Many young parents in matters of healthy development of the child listen to the advice of the famous pediatrician Evgeny Komarovsky. And the question of the diet of a nursing mother is no exception.
Komarovsky urges parents to proceed from the principles of common sense and not to experiment, since everything that a nursing mother eats passes into breast milk. The diet should be based on familiar and simple foods, as an immature crumb organism that receives new substances may have difficulty digesting and assimilating.
Feeding
Food should provide the body with all the necessary nutrients for health - this is the law of nature. If an adult needs food in order to simply maintain a normal state of the body, then the crumbs are not enough, and for proper growth and development, he needs the right food. All adults understand this and actively use the principle "all the best for children." But many loving parents are often mistaken, considering the best is that which is actually harmful.
The child’s body must absorb those products that are necessary for him in a given period of time. And certainly there is no need to prove that there is no product whose usefulness is equivalent to mother's milk. Therefore, breastfeeding is called natural.
Benefits of Natural Feeding
Many pages have been written about the benefits of breastfeeding. Nevertheless, it is necessary to provide the main evidence that natural feeding is a necessary condition for the proper development of the child.
- Mother’s milk always has an optimum temperature, it is perfectly clean, contains substances that help the baby’s body digest food, and with mother’s milk, the baby receives immunity, which protects it from infections.
- By naturally feeding your baby, you save your family budget, since milk formula is not cheap.
- This is a time saver. Feed the breast faster than first go to the store, then boil a bottle, pour the mixture, warm, stir, put to cool, wash - and so on all the time.
- Infection of the child with intestinal infection is excluded. And it is not always possible to ensure perfect purity during the preparation and storage of mixtures, especially in the summer. How does it end? Children's Infectious Diseases Hospital.
- You can feed your baby at any time, wherever you are.
- Over time, the composition of the mother’s milk changes, which ideally corresponds to the baby’s grown body.
- Underestimating the benefits of natural feeding, you are not aware of the number of problems that can arise if a child develops intolerance to cow's milk. Think about how much you spend nerves and money on feeding crumbs?
Natural feeding: for or against?
Mom’s lack of milk has long ceased to be a tragedy. Psychologically, a young mother does not perceive this as a problem or unhappiness and does not make any efforts to preserve milk. And all due to the fact that the experience of others suggests that you can feed without it.
But you need to remember one thing: the health of the child with natural feeding will be better preserved. This does not mean that without the mother’s milk, the baby will certainly be sick, but difficulties will necessarily arise.
Heredity
As a rule, all young mothers have milk, but its quantity may not suit the baby. It is not regulated by drugs, diets, or lifestyle. There is a factor determining the amount of milk - this is a genetic predisposition. This means that hormones that stimulate and are responsible for milk production depend on heredity. Therefore, if your mother breast-fed you, then you cannot justify your laziness, referring to the hereditary factor.
Lifestyle
In addition to the genetic predisposition, negative emotions, lifestyle (sleep, activity, fatigue), and diet influence the milk production.
It is very difficult for a young mother to exclude negative emotions, but her lifestyle can be adjusted. It is necessary to organize the day so that unpleasant and unnecessary actions are as small as possible. And the less time you devote to ironing, cleaning, cooking, the better for you, and therefore the baby. You will not be able to breastfeed normally if you do not have the opportunity to sleep, relax or exercise other activities that are not related to the newborn.
A child is a member of the family. And you can not bring your love for him to pain. Stick to the middle ground. And if you start to jump at night to your beloved child every 5 minutes, then you risk losing milk altogether. So do not forget to yourself, because you are still a whole!
Diet
The diet of a nursing mother (Komarovsky developed it) consists of a sufficient number of safe products for a woman and a baby. Therefore, one cannot experiment in this matter. It will be better for the baby if you limit your intake of citrus fruits, chocolate (cocoa), strawberries, coffee and other allergens. Otherwise, you will surely regret it, because the grown-up child will become covered with a rash and will itch all night after the chocolate you eat. It is this restriction that includes the postpartum diet.
The nursing mother needs to learn the following: everything that she eats, one way or another, enters the milk. Its taste is affected by salty, sour, spicy dishes, and garlic by its smell. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid them. Some foods, such as legumes, white cabbage, can cause diarrhea in a child.
It must be remembered that the increased fat content of milk will require high energy costs for the child to suck and digest, and it will be difficult for mother to express herself. Therefore, consciously increase the fat content of milk is not necessary. The postpartum diet for nursing mothers consists in the rejection of products such as pork, sour cream, oil creams, etc., and the inclusion of vegetable fats (sunflower and corn oil) in the diet.
If there are no problems with being overweight, then it is useful to eat semolina for dinner. The body needs a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits, which should be eaten 500 g per day. Canned food must be discarded.
The diet of a nursing mother for months depends on the reaction of the baby's body to innovations. If you have doubts: to eat this or that product or not, then try it in a small amount. The baby did not have allergic reactions in the form of a rash, loose stools or poor sleep? Then eat on health!
Fluid intake
The question of the amount of fluid taken during lactation remains a moot point. Scientists argue that the amount of fluid drunk does not affect the amount of milk, and mothers say the opposite.
Komarovsky says that if the amount of milk suits the baby, then the mother should not drink anything against her will. But if there is not enough milk, then after each feeding, after putting the baby to bed, you should go to the kitchen, where a 0.3-0.5 liter mug should wait for you. It is also necessary to follow this mode at night. Therefore, it is advisable to cook compote or tea in advance in a thermos in order to avoid unnecessary fuss.
The diet of a nursing mother for months involves taking fluid:
- Sweet tea with milk (green is preferable to black).
- Compote of dried fruits (raisins, dried apricots, apples).
- To the best juices from apples, grapes, carrots.
- Baked or boiled milk, dairy products.
Some doctors recommend nuts, nettle broth, yeast, and medications such as Pirroksan, Apilak, glutamic and nicotinic acids, with insufficient milk, but do not exaggerate their significance.
Believe that the body of a mother who is sleeping peacefully at night is capable of producing the right amount of milk in sufficient quantities.
Nursing mom's diet for months (Komarovsky)
The digestive system of the newborn requires a particularly careful attitude. Therefore, the diet of a nursing mother (1 month after birth) should consist of fermented baked milk, cottage cheese, gluten-free cereals, lean soups that do not contain white cabbage, low-fat varieties of meat in baked, stewed or boiled form. Fruits are represented in the diet only by green apples, you can eat dried fruits (except for raisins). The use of bread should be limited, eat only rye or bran. The diet of a nursing mother (1 month) should not contain buns. Oils (butter or vegetable) are added only to dishes.
What else does a nursing mom's diet suggest for months? Komarovsky recommends in the first three months to enrich the diet with fruits (excluding red and citrus fruits) and fresh vegetables, such as cucumbers, carrots, include greens and pasta in the menu. Once or twice a week, you can eat a boiled egg, low-fat varieties of fish, you can add sour cream to salads, cook soups on a secondary broth. Almonds are allowed.
Next, the diet of a nursing mother changes for months. Komarovsky testifies that from the fourth month you can afford dry cookies, marshmallows and marmalade, milk. Juices, carrot, cherry, blueberry, apple and currant jam are included in the diet.
After 6 months, seafood or fried foods may appear on the menu.
After the first year after giving birth, the mother switches to her usual diet, of course, if he meets the rules of a healthy and balanced diet.
This is the diet of a nursing mother for months. Komarovsky formulated the rule: new products must be introduced in the morning and one at a time so that the baby's reaction to them is visible.
The right diet for diathesis
Newborns more often than others suffer from diathesis. This disease is manifested by skin rashes. The presence of such a symptom is a serious argument for revising your diet, because everything eaten by a mother affects the baby’s health.
The diet of a nursing mother during diathesis consists in the exclusion of overseas fruits, chocolate. No need to eat eggs, dishes with milk, chicken, tomatoes, onions, garlic and spices. You should be wary of corn, carrots, cabbage, red fruits, legumes, grapes, plums. It is important to observe which product causes a child’s reaction.
You can eat low-fat sour-milk products, cereals, vegetable broths, lean veal broths, apples, herbs, drink herbal teas. Diathesis provokes an allergen, which is part of cow's milk. This is a good reason to exclude milk, beef and veal from the menu.
Sample menu for the day
A lactating mom’s diet by day contains a daily menu. You need to start with the morning reception of kefir at 6 in the morning. For breakfast, you can cook rice porridge with milk, bread with butter and cheese, tea. Before dinner, eat an apple and drink tea.
Lunch consists of bread, carrot salad, dried apricots, cranberries with vegetable oil, cabbage soup from fresh cabbage, potato casseroles with stewed meat, dried fruit compote.
In the afternoon you can drink apple juice, eat cookies or crackers.
For dinner, you can cook a salad of cucumbers with herbs, seasoned with vegetable oil, boiled fish and vegetable stew in milk sauce, and drink tea with milk.
Hypoallergenic nutrition
A special diet for nursing mothers is based on hypoallergenic nutrition. It is very important to comply with the restrictions in the first 3 months after birth. Then, as a rule, the attending physician allows the introduction of new products, but not more than 2 times a month. You must adhere to the rules:
- Eat only local fruits and vegetables, exclude overseas.
- Dishes that are steamed or in the oven, do not negatively affect the mucous membrane of the mother’s stomach, contain vitamins.
- Try to diversify the diet with allowed foods and not eat the same thing.
Finally
Regarding the diet for nursing mothers, there are different reviews. There is no consensus on what you can eat, what not. Komarovsky advises to eat the food that is familiar to your latitudes, overseas can also, but little by little. Preservation should be excluded due to the content of artificial additives in it. Look at the composition of the product, there should not be genetically modified additives - they are present in chips, yoghurts. For the first two weeks after giving birth, refrain from allergenic foods. Do not eat caviar, as it causes constipation in the crumbs. And most importantly - do not overeat!