Nutrition after childbirth: diet, features and recommendations

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

The appearance of a long-awaited baby is an exciting and responsible stage in the life of every woman. A young mother during this period begins to realize that from now on she is responsible not only for herself, but also for the life of another little person. A special role in caring for a newborn is played by the quality and quantity of mother's milk. For a child, it is the first and most important nutrition outside the usual intrauterine environment, helps prepare the digestive system for the processing of new food, stimulates the production of one's own immunity, lays the foundation for good he alth, and helps the baby grow and develop properly. Pediatricians advise not to stop breastfeeding for at least a year after birth. The approach to choosing the right nutrition for the mother after childbirth should remain as balanced and careful as possible, the set of products should not only be useful for the woman, but also safe for the he alth of the baby. If during pregnancy you wanted to eat everything at once, then after giving birth, a woman ceases to be a hostage to her own culinary addictions.

General recommendations for nursing mothers

He althyDiet after childbirth is varied. The products should contain all, without exception, vitamins, trace elements and other useful substances that contribute to the proper growth of the baby. Pediatricians recommend following the proportions of a woman's daily menu in the first months after childbirth: proteins - 20 percent, fats - 15, and carbohydrates - 60.

In other words, in the morning in the diet of a nursing mother should not be only porridge. To complement a he althy breakfast, a spoonful of cottage cheese with an apple, a few nuts, or, for example, a slice of hard cheese will help.

Approximate list of products in the daily menu for nutrition after childbirth

• Dairy and non-dairy cereals.
• Vegetables and fruits.
• Compotes, green teas.
• Cottage cheese, low-fat dairy products.
• Bird or fish. Fat content should be reduced.

Forbidden foods in the first months after childbirth

Feeding a nursing mother after childbirth is associated with many restrictions. Alcohol, strong coffee, garlic, onions, sugar, carbonated drinks, smoked meats, chocolate, exotic fruits or seafood, pickles and preserves, sedatives and medicines.

To control her diet in the first months after childbirth, it is better for a mother to keep a special diary where a woman will write down the foods and the time she ate them. Then, if a reaction occurs in a child - a rash,gas in the intestines or colic, it will be much easier to identify the provocative product.

Trap myths about women's nutrition during lactation and after childbirth

1. Breastfeeding will definitely lead to obesity, so immediately after giving birth you need to lose weight. This is not true. Diet during breastfeeding is strictly contraindicated. After all, the more modest the diet of the mother, the less useful substances and trace elements the child will receive. In addition, any diet is a stress for the body. And, given that a woman is already in a constant time trouble (which is worth only sleepless nights, a sharp change in her usual lifestyle, possible physiological discomfort from hot flashes and changes in hormonal levels), a strict diet can lead to a complete cessation of lactation.
2. You need to drink more cow's milk, it stimulates lactation. It is important to remember that cow protein is a strong allergen. Excessive amounts in milk can cause redness of the skin, swelling of the mucous membranes, a rash on the baby's body.



Mom's full-fat milk can also reduce lactation, as it's harder to express and therefore harder for a baby to get. The kid gets tired quickly, while remaining hungry. Therefore, a woman's diet should include milk with a fat content of no more than 2.5.

3. A breastfeeding woman needs to give up juices. They supposedly can provoke an allergy in a baby. It's a delusion. One or two glasses of juice a day will not harm either mom or baby. The main rule is moderation.



Vegetable juices are the most preferred, as they saturate the body with fiber, which means they stimulate metabolism and improve digestion. The only rule is that tomato or cranberry juices should be tasted literally in a spoon, and follow the reaction of the child. If suddenly he has signs of an allergy, then it is better to replace such juices with decoctions of herbs, or compotes. The total amount of fluid per day should not exceed two, two and a half liters.

Feature of the diet of a nursing mother by months. Early days

Maternal nutrition in the first month after birth is an extremely important issue. Any gastronomic weaknesses of a nursing mother form the child's food addictions. The choice of menu in the first months after childbirth should be approached with extreme caution. You should not eat according to the principle "the baby needs everything", often this approach leads to food allergies in the child, and the mother will ensure weight gain.

Already in the maternity hospital, a nursing mother is offered a rather strict menu. Usually, it is buckwheat or oatmeal on the water, with a spoonful of oil. Buckwheat is a truly irreplaceable cereal.

Pediatricians even advise frying washed buckwheat and eating it instead of seeds. Good lactogenic qualities are also known for black bread with cumin. These seeds, like buckwheat, stimulate milk production. Sometimes the daily requirement for protein can be replaced by 2-3 walnuts. You should not eat animal protein, the baby's digestive system in the first hours after birth is not ready to digest newsubstances. For a woman, the third day after childbirth is a real test. The flow of milk is so strong that sometimes you have to resort to a breast pump. At this stage, it is necessary to apply the baby to the breast as often as possible in order to maintain lactation and prevent the occurrence of mastitis. A little later, the woman's body will understand how much milk the baby needs, and he will begin to regulate its amount. In the meantime, he doesn’t know for sure, suddenly a young mother gave birth to triplets, it’s worth picking up the phone and taking a spectacular selfie! During this period, it is better to slightly limit fluid intake, eat more vegetable proteins. Baked vegetables or a vegetarian soup are a must on the menu of a nursing mother in the early days.

Feeding a nursing mother from the third week after birth

It is allowed to include boiled fish or fish soups from pollock, sea bass, halibut in the usual menu. The main thing is that the fish should not be too oily. For the mother, such soups will help to recover after childbirth. Pyridoxine and pantothenic acid, which are rich in fish, increase hemoglobin and contribute to the normalization of hematopoietic processes in the body. In addition, sea fish contains iodine and semi-saturated acids, which will help the proper development of the baby's nervous system.

As a side dish, you can use the same buckwheat porridge or rice. The child's digestive system has already gradually rebuilt, so animal protein is allowed, in particular, you can try to introduce protein from a chicken egg or a piece of steam veal or chicken into the diet. As a side dish you canuse baked potatoes. Fruit drinks, compotes, green tea are allowed drinks at this stage.

Feature of the diet of a nursing mother after the third month

From three months it is recommended to include fatty soups and broths in the menu of a nursing mother. The most daring can try to cook borscht. True, you need to be careful with cabbage, it is better to put quite a bit of it at the first stage. Finally, mom is allowed to taste honey. True, very little, literally a spoon.

From the fourth month, sugar and fresh herbs are allowed, as well as onions. However, you should not get too carried away with them, in excessive doses, "permission" can provide the family with a restless night.

Starting from the fifth month, you can enjoy pastries. It is desirable that it was not purchased. Cookies and tea are a frequent companion of sleepless nights for many breastfeeding mothers.

The diet of a nursing mother after six months

From the sixth month, a nursing mother begins the stage "everything is allowed, but in moderation." The baby is already trying vegetable purees with might and main, which means that mom also has the right to experiment with a set of products. Something you can already try to fry and eat, for example, fatty pork cutlets, something - try for the first time during feeding (strawberries, or pineapple).

Conclusion

Feeding a child with mother's milk is an invaluable gift of nature, inherent in a woman for many millennia. No matter how difficult and impossible the rules of nutrition after childbirth may seem, the stage of restrictions will end sooner or later. organismwomen will recover, she will start to get enough sleep and even miss sleepless nights. Gradually, life will enter a new rut. What it will be like for a child, whether he will be able to fully enter a new life, feel the taste of life, whether he will be able to enjoy all the variety of gastronomic abundance, depends on these very first days and months.