Diet for Breastfeeding Mums

Many new mums are generally confused about their diet during breastfeeding.They  have several questions in their mind such as, what they should eat, how much should they eat, can they diet during breastfeeding, what should be the ideal calorie intake during breastfeeding, etc.

What your baby and you need while breastfeeding

Breast milk production requires calories and some of the calories are generated by the reserve body fats accumulated during pregnancy. However, extra calories are required over and above your pre-pregnancy intake to provide energy to supply the needs of growing baby. As you begin to wean your baby, calories required by your body will gradually get back to pre-pregnancy levels.

Many research indicate that women who breast feed their baby after pregnancy tend to loose weight faster as compared to women who don’t breast feed.

The recommended and advisable diet allowances for breastfeeding mother is as follows:

For 0 to 6 months: Its 550 Kcal per day and for 7 to 12 months: Its 400 Kcal per day.

However, many recent studies indicated that these numbers are too high and an extra 300 to 400 calories/day is sufficient for breastfeeding mothers during first 3 months.

What about dieting during breastfeeding?

Try to lose those extra pounds gradually by combining low fat and healthy diet, and moderate exercise. Speedy weight loss can cause a risk to your baby as fast weight loss releases toxins into the blood stream, escalating the amount of contaminants that get mixed up in your milk.

Breastfeeding also helps in burning up the fats and uses it for producing milk. A mother who breastfeed tends to burn more calories as compared to mothers who doesn’t. More over a breastfeeding mother lose approximately a pound in a month, because of the energy used in producing milk.

Guidelines for dieting during breastfeeding

Wait till the baby is at least 2 months old: It’s advisable not to undergo any rigorous exercise to lose weight until the baby is 2 months old. This gives enough time to your body to establish healthy milk supply. Breastfeeding itself burns approximately 2250-500 calories/day. So you really don’t need to go under rigorous diet or exercise to reduce weight.

Breastfeed without restriction: Research indicates that frequent breastfeeding and breastfeeding for more than 6 months aid maternal weight loss.

Drink plenty of water: Water is important ingredient for breast milk and it also helps in milk production. Have at least 12 glasses of water every day. Apart from water you can also take vegetable and fruit juice, buttermilk.

Watch your food: Substances like alcohol, caffeine, and other toxins may pass from blood into your breast milk, so try to avoid these things.