suit your dietary needs, thus ensuring both you and your baby receive the correct nutrients. The quantity of food you eat depends on your age, whether you’re fully breastfeeding, your size and how much physical exercise you get.

Which foods to eat?

As well as snacks, you should eat three well-balanced meals a day. Avoid empty calories and junk food. Concentrate on:

• Complex carbohydrates that provide slow-release energy throughout the day – whole grain cereals, pasta and bread, and brown rice; fresh fruits and vegetables.

• Protein Choose lean red meat, poultry and fish (limit light tuna to a maximum of 12 ounces a week and avoid shark, swordfish, king mackerel, tilefish, marlin and grouper to reduce the risk of exposure to mercury).

• Healthy fats such as olive oil and avocadoes, to help boost the fat content of your breast milk.

• Calcium is vital – get it from low-fat milk, yogurt and cheese as well as leafy green vegetables, salmon, sesame seeds and tofu.

• Iron Find it in lean red meat, fortified cereals, lentils, beans, molasses and leafy green vegetables.

Staying hydrated

As well as eating well, it's important that you keep yourself hydrated. You should aim to drink at least eight glasses of water a day – although this may sound like a lot, breastfeeding is thirsty work so you’ll likely crave more water anyway. Before you sit down to breastfeed, get yourself a glass of water to put beside you and take regular sips from it.

Foods to avoid

As well as all the things you should eat while breastfeeding, there are also things you should avoid. Alcohol is still off the menu as it passes into your breast milk and can make your baby drowsy. Caffeine consumption should be kept to a minimum, as this also passes into your breast milk and may affect your baby's sleep patterns. If you’re partial to a cup of coffee, limit yourself to just one and have it at least two hours before you breastfeed your baby, so it can pass through your system.

Spicy and strongly flavored foods can affect the way your breast milk tastes and you may find your baby isn’t so keen to feed if you’ve eaten them. Some moms also report that certain foods (for example, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and citrus fruits) seem to aggravate their baby’s colic. If you have a family history of peanut allergies, it might be advisable not to eat them while breastfeeding – ask your pediatrician for advice on this if you’re unsure. If you’re vegetarian and worried that your diet isn’t varied enough, read our feature on pregnancy and vegetarian diet.

Losing weight while breastfeeding

According to the American College of Gynecologists and Obstetricians it’s fine to lose a pound a week while breastfeeding (although it’s best to put this off for the first six weeks of breastfeeding, as it could reduce your milk supply). Losing more than two pounds a week could cause toxins to be released into your bloodstream and these can pass into your breast milk, potentially harming your baby. A nutritionist can provide you with a slow weight-loss diet to follow – alternately, Weight Watchers (http://www.weightwatchers.com/) offers a diet tailored to nursing moms.

The US Department of Agriculture’s MyPyramid Plan (http://www.mypyramid.gov/) calculates how much of each food group you need to eat depending on your age, size and activity level, and offers plans for breastfeeding moms.

The information on this feature is intended for educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your health, the health of your child or the health of someone you know, please consult with a doctor or other healthcare professional.

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Last Modified: 06/06/2008

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