In the menu of a nursing mother, the most key are natural, high-quality (farm, homemade) and balanced products that are cooked exclusively on steam, in the oven or in a pan. After all, the period of feeding the baby, as well as the pregnancy itself, are the most critical months in the life of a woman expecting a baby. At this time, another creature is completely dependent on her, which will sensitively react to any product from her mother’s diet. Therefore, this article will help to understand and plan the menu of a nursing woman in the first days and subsequent weeks, months.
Features
Many people say, without thinking about the consequences, that it is important for a young mother to eat for two and as much as possible. This is a big mistake. There are many nuances and features regarding how a nursing woman needs to build her diet. Of course, the serving size may be slightly different from what the woman used before pregnancy and childbirth. In any case, it will be a little more. What a young mother eats, what foods are included in the composition of food, and how they are prepared, is also important to know and understand. The nutrition (menu) of a nursing mother should be special.
During breastfeeding, a woman is contraindicated both to starve and to eat excessively. The most optimal is to observe the middle ground. That is, eat the necessary and sufficient amount of food, without feeling a lack or satiety. In order for the diet to be complete, and milk arrive on time, a woman must eat three times a day: breakfast, lunch, dinner. Between these receptions, small snacks are acceptable: fruits, freshly squeezed juice, dairy products, tea with milk.
Informed understanding
In fact, feeding your baby with your milk is incredibly joyful, touching, pleasant. In addition, breast milk is the most healthy, nutritious and healing food for the baby. And at the same time, this period is quite responsible and serious. And it is necessary for a woman to approach the issue of feeding and her own nutrition consciously, realizing that here the key point will be not her personal tastes and preferences, but the needs of her part - the baby. After all, the first month and the first year of life are especially important, while the baby will become more independent and adult.
Therefore, experts recommend the expectant mother to prepare herself in advance for all the basic nuances and changes that will follow immediately after the birth. There is absolutely nothing terrible and impossible. It is simply important to include a conscious understanding of your main task at this stage of life.
General principles
It is very important to understand in the first months that breast milk is enough for the baby. If this is not so, the baby may cry from not eating at all after several feedings. In this case, you need to increase fluid intake or review your diet. If this is not the reason, then you need to choose a mixture for the newborn to additionally feed. As for breast milk, it should be nutritious, healing, tasty and healthy. Then the child will grow up healthy, strong and cheerful.
And for this there are general principles that a woman needs to adhere to while breastfeeding:
- lead a healthy lifestyle (full and regular nutrition, periods of rest, exercise, giving up bad habits, walking in the fresh air);
- lack of nervous strain and stressful situations;
- the right menu for a nursing mother for every day, that is, in the diet, it is mandatory to include only healthy products (containing protein, vegetables, fruits, cereals, first courses, liquid).
What are these products?
Components that help fill the menu of a nursing mother with proteins:
- lean meat (chicken, turkey, lean pork);
- fish (sea and river);
- eggs (it is recommended to use 1 piece in 3 days, starting from the third month);
- milk (boiled, with tea, milk porridge);
- kefir;
- yogurt;
- sour cream (up to 15% fat content).
Turkey is the only poultry meat that is considered as safe as possible for the health of the baby. The turkey has a lot of calcium, which is passed on to the baby along with the mother’s milk and helps the bones grow. Sodium, which is more in turkey than in any other meat, stabilizes the nervous system, as it is the main participant in the processes taking place in it. This is very important because many women after childbirth suffer from severe stress and depression.
Fruits and vegetables, which are also important to include in the diet of a lactating woman:
- bananas
- apples
- pears
- beet;
- potatoes;
- carrot;
- pumpkin;
- watermelon;
- zucchini;
- cucumbers.
As for cereals, it is recommended to eat (with a small addition of oil and almost without salt):
- buckwheat;
- oatmeal;
- Wheat
- pasta.
The first dishes are best consumed in the form of soups made from vegetable and low-fat meat broths. It is recommended to drink freshly squeezed juices, compotes, herbal and green tea, mineral water without gas.
Features and recommendations
Regarding some products, as well as the method of preparation, experts recommend:
- if possible, use locally grown vegetables and fruits, and those that grow in other latitudes should be excluded from the diet for the period of feeding the baby;
- develop the habit of eating more foods containing fiber;
- drink more liquid, but be careful with the choice (described above);
- food is preferable to cook steamed or boiled. Exclude fried, fatty, spicy, smoked.
For lactation
Products that promote good milk production are as follows:
- milk, fermented baked milk, cottage cheese, kefir, yogurt, cheese, sour cream;
- fresh seasonal fruits (apples, pears, plums, apricots, peaches, berries, bananas - as an exception);
- freshly squeezed juices, tea (herbal, green), still mineral water.
Forbidden foods in breast milk
In order for the baby to have good health and strong immunity, the mother must for the period of feeding refuse:
- carbonated drinks and mineral water with gas;
- sauces, garlic, seasonings, pickles;
- cakes, cakes and other carbohydrate dishes;
- moderate to eat nuts, honey, raspberries, strawberries;
- raw milk;
- coffee and chocolate;
- fatty and fried foods;
- alcoholic beverages;
- dubious and street food (fast food and so on);
- medication.
All this is a special menu - the diet of a nursing mother. But do not worry, because this period is not eternal. And when the baby already fully eats himself, his usual diet can be restored again.
What should be included in the diet immediately after birth?
In the process of the long-awaited baby being born, the expectant mother may refuse food for some time. The reason for this is poor health, stress, lack of appetite and so on. But when all the most difficult is behind, a woman may very much want to eat. And here it is also important to be careful, because it is during this period that the basis for the future feeding of the baby is formed - milk.
In the first days after childbirth, the menu of a nursing mother should be approximately as follows:
- clean drinking water without gas (during childbirth, you can also drink in small sips to quench your thirst);
- a glass of kefir or yogurt (no additives);
- buckwheat or wheat porridge (portion);
- a slice of dietary meat (chicken, turkey, lean pork);
- apples and bananas;
- cottage cheese;
- tea and freshly squeezed juice.
On the first day it is strongly recommended to eat in small portions, but often, since it is necessary that as much milk as possible arrives in a timely manner. Excess food consumed by a young mother on the first day can adversely affect her and her baby. Therefore, you should be careful and listen to the recommendations of the doctor.
Monthly Menu
The female body is so wonderfully arranged that immediately after the birth of the baby, milk appears in it. In fact, this is a complex process of biochemical nature, which is aimed at fully satisfying all the needs of a newborn baby. It is important that his diet has the necessary proteins, amino acids, fats, vitamins, trace elements, thanks to which he will grow and develop. And the quality of baby food - breast milk - completely depends on what the mother eats. Balanced, proper, fractional nutrition will be the key to the health of the baby.
The first year of breastfeeding, respectively, and mother's diet, can be represented in the form of several periods. That is, it will be a menu for a nursing mother for each month:
- up to 1 month;
- from 1 to 3 months;
- from 3 to 6 months;
- from 6 months to a year.
Menu up to 1 month
The first and very important is the liquid. A lactating mother needs to drink up to 2.5 liters per day. Drinks like:
- natural apple juice (diluted with boiled water);
- weak pure teas (without additives) - green and black (with boiled milk, fennel);
- kefir and ryazhenka;
- dried fruit compote;
- water without gas.
As for the side dish, it is recommended to eat cereals:
- pearl barley;
- buckwheat;
- rice;
- barley;
- oatmeal;
- wheat.
Pasta is also useful. Food can be flavored with a small piece of butter.
Vegetables as a side dish or salad will be very useful:
- baked and boiled potatoes;
- boiled, baked or steam zucchini;
- baked and boiled beets;
- boiled carrots and cauliflower;
- parsley and dill;
- boiled corn.
From dairy products in the menu of a nursing mother in the first month after birth, it is recommended to include:
- cottage cheese (fat content up to 9%);
- boiled cow's milk (homemade);
- sour cream (fat content up to 15%);
- hard cheese without additives (fat content up to 30%).
An excellent solution would be to cook home-made casseroles, milk soups and cereals with the addition of these products.
Meat Diet Ingredients:
- dietary meat (chicken, lean pork, turkey);
- lean fish (sea, river).
It is recommended to prepare dishes from these products according to the menu recipes for a nursing mother in the first months. Steamed meat and fish, boiled and stewed stew will be useful. This includes meatballs and meatballs without seasoning.
Seasonal fruits:
- apples
- pears
- bananas
- plums
- peaches;
- cherry;
- sweet cherry.
You can eat them in their pure form, as well as boil or bake in the oven. Only homemade and farm fruits are recommended (strictly forbidden from the supermarket).
Vegetable oils:
- sunflower;
- olive;
- corn;
- pumpkin.
You can use 1 tablespoon of this product per day as a salad dressing, side dish or first course.
As for dough products, it is recommended that a nursing mother eat:
- wheat and rye bread (without additives);
- crackers and drying;
- bread rolls;
- cookies (biscuit, oatmeal).
It is forbidden in the first month to eat legumes, tomatoes, garlic, onions, cucumbers, seeds, nuts, eggs.
Menu 1-3 months
After the first month after the birth of the baby, the mother already got a little accustomed to what she can eat and what is not recommended (even if it is not a prohibited product) in order to avoid allergies, colic and other painful moments in the baby. Starting from the age of two months, it is already possible to gradually expand your menu and add new dishes (which were not in the first month). But you need to do this very carefully - let the baby get used to it. Ideally, this can be up to 2 products per day. It is recommended to abandon those components of the diet that have a long shelf life or a dubious manufacturer.
Menu for mom when the baby is 3 to 6 months old
Upon reaching the age of three months, the nursing woman can already add the following products to her diet:
- chicken eggs (2 pieces per week);
- quail eggs (it is better to start with them, since they do not cause allergies);
- tomato;
- honey;
- berry fruit drinks;
- nuts
- halva;
- homemade preserves and jams.
You can eat vegetable borsch with tomato juice.
Menu from 6 to 12 months
To all products that are allowed in the first postpartum months and are normally processed by the baby, it is already recommended to add new ones:
- chocolate;
- seafood;
- beans;
- peas;
- sunflower seeds.
You can also carefully eat fried foods. It is better to eat new foods in the morning meal, so that until the evening to track the reaction of the child to them.
Principles of good nutrition
The daily menu of a nursing mother should contain the following useful ingredients:
- fats - 130 g;
- proteins - from 120 g;
- carbohydrates - 500 g.
The norm per day is 2500 kilocalories
It is also important for a nursing mother to consume such vitamins and minerals daily with food:
- iron;
- iodine;
- calcium;
- phosphorus;
- fluorine.
Mom's weekly menu
From all of the above, you can make an indicative menu for a nursing mother for each day of the week.
First:
- breakfast - stewed vegetables, boiled meat of turkey or chicken, rice porridge;
- lunch - vegetable soup, pearl barley, yogurt, bread;
- dinner - cottage cheese casserole, fruit.
Second:
- breakfast - oatmeal, bread and butter;
- lunch - chicken soup, rice porridge, vegetables, stew, fruits;
- dinner - mashed potatoes and carrots, steam meat, kefir.
Third:
- breakfast - buckwheat porridge, fish, bread and butter;
- lunch - meat soup with vegetables and herbs, pasta, fruits;
- dinner - cheesecakes in sour cream, oatmeal cookies.
Fourth:
- breakfast - pasta with meat and vegetables, bun, fruits;
- lunch - vegetable soup, stewed vegetables with a steam patty;
- dinner - millet porridge with pumpkin, yogurt, bread with cheese, fruits.
Fifth:
- breakfast - milk porridge with rice, bread with cheese;
- lunch - soup, mashed potatoes, fish, vegetable salad, fruits;
- dinner - cottage cheese with sour cream, kefir, fruits.
Sixth:
- breakfast - cottage cheese with fruits, cookies;
- lunch - fish soup with vegetables, meatballs, vegetable salad;
- dinner - a vermicelli casserole with sour cream, yogurt, fruits.
Seventh:
- breakfast - muesli with yogurt, bread with butter and hard cheese;
- lunch - soup with meatballs, millet porridge, chicken or turkey cutlet steam, vegetable salad;
- dinner - cottage cheese casserole, cookies, fruits.
Summary
There is such a universal rule that can be applied to the menu of a nursing mother, which says that you can safely eat green vegetables and fruits, carefully - yellow and forbidden - red. Much depends on how much the woman herself will be serious and conscious about this vital task - feeding her baby. Then the diet will be correct and the baby will be healthy.