What can a breastfeeding mom eat?

A nursing mother has to be responsible about her diet, because everything, both good and bad, gets into the baby's body with milk. Caring mothers are interested in eating healthy, correct, complete and varied. The most common products can sometimes cause colic, digestive disorders, allergic reactions in a child. To help women, special tables have been compiled, which provide an approximate menu, indicating at what age of the child what the mother can eat. [ 1 ]

What can a nursing mother eat in the first months of her baby's life?

It makes no sense to tie a woman only to certain products, but to outline the basis, to emphasize safety and quality of nutrition is the task of pediatricians.

The first month of breastfeeding is an important period in the baby's life and the mother will help him adapt by consuming:

• porridges with water or low-fat milk (buckwheat, oatmeal, rarely wheat);
• one chicken or 2-3 quail boiled eggs every three days;
• dietary meats (rabbit, poultry, veal);
• low-fat cottage cheese, kefir, homemade yogurt;
• boiled and steamed vegetables in the first week, then carefully raw, in small portions, keeping an eye on the child’s reaction;
• from vegetable oils, olive, sunflower, and corn oils are suitable (15 ml per day);
• up to 35g butter;
• occasionally durum wheat pasta;
• fish in the third week, prepared using a dietary method;
• first Lenten courses;
• from fruits: baked apples, bananas;
• drink water, dried fruit compote, apple juice;
• dessert made from homemade fruit paste and the same marshmallow.

The second and third months are supplemented by:

• sour cream;
• borscht in a weak broth, seasoned with tomato juice;
• raw fruits and vegetables;
• corn grits, rice;
• nuts in small quantities, except pistachios and peanuts;
• fruit drinks made from cherries, blueberries, currants, and lingonberries.

The frequency of meals should be 5-6 times a day, so the question arises, what can a nursing mother eat in the evening and at night to satisfy hunger, but not gain weight? For dinner, you can have boiled vegetables, soups, salads from them, fish [ 2 ] and lean meat, steamed, washed down with weakly brewed green tea with crackers or bread. At night, it is best to drink a glass of kefir.

Irregular bowel movements are a common scourge in the postpartum period. To avoid constipation, a woman should give preference to porridge, raw vegetables, and plenty of fluids, including juices, fruit drinks, and compotes, but not dried fruits.

What can a nursing mother of a premature baby eat?

According to world standards, a child born before 37 weeks is considered premature, and a child born after 22 weeks is considered viable. They are nursed in incubators, special incubators that maintain a microclimate similar to that of the mother's womb. They are fed first with a tube, then, when the sucking and swallowing reflex appears, feeding with a spoon, cup, and then breastfeeding is added. If the child does not take it, the woman expresses milk, which the baby receives through a nipple from a bottle. In any case, the mother's food should be rich in vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12, folic acid, and trace elements: iron, iodine, zinc. Special juices enriched with them have been developed, from where they enter the body in an easily digestible form. Infusions of herbs such as fennel, lemon balm, anise, and caraway will also help. [ 3 ]

Recipes

Despite the limited cooking methods, you can prepare a delicious and varied menu from the list of permitted products listed above. Here are some recipes.

First courses:

• Add chopped carrots, potatoes, zucchini to weak chicken broth, put a piece of butter, bring to readiness, chop dill, parsley;
• boil cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, grind everything in a blender, season with melted butter before serving;
• Cut a potato into the vegetable broth, add the vermicelli shortly before removing from the heat, pour in the broken egg and a little butter while stirring.

Second courses:

• make minced meat from lean meat, add boiled rice, chopped onion, a couple of spoons of sour cream. After mixing, form meatballs, steam;
• Cut the zucchini lengthwise into 2 halves, scrape them out. Lightly fry the chicken fillet strips in a frying pan with the addition of the vegetable pulp. Stuff the zucchini with them, sprinkle with grated low-fat cheese, bake in the oven;
• Place the sea fish in several layers in a saucepan, layering them with half rings of onion, slices of carrot, beetroot, tomato, and your favorite mild seasonings. Pour in a small amount of water, keep on low heat after boiling until the ingredients are fully cooked.

Desserts:

• combine cottage cheese, a little sugar, a chicken egg, 2 tablespoons of semolina previously covered with sour cream, mix well, place in a multicooker and bake:
• cut off the tops of the apples and make indentations in them, fill with pre-prepared curd mass, bake;
• Place fruits (pears, apples, pitted apricots) separately or together in a saucepan, add water (a glass of liquid per kilogram) and cook over low heat until thickened, then spread the mixture in a thin layer on oiled parchment paper on a baking sheet, and bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes. After the resulting pastila has cooled, cut the layer into strips and roll it into a snail for aesthetics.

What should a nursing mother not eat?

Sometimes nursing mothers break away from a healthy and well-thought-out diet, but still, they are strictly forbidden to eat:

• products containing preservatives and colorings;
• mayonnaise and other hot sauces;
• fast food, semi-finished products, sausages;
• canned goods, pickles, smoked goods;
• carbonated drinks. [ 4 ]

Restrictions in food are not a whim during breastfeeding, but a prerequisite for the child’s good health, strong immunity, and good mental abilities.