Eating for breastfeeding

If you decide to breastfeed, it's important that you try to eat a healthy, balanced diet to give your baby the best start in life

What to eat starchy foods such as bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and pulses (beans and lentils) to give you the extra energy you'll need plenty of fibre, found in wholegrain bread and breakfast cereals, pasta, rice, pulses, fruit and vegetables. After childbirth, you may experience bowel problems and find constipation particularly painful - but fibre helps with both of these plenty of fruit and vegetables (fresh, frozen, tinned, dried fruit or a glass of juice). Aim for at least five portions of a variety of fruits and vegetables a day protein such as lean meat, fish, eggs and pulses fish - at least twice a week including one portion of oily fish. But don't have more than two portions of oily fish a week dairy foods, such as milk, cheese and yoghurt which contain calcium and are a useful source of protein

Also, aim to drink at least 6-8 glasses of fluid a day.

Vitamins
While breastfeeding, take supplements containing 10 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin D each day.

Keep an eye on...
Breastfeeding should be an enjoyable time for mother and baby and there are few restrictions on what to eat. However some breastfed babies seem to react to foods that their mother has eaten. If you believe that some foods you're eating are affecting your baby, don't stop eating them without talking to their GP or health visitor first.

When breastfeeding try to: limit your intake of oily fish to two portions a week. Oily fish includes fresh tuna (canned tuna does not count), mackerel, sardines and trout limit your intake of shark, swordfish or marlin to one portion a week because of the levels of mercury in these fish. This advice is the same for all adults, except women who are pregnant, or trying to get pregnant, who should avoid these fish altogether

In moderation
Caffeine can be drunk in moderation, but there is a slight risk that it can be passed on to your baby through breast milk. Decaffeinated tea and coffee, fruit juice or mineral water are good alternatives.

Alcohol may also pass into breast milk making it smell different for your baby. This may affect his or her feelings, sleeping or digestion. Aim to keep within the daily benchmark for women of between two or three units or less of alcohol a day.

Nut allergy
Serious allergies to nuts, nut products and seeds affect about one to two per cent of the population. But a baby may be at higher risk of developing a nut allergy if you, the baby's father, brothers or sisters have certain allergic conditions such as hayfever, asthma and eczema.

If you believe that your baby is in this higher-risk group, you may wish to avoid eating peanuts and peanut products while breastfeeding and during the introduction of solid foods. You also shouldn't give peanuts or peanut products to children who are at higher risk before they are three years old.

If you think your baby might be allergic to peanuts, contact your GP.

Need to eat more?
Most women's bodies are very efficient at making breast milk which provides all the nutrients a baby needs for healthy development in the first months of life, so there's no need for you to 'eat for two'. As at any other time, it's important for your baby that you eat a healthy balanced diet.

Losing weight
It's not a good idea for you to go on a crash diet to lose weight while breastfeeding because the milk will be affected, your baby may miss out on vital nutrients and you will probably feel run down. The extra fat laid down in pregnancy is also used to make breast milk - so breastfeeding will help you get back into shape naturally and gradually.