Best Breastfeeding Tips: Advice, Pumping & Nutrition

Breastfeeding Advice 101

1.     Pump Often

Breastfeeding is recommended by many experts for the good health of babies. Breastfeeding is considered the best and healthy food that helps in the growth of babies. Although it is common sense that every mother cannot feed their babies 24/7. So, if mothers want to provide breastmilk to their babies, they must focus on breast pumping which helps in building and maintaining a good supply of milk. Breast milk can be pumped for the following reasons:

• When the baby is not able to feed directly from the breast of their mothers
• When a mother is interested in donating her milk to a milk bank
• When a mother wants to store her milk for the baby for later use when she is away from her baby
• When a mother doesn’t want to feed her baby directly from her breast
• When a mother wants to increase her milk supply

Breast pumping is a practice that mothers should follow according to certain guidelines. If a baby is healthy and depends solely on breastfeeding, his or her mother should wait for a week or two before pumping and storing her breast milk. If the baby is sick and cannot breastfeed yet, or if the mother wants to pump exclusively, she must pump within 1 to 6 hours just after the birth of her baby. If a mother wants to pump often, she must pump 8 to 10 times on the same day. The optimum production of milk per day is 25 to 35 ounces.

2.     Avoid Bad Food, Drinks and Feeding Formula

Some of the mothers that breastfeed their babies feel that they can eat whatever they like. Past studies conducted on the subject of breastfeeding have proved that strongly flavored fruits affect the taste of mother’s milk which is liked by most the babies.

The most dominant flavors like chili peppers or soy sauce are present in the amniotic fluid of mothers during their pregnancy. The embryos swallow an ample amount of amniotic liquid thus they become habitual of their mother’s flavored breast milk.

Typically, babies are fussy on their mother’s breast and gassy after the mothers eat certain foods. If mothers observe that their breast milk is getting adversely affected by their breast milk, they should not that pattern and should avoid those foods for a few days.

A survey that collected the responses from mothers suggests that their babies used to object to the following foods:

• Spices including garlic, chili pepper, cinnamon and curry
• Strawberries
• Pineapple
• Chocolate
• Juices and citrus fruits like lemons, grapefruit, oranges, and limes
• Kiwifruit
• Fruits like prunes and cherries
• Gassy vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, onion, garlic, peppers and broccoli

A mother must use caffeine products just once or twice in a single day as excessive use of caffeine can affect the baby’s sleep or make the baby fussy. Some of the items that contain caffeine include a few teas, sodas, and medicines. Those mothers that breastfeed their kids should only drink alcohol once a week as an excessive amount of alcohol consumption increases the level of blood alcohol after which the alcohol gets mixed in mother’s milk.

3.     Take Good Care of Yourself

The mothers that breastfeed their babies usually forget to take good care of themselves along with their babies. The mothers generally think about the last feeding time of their babies, assuring the positions of their babies, making sure that the hatch is accurate and focusing on their babies’ dirty diapers, in all such situations they forget about their personal care. Although many doctors have suggested that mothers should be careful with their own care along with their babies. Some of the basic guidelines for breastfeeding mothers about their weight loss, and nutrition are as follows:

3.1.                 Weight Loss

Breastfeeding helps in reducing weight but it relies on the body and diet of mothers. Following are some of the guidelines that mothers should consider before breastfeeding:

• If mothers eat a balanced and healthy diet, they usually lose their weight
• Routine physical exercises along with a healthy diet help the breastfeeding mothers in their weight loss
• Excessive weight loss in a short span of time can decrease the milk supply of breastfeeding mothers

3.2.                 Nutrition

Mothers can eat almost everything when they are breastfeeding. There exist so many myths regarding the foods that breastfeeding mothers should ignore. However, some of these myths should not be considered seriously by mothers as there is no such scientific evidence behind them. Breastfeeding mothers should always eat certain foods within a limit as excessive consumption of such foods can affect their health as well as their babies. It is important for mothers so get all the necessary nutrients from their food that their body requires.

• Enjoy a balanced and healthy diet
• Ensure the consumption of 500 additional calories in a single day
• Drink plenty of water so that their bodies can stay hydrated

4.     What You Should Eat For Breastfeeding

Some of the past studies have proved that the diet of breastfeeding mothers is almost the same as that of a common human being. Hence, mothers are required to follow a balanced well-balanced diet that comprises of healthy food consumption. Generally, a well-balanced diet includes:

• Dairy products such as a glass of milk and yogurt
• Plenty of green vegetables and juicy fruits
• Food items that contain starch such as potato, rice, bread, and pasta. Also, cereal-based starchy foods must also be consumed by breastfeeding mothers as they provide extra fiber and nutrients
• Protein intake that includes fish, pulses, lean meat and eggs

Mothers of newly born babies usually forgot to eat properly because of the fuss created by their own babies. Although, it is essential for mothers to look after their diet to keep their energy levels high. Therefore, mothers should seek for the snacks and nutritious meals such as:

• Breadstick, or cucumber or carrot sticks with hummus
• Soups along with wholemeal bread
• A single pot of yogurt
• Homemade sandwiches with additional fillings of salad
• Fresh fruits and dry fruits except for salted nuts
• Beans or eggs on toast
• Jacket potatoes

If the mothers don’t have time to make all such nutritious foods for themselves then they should ask others to make snacks for them. As per the findings of National Health Service, all the babies above the age of 1 along with their mothers should consume daily supplement that encompasses of Vitamin D of about 10 micrograms.

Popular Questions about Breastfeeding

5.     Can I Diet During Breastfeeding

Yes! Breast feeding mothers can diet safely only if they follow some essential guidelines. There are four guidelines that mothers must follow during their dieting period.

5.1.                 Wait till the baby is two months old

The best practice for breastfeeding mothers is that they should not strive for dieting until their babies are two months old. This much time allows the bodies of mothers to develop healthy milk supply which can be greatly affected if the intake of calories is restricted during the dieting period. While breastfeeding their babies, mothers usually burn 200 to 500 calories in a single day so even without a proper diet plan, breastfeeding mothers still burn an ample amount of calories.

5.2.                 Breastfeed without restriction

The findings from the past studies prove that frequent breastfeeding and breastfeeding for more than six months escalates the chances of weight loss of mothers.

5.3.                 Eat at least 1500-1800 calories per day

It is significantly important for breastfeeding mothers to consume about 1500 to 1800 calories per day. Most of the mothers should always be on the higher range of this calorie scale. Although some of the mothers usually require more than these calories ranges, less than this calorie range can affect the milk supply of mothers.

5.4.                 Keep weight loss at less than 1.5 pounds per week

The majority of mothers can safely lose more 1.5 pounds in a single week and 6 pounds in one month after their babies are two months old as this will not affect their milk supply and the health of their babies. One of the past studies has suggested that losing 1-kilogram weight per week will not affect the health of mothers and their babies.

6.     Lactation-Boosting Recipes

6.1.                 Strawberry Oatmeal Smoothie

One astonishing fact about smoothies is that when oats are also added in a smoothie, the nutritious in the drink increases. This is because 0.5 cup of dry oats has 4 gms of fiber and 5 gms of protein. When some more milk and fruits are added with the oats, the fiber and protein of that drink become doubled. The addition of oats in smoothies makes them richer and creamier.

The strawberry oatmeal smoothie is also easy to be made as it requires the following ingredients:

• ½ cup of dry oats
• ½ cup of frozen strawberries
• 2 tablespoon of sweetener
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 banana
• ½ tablespoon of vanilla extract

Directions:

Combine oats, strawberries, milk, and banana and put them all in a blender. Add sweetener and vanilla as per your taste buds. Then blend all the components until smooth. Finally, the oats smoothie is ready to be poured into the glass and serve.

6.2.                 Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bites

The oatmeal peanut butter bites can be prepared using the following ingredients:

• ¼ cup ground flaxseed
• 2 table spoons of chia seeds
• One pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon + ¼ cup of honey
• 2 tablespoons of mini chocolate chips
• 1 cup of dry oats
• ¼ cup of chopped almonds
• 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons + ¼ cup of mild and melted peanut butter
• ¼ tablespoon of vanilla essence
• ¼ cup of chopped almonds and peanuts to roll the balls

Directions:

• Combine almonds, chia seeds, cinnamon, oats, flaxseeds, and salt in a bigger bowl and then stir.
• Melt peanut butter and leave it till its temperature gets mild. Then stir the melted peanut butter with vanilla essence and honey until it is completely combined. Once the mixture gets cold, pour it on the oats and then mix with a spoon, and then roll them with your hands. Continue the process till the mixture is sticking together then fold it in mini chocolate chips.
• Roll the dough in smaller size balls and then roll in chopped almonds and peanuts. It will taste well when kept in the refrigerator for some time.

7.     Do I Need More Water When Breastfeeding?

One study suggests that the proportion of water in breast milk is 90 percent. Thus when mothers are breastfeeding their babies, they must drink a significant amount of liquid. Drinking more water and liquids helps mothers in keeping themselves hydrated and healthy. It also helps the mother in establishing and maintaining their breast milk supply.

Mothers that breastfeed their babies should drink at least 12 glasses of water and other non-caffeinated drinks in a single day. There is no need to count the number of glasses of water that mothers have drunk the whole day.

They just need to keep drinking a sufficient amount of water so that they cannot get thirsty. In other words, being thirsty is also known as “drinking to thirst”. A person gets thirsty for water when he is doing more physical activities which is why his or her body demands water so that their body can remain calm, composed, and hydrated.

8.     Will Being Vegetarian Affect My Breast Milk?

Vitamin B12 is highly important for the development of human brains and this vitamin is found in different animal foods such as meat, eggs, fish, and milk. Vitamin B12 is also found in breast milk in both smaller and larger volumes depending on the diet of mothers.

Hence, if the breastfeeding mothers don’t eat all such foods, their breast milk might lack in vitamin B12 due to which the brain development of babies can get affected.

There have been many cases in which the newly born babies were breastfed by their purely vegetarian mothers and had lacked muscle tone, delays in cognitive development, and in few cases also suffer from serious brain atrophy.