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Diet and nutritional advice

Eat a balanced diet for health and energy

Now your baby has arrived, it’s more important than ever to eat a healthy diet. Carry on with the nutritious diet you had during pregnancy, regardless of whether or not you’re now breastfeeding. A healthy and nutritious diet is the best way to get the energy and stamina you need to take care of your baby.

Just after giving birth, you’ll really want to avoid any problems with constipation, especially if you’ve had any stitches or bruising as a part of your labour. So eat plenty of foods containing fibre such as wholemeal bread, high fibre cereal, fruits and vegetables.

Also, drink plenty of water. You’ll need lots of fluid to help you both avoid constipation and also to give you a good supply of milk throughout the day. Aim to drink around one and a half to two litres of fluid every day, or more if you feel your body needs it.

To help your digestion and to keep your energy levels up, try going for a short walk after a heavy meal.

Eat extra calories when you’re breastfeeding

When your body produces milk it also burns up a lot of energy, so if you’re breastfeeding you’ll need approximately 400-500 extra calories in your diet every day.

Getting extra calories from tasty, healthy snacks

To bring some variety to your diet, experiment with some simple snack recipes. Try healthy smoothies made from bananas and strawberries, or hummus with carrot sticks, cous cous and fruit salads, hot milk drinks or cheese on toast topped with tomatoes.

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding gives babies the best start in life, but some mothers don’t find it easy. Connecting with other mums on the same journey encourages, motivates and even inspires us as parents. Mumslikeus is a community of breastfeeding mums offering information, real life stories, videos and interactive tools to help you along your journey.

Mumslikeus is an Aptamil initiative to support and encourage breastfeeding in Ireland. As Ireland has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe, we strongly feel this is part of our social and environmental responsibility.

We have created this online community to assist you on every stage of your breastfeeding journey. You can even receive emails summarising what to expect at particular stages of your journey so you are prepared and fully supported.

Extra nutrients and supplements

You’ll also need to make sure you get some extra nutrients and supplements in your diet;

• Eat an extra 400mg of calcium each day. You can get this from a large glass of milk, two slices of cheese or a 300g yogurt.
• You’ll need an extra 20mg of Vitamin C while you’re breastfeeding. This means eating an extra piece of fruit a day such as an orange or a grapefruit.
• You’ll also need to eat an extra 10g of protein in the first six months if you’re breastfeeding. You’ll get this amount of protein from 50 grams of cheese, poultry, fish or chicken, or two large eggs.
• You’ll need to make sure you eat a little more zinc while you breastfeed. Get an extra 5mg per day from lean red meat or seafood.

The Aptamil Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Supplement

When breastfeeding you use an extra 500 calories a day, so therefore it is important for both you and your baby that you continue to eat a healthy balanced diet. Aptamil nutritionists have developed Aptamil Pregnancy & Breastfeeding food supplement which includes important nutrients e.g. calcium, vitamin D and omega 3, to help support a healthy balanced diet when you are breastfeeding.

Calcium:
Is important for healthy bones and teeth. Dairy foods are the best source of calcium and when breastfeeding you should aim to eat 5 portions of dairy foods each day (e.g. milk, cheese, yoghurt). Low fat dairy varieties are best as they contain the same amount of calcium but less saturated fat.

A serving is:

• 200ml/1/3 pint milk
• 30g/matchbox size piece of heard cheese
• 125g pot yoghurt

Aptamil Pregnancy & Breastfeeding food supplement provides 200mg Calcium in each tablet, to help in combination with a balanced diet, meet your daily requirements.

Vitamin D:
Is an essential nutrient important for calcium absorption. However research has shown poor vitamin D status amongst adults in Ireland. The main source of vitamin D is the action of sunlight on the skin, but due to Ireland’s northerly latitude not enough vitamin D is produced especially in the winter months. Dietary sources are limited to oily fish (e.g. herring, mackerel), eggs and some fortified milks, cereals and margarines (check the labels).
Aptamil Pregnancy & Breastfeeding food supplement provides 10ug in each tablet, the recommended daily intake for when breastfeeding.

Omega 3:
Omega 3 fatty acids are essential fatty acids that can only be obtained from the diet. The main dietary source is oily fish (e.g. mackerel, herring, trout). Research has shown that a good intake of omega 3 increases the content of omega 3 in breastmilk. Each Aptamil Pregnancy & Breastfeeding capsule provides 200mg omega 3 DHA to help in combination with a balanced diet, meet your daily recommended intake of omega 3.

Substances to avoid

Anything you include in your diet or you take into your body will pass into your milk while you’re breastfeeding. So it’s best to avoid alcohol, caffeine, nicotine and medications.

There are many medications which are safe to take whilst breastfeeding, but some aren't, so make sure you tell your GP you are breastfeeding before any medication is prescribed. Penicillin is safe to take, as are certain other antibiotics prescribed by your GP. Never take antibiotics that are left over from a previous prescription and always finish the course you are given.

If you do want to have an alcoholic drink, it’s advised you have it just after you’ve breastfed your baby to avoid too much alcohol passing into your baby’s system.

Healthy eating tips for bottle feeding mums

If you’re bottle feeding you’ll need fewer calories than a breastfeeding mum. The most important thing is to maintain good energy levels while you’re taking care of your baby. So rather than sticking to the traditional three meals per day, try spacing your meals out over the day onto six smaller snacks.

Aim for a healthy mixed diet that includes fruit, vegetables, salads, low fat dairy products, wholegrain breads, cereals, rice, pasta, noodles, beans, lentils, lean meats, fish and seafood. Keep your fluid levels high, and wherever possible have fresh foods rather than ready meals and takeaways.