Diet for weight loss while breastfeeding

Feeding during breastfeeding: 5 key points

First of all, it is worth considering that while the baby consumes breast milk, and it is his only available source of nutrition, the nursing mother has double responsibility. During the lactation period, a woman should seriously concern herself with her own menu, because both the quantity and quality of mother’s milk depend on it and the specific feeding regimen. Here are five basic principles:

1. All products must be fresh;
2. They must be processed correctly;
3. Don’t forget to drink the required amount of fluid;
4. Avoid tasty but prohibited foods;
5. Constantly monitor the reaction of your body and your baby’s body.

Let's look at each of them separately.

Freshness of products

Breastfeeding presupposes that the mother consumes good quality food, which means only the freshest products, if possible natural, without preservatives. Yesterday's milk or kefir is already beyond what is permitted. Leave anything that has been in the refrigerator for more than 12 hours in the care of other family members.

Proper processing

For a mother who practices breastfeeding, thermally processed foods should predominate in her diet. In the first month after childbirth, cooking is preferable; you can also bake meat and vegetables. Raw foods can cause colic and gas in your baby, so they should be avoided. You should also avoid canned food, homemade pickles, dishes with marinade and overly spicy foods.

More fluid

While a mother is breastfeeding her baby, she should drink more fluids than usual. The daily norm for heated water is 2-2.5 liters. This includes soups, juices, fermented milk drinks, milk and plain water. Half an hour before feeding, it is recommended to drink a glass of warm drink: this will replenish fluid reserves in the body and have a beneficial effect on lactation.

No to allergens!

In the first three weeks of life, it is necessary to exclude from the diet everything that can cause allergies in the baby. Prohibited products: citrus fruits, chocolate, honey, as well as dairy products (including condensed milk, which is mistakenly considered a product that increases lactation).

Observing the reaction

You need to add new products to the menu gradually, in small portions. It's best to eat a small piece of a new fruit or vegetable in the morning and carefully monitor your baby's well-being throughout the day. In order not to get confused later, you can keep a food diary in which you note the food eaten and the reaction of the baby’s body.

Important! If the child is healthy and accepts your nutritional innovations well, then you can gradually return to the usual prenatal diet by the age of three months.

Mother's food diary

Sometimes a child can react even to seemingly the most ordinary foods, be it carrots, apples or something else. If the baby behaves restlessly - sleeps poorly, has a swollen tummy, frequent regurgitation, a rash on the skin, changes in stool - perhaps some of the products are not suitable for him. This means that it must be excluded from the mother’s diet. But it is often difficult to determine what caused the baby’s anxiety. The mother's food diary will help you find the irritant. It will be possible, by flipping through it, to see what the mother eats and how the child reacts to it. Records must be kept every day, indicating the menu and components of the dishes, as well as recording in detail the child’s condition: whether he is calm or restless, whether there was regurgitation or not, whether a rash appeared or not, the nature of the stool. Subsequently, after analyzing the entries in the diary for a certain period (at least a week), it will be possible to draw conclusions and determine exactly what bothered the baby so much.

Foods for breastfeeding by month

It is necessary for a nursing mother to maintain a certain diet during lactation from the first day of the baby’s life. The nutrition chart for a nursing mother by month will tell you when you can introduce a new dish to the menu. The list of products allowed during breastfeeding is compiled based on pediatricians’ observations of the effect of each of them on the child’s body.

With proper nutrition of the mother, the natural product contains literally everything that is necessary for the proper growth and development of the baby. Mother's milk undergoes changes every day along with the changing needs of the baby:

• At first, the baby will receive colostrum from the breast, which contains a lot of protein and protective substances, but still little fat. This product is the easiest for a newborn’s digestive system to cope with.
• Approximately 5 days after birth, the mother’s mammary glands begin to produce “transitional” milk. Its amount will be significantly greater than colostrum. There is less protein in this milk, but the amount of fat increases.
• From the 14th day, “mature” milk appears in the mother’s breast. Its composition depends on the diet of the nursing mother, as well as on the frequency of application and even on the time of day. The concentration of nutrients in milk is high, but by 4 months of the child’s life it will gradually decrease, and by 6 months their quantity will no longer be enough regardless of the mother’s nutrition, so the time will come to introduce the first complementary foods.

How to eat properly while breastfeeding (video):

What time to start: when to introduce the first complementary foods while breastfeeding

WHO recommendations for first complementary feeding during breastfeeding concern the main signs of readiness to expand the diet:

• age - 6 months and later;
• the child holds his head confidently and sits without support;
• willingly opens his mouth when offered a spoon;
• turns away from the spoon, shows refusal if not hungry;
• holds food in the mouth and swallows, does not spit out food (explained by the extinction of the ejection reflex).

The first feeding of a breastfed baby is introduced at 6 months. Until then, breast milk is enough for him, and besides, the body in the first half of life is not yet ready to accept and assimilate unfamiliar dishes. After six months, he needs additional food, as energy costs and needs increase.

We create a menu: healthy and unhealthy foods for nursing mothers

At first glance, it may seem that it is very difficult to establish nutrition for a nursing mother; many recommendations and rules must be followed. But in fact, everything is very simple - a woman should eat a varied diet, and she should try to ensure that her daily menu includes all food groups. A balanced breakfast, lunch and dinner will meet the needs of both the mother and the breastfed baby.

Meat

This product should be present in the diet of a nursing mother every day, as it is the main source of animal proteins and iron. It is best to cook meat by boiling or stewing. Turkey or chicken should be preferred; beef and lean pork are also suitable. Daily portion – at least 170 g.

Fish

Fish can be included in your breastfeeding diet in the second month after birth. It is better for a nursing mother to eat it boiled, baked, or steamed. You should choose low-fat fish - carp, cod, hake or pike perch. The daily norm is about 70 g and no more than 2-3 times a week.

Vegetables and fruits

This is the most important point in nutrition during lactation. Fresh vegetables and fruits contain plant fibers that help intestinal function and prevent constipation in a nursing mother. They are also rich in vitamins and minerals, so they should be included in the menu daily at the rate of 500 g of vegetables (boiled, stewed) and 300 g of thoroughly washed fruits.

On a note! If possible, you should avoid red and orange fruits; they can cause allergies in your baby. These include citrus fruits, strawberries, carrots and red bell peppers.

Milk

It is not recommended to drink whole milk as an independent product - it can cause increased gas formation in the baby. It is better to use it as an additive to main dishes, for example, cook morning porridge with milk or add it to vegetable sauce when stewing. In the third month after childbirth, you can add boiled milk to tea to stimulate lactation.

Dairy products

Cheese and cottage cheese contain a lot of protein and calcium, which are necessary for the proper and complete development of the baby. That is why they are included in the list of products for mandatory consumption during breastfeeding. Moreover, to satisfy the daily requirement during lactation, very little is required: cheese - 15 g, cottage cheese - 50 g. Kefir, natural yogurt without additives, and yogurt are also well absorbed. They have a beneficial effect on the intestinal microflora, do not cause allergies, and create a pleasant feeling of satiety. These drinks can be consumed 1 glass per day.

Bread and cereals

At first after childbirth, cereal dishes will be the main diet for a nursing mother. Cereals are rich in dietary fiber, microelements and vitamins; they can be purchased for future use. With bread, everything is a little different - a white wheat product can cause gas in the baby. You need to choose rye bread made from wholemeal flour to feed your mother.

Oil

During lactation, it is allowed to consume both butter and vegetable oil in moderate quantities. You can lubricate bread with butter or add a piece to porridge. Frying is not recommended, so vegetable oil can be used as a dressing for vegetables in a salad.

The table will help you navigate in choosing the right products to create an individual nutrition plan for a nursing mother.

The nutrition of a nursing mother depends on:

• quantity, quality and taste of milk produced;
• restoration of the maternal body after pregnancy and childbirth;
• resistance to infections and viruses;
• formation of correct eating habits in the baby.

On a note! The caloric content of food during the lactation period for a woman should be 500 kcal higher than in the prenatal period. It should be achieved through a full daily menu, but in no case through bakery and confectionery products (baked goods, sweets), as well as other foods from the forbidden list that are rich in fat.

Breastfeeding diet. Video tips and menus for nursing mothers:

Pediatric or pedagogical complementary feeding?

Pediatric method: pros and cons

The pediatric scheme is familiar to generations of the 20th century, when by the age of 1 the child is transferred to the common table, and new products completely replace breast milk.

There is no single table for the pediatric system. Moreover, almost every pediatrician uses his own regimen. Therefore, in one region they feed with fruit purees and juices, in another with homogenized vegetable purees, in a third with nutritious porridges.

Doctors also disagree on when to introduce the first complementary foods during breastfeeding. They name a variety of ages at what time they should be fed: 3, 4, 5, 6 months.

For example, according to this scheme, they are fed during breastfeeding in accordance with the recommendations of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation and the Research Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences:

The advantages of the pediatric regimen include a clear order in which meals are introduced, strictly regulated volumes, and the ability to create a menu and meal schedule.

Minuses:

• Refusal of food.
• Decreased appetite - they feed not according to demand (desire), but according to the clock.
• Food violence - the system does not take into account individual characteristics and needs, it strictly indicates how much and what kind of food should be eaten at a certain time.
• Correct eating behavior is not developed, since the baby is fed separately from the whole family.
• Breastfeeding is forced to end by 12 months.

The biggest drawback of the pediatric regimen is that all products are administered in the sequence, in the dosages and at the times specified by the pediatrician.

Pedagogical scheme: advantages and disadvantages

The second system does not regulate what and at what time the first complementary feeding will be during breastfeeding. The pedagogical method takes into account the importance of GW and is based on other principles:

• the goal is to introduce new foods through microdoses, not satiation;
• breast milk remains the main food for as long as you want;
• so that complementary feeding occurs organically and in a timely manner, the baby is taken with them to the common table;
• food interest is encouraged - the child is allowed to independently take pieces from the parents’ plates.

Adapting to the needs of the baby, the pedagogical scheme:

• promotes understanding of the rules of eating behavior;
• allows you to save warm water;
• Does not exert pressure, since it does not strictly indicate when to introduce complementary foods, does not set the goal of feeding the “proper” food in the “right” quantity;
• helps to quickly teach a child to cope with food of different consistencies, teaches him to chew, swallow, and take food on his own;
• minimizes the risk of food refusal and loss of appetite.

One of the disadvantages of the pedagogical scheme is the low probability that there will be perfect order at the table. In addition, adults who choose pedagogical tactics will have to switch exclusively to wholesome healthy eating.

Approximate diet for a mother for a week during lactation

Planning a menu for a new mother can seem like a real challenge - it seems easier to switch to bread and water than to follow all the advice. In order not to get confused about what a nursing mother can eat and what she cannot, we give as an example the weekly diet of those dishes that are allowed during breastfeeding.

You can take the menu as a basis, varying the recipes at your discretion. Nothing complicated, the main thing is to adhere to the “do no harm” rule - a minimum of spices, without frying or flavoring food with sauces such as mayonnaise. For those who adhere to proper nutrition, there will be nothing new here at all. The dishes are easy to prepare and will not take much time, which is important for the mother of a baby.

Menu for first feeding while breastfeeding

WHO rules provide a list of priority products for children 6-12 months:

This is what the baby's breakfast and lunch will consist of by the age of 9 months. Afternoon tea and dinner are introduced later.

Lactation assistants: balanced nutrition for mothers

The production of milk in the breast is a process, although provided for by nature, but in essence it is very complex, and depends on many factors, including psychological ones. There are times when a nursing mother may feel the need to improve lactation. You can cope with the problem of lack of milk: products created specifically for breastfeeding mothers will come to the rescue.

Milk formulas

Powdered milk formulas for mothers are a real salvation when there is insufficient milk production. They are diluted with warm water and taken as an everyday drink, like a cocktail. With regular consumption of the drink (at least 2 glasses a day), milk in the breast increases, moreover, it is enriched with polyunsaturated fatty acids, dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals included in the mixture.

Herbal teas

Special teas for women during the lactation period contain herbs that are allowed in baby food. This is important, because when breastfeeding, everything a mother consumes affects her baby. Such teas include both single components and entire complexes of herbs: lemon balm, cumin, anise, fennel, hibiscus, nettle, verbena and others. Decoctions of these plants increase lactation, help the digestive process of mother and child, help prevent colic and reduce the manifestations of flatulence in babies. Drinking herbal teas has a beneficial effect on the metabolism and emotionality of a nursing mother.

Juices for nursing mothers

Pleasant to the taste, juices for nursing women are enriched with a whole vitamin complex: vitamins C, PP, E, pantothenic and folic acid, biotin and even calcium. Small packages allow you to take these drinks with you and drink them before feeding your baby, even outside the home. Juice for nursing mothers does not contain dyes or preservatives, so it will not cause allergies even in the smallest baby, and the special juice improves lactation and adds variety to the menu.

Vitamin puddings

During the lactation period, sometimes you want to treat yourself to dessert, but almost all delicious sweets are prohibited. But there is a way out! On sale you can find puddings for pregnant and nursing mothers. Thanks to the vitamins, prebiotics and minerals they contain, a nursing mother improves digestion after childbirth and reduces the tendency to constipation. Prebiotics also have a beneficial effect on the immune system.

Breastfeeding nutrition - the experience of a young mother (video):