What can breastfeeding mothers eat and drink and what not? Can flatulence and a sore bottom in the baby really be caused by what the mother eats? And is there any harm in dieting while breastfeeding? Here you will find answers to all the important questions.
There is a lot of talk about nutrition during pregnancy. But what about after pregnancy, when you’re breastfeeding? Even if you can now eat sushi, salami, raw dairy products and tiramisu with raw eggs to your heart’s content again, there are a few important things to know about nutrition while breastfeeding. So that you and your baby are well looked after and your baby can develop healthily. Here are the most important questions and answers:
Which foods are part of a healthy diet when breastfeeding?
A healthy diet during breastfeeding is practically the same as any other diet. According to the “Gesund ins Leben” initiative, it is particularly important that the diet is varied, balanced and regular. Why?
Varied: Every food has its own composition and its own benefits. For example, if you don’t just eat apples, but also pears, raspberries, plums or other types of fruit, your body (and your baby!) will get a much wider range of important nutrients. And there’s another advantage for your baby: he or she will also get to know different flavors through breast milk! Although it has not yet been proven that this makes babies less picky when it comes to food later on, it certainly can’t do any harm.
Balanced: With a balanced diet, your body gets important foods in the right proportions, ideally like this:
- Lots of vegetables, salad and fruit, raw or gently cooked. This gives you lots of vitamins, fiber and phytochemicals. And pulses in particular provide high-quality protein, which you and your baby need a lot of right now.
- Lots of whole grains in the form of bread, pasta, rice, muesli and cereals in general. This provides you with high-quality carbohydrates for more energy and is also good for your gut.
- Milk or dairy products three times a day, preferably low-fat. They provide important calcium and easily digestible protein.
- Eat something from the meat, fish, sausages and eggs group once a day. This will also give you protein, but also iron and important B vitamins.
- High-quality, preferably vegetable fats.
Regularly: Anyone who has children knows that, especially in the first few months, a slice of cold pizza from the previous evening or a chocolate bar instead of lunch is often enough. And of course you can’t do without something sweet or fatty as a snack. But both should at least not replace regular meals. Of course, this is easier said than done in the everyday life of breastfeeding mothers, but it’s still important because breastfeeding is also a physical effort and will drain your reserves if you don’t pay attention to your own diet.
Perhaps you and your partner can work out together how you can have proper meals on a daily basis? Pre-cooking and freezing is one option, a supply of healthy snacks (sliced fruit, wholesome muesli, raw vegetables, a prepared (breastfeeding) snack) is another to support a healthy diet.
What should you not eat while breastfeeding?
There is no food that is forbidden during breastfeeding. Fatty sea fish is a special case: on the one hand, it is important because it provides the important omega-3 fatty acids. On the other hand, large predatory fish such as tuna or swordfish in particular are often contaminated with harmful substances, especially mercury. Mothers who are breastfeeding should therefore not eat more than two portions of sea fish a week and should ideally switch to smaller fish such as herring, mackerel or salmon. Read more about tuna when breastfeeding here.
People often ask which fruit breastfeeding mothers should not eat so that the baby does not get a sore bottom. Or it is claimed that breastfeeding mothers should avoid flatulent foods because otherwise the baby would also get flatulence from the breast milk. Even if these ideas are passed down from generation to generation: It has not been scientifically proven that breastfed babies regularly become sore or get tummy ache from certain foods via breast milk. Why they are still so persistent: Babies just happen to get gas and baby bottoms get sore from time to time. Reasons are then immediately sought – and quickly found in the mother’s diet, even if it has nothing to do with it.
But won’t my baby get a sore bottom if I eat too much sour fruit?
No, you can enjoy any type of fruit you fancy without worrying. It is particularly healthy to eat lots of different types of fruit, as this provides you with a variety of good vitamins, minerals and fiber.
If you have suspected several times (!) that your baby is getting sore from a certain type of fruit that you have eaten, leave it out for a week or two and then try it again. You will probably find that there is no connection. And if there is? This happens in rare cases. Then leave out that one type of fruit – but not another that you like to eat, so that your diet remains varied.
Are extra vitamins and food supplements useful when breastfeeding?
If you manage to eat a healthy and varied diet, then according to the recommendations of the relevant specialist associations, you only need one food supplement during breastfeeding, namely iodine. Even a slight iodine deficiency in the baby can lead to developmental disorders in the baby, which is why it is so important that you are well supplied with it. But you shouldn’t take too much iodine either. If you use iodized salt when cooking and take a daily supplement with 100 μg iodine, you are on the safe side.
If you generally don’t eat fatty sea fish such as salmon, herring or mackerel, then you also need long-chain omega-3 fatty acids DHA as a dietary supplement because they are also important for your baby’s development.
Will it harm my baby if I eat a vegetarian / vegan diet?
A vegetarian diet while breastfeeding is not a problem if you eat a healthy diet overall and eggs, milk and dairy products (for protein, iron and other nutrients) are part of your daily diet.
If you don’t want to give up a vegan lifestyle while breastfeeding, you must be aware that this poses serious health risks for your baby’s development. This is because critical nutrients such as vitamins B12 and D, iron, iodine and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids are difficult to obtain from a purely plant-based diet, and in some cases cannot be obtained in sufficient quantities. It is therefore important to seek professional advice, take fortified foods and dietary supplements and have the relevant blood values checked regularly. This also applies to other diets that severely restrict the choice of foods.
Is a diet harmful during breastfeeding?
It depends on what is meant by “diet”. If you avoid sweets, sugary drinks, fatty snacks and ready meals, for example, you can’t go wrong.
One-sided diets and a radical reduction in calories can harm the baby: One-sided diets because the supply of all important nutrients is then at risk. And radical starvation diets because the mother’s body then has to fall back on fat reserves built up before pregnancy. However, these often contain harmful substances that can pass into the breast milk. So it’s better not to starve! Not even because the amount of milk could decrease.
But isn’t it said that breastfeeding is a good opportunity to lose weight?
Yes, but in a gentle way. If you are fully breastfeeding your baby, you consume between 400 and 600 extra calories a day. Many women who eat a healthy diet while breastfeeding lose weight as a result. If you still want to get rid of fat reserves from pregnancy, it should not be more than about one pound of weight loss per week.
How much should breastfeeding mothers drink?
As you give your baby a relatively large amount of fluid with breast milk, it is important that you make sure you drink enough. The rule of thumb is two liters a day. A good trick is to have a glass of water (or another unsweetened drink) ready every time you breastfeed so that you don’t forget to drink. If you don’t like drinking just water, you can also spice it up with a shot of fruit juice, ginger/lemon zest or pieces of fruit.
What should you not drink when breastfeeding?
Above all, avoid alcohol if possible (see the question about alcohol below). Coffee and other caffeinated drinks should also be consumed in moderation (two to three cups are okay, preferably after breastfeeding), because your baby also absorbs the caffeine. And: cola drinks and iced teas also contain caffeine, and energy drinks even contain a lot of it (not to mention the sugar …).
Can I drink alcohol while breastfeeding?
In short: better not. Alcohol is a cell poison. If you have drunk alcohol, the alcohol content in your breast milk is just as high as in your blood. The baby’s delicate body cannot break down alcohol as quickly as you can because its liver is not yet fully developed. Although there are studies that show that a glass of beer or wine now and then while breastfeeding is not harmful to the baby, many experts also emphasize that there is no dose of alcohol that is guaranteed to be harmless to the baby. You can find out more about alcohol while breastfeeding here.
Can I prevent allergies in my baby with my diet while breastfeeding?
Yes, to a certain extent. And not by leaving out certain foods, but quite the opposite: we now know that the baby’s immune system can even learn through breast milk to get used to certain substances that often trigger allergies, such as fish, peanuts and wheat. It is therefore also important to eat a varied diet when breastfeeding to prevent allergies.