You (and your milk) are what you eat?

By Published On: August 13th, 2012

Breastfeeding moms don’t need to follow a special eating regimen. […]

eating-and-thinkingBreastfeeding moms don’t need to follow a special eating regimen. While a healthy diet will keep you energized, boost your resistance to illness, and help you bounce back to your prebaby weight, it has little impact on the quality of your milk. That’s because your body makes up for what your diet may lack.
So with that in mind, eat well (healthy diet recommendations for an average adult are ideal), drink plenty of water, try to fit in a bit of exercise, and watch that baby weight melt away.
As for avoiding certain foods that may affect your baby? There’s little evidence to show that foods like onions, beans, broccoli or garlic can make your munchkin gassy or colicky, but if you’re worried about it, there’s no harm in cutting back and reintroducing them at a later date.
Most new babies lose weight in the first few days after birth, and until that weight has been regained—somewhere between 10 days and two weeks—it’s important that your baby nurses every few hours around the clock. It may feel like a crime, but this means you may have to wake your sleeping baby to eat. Once she’s back up to her birth weight, it’s generally OK to let her sleep.