Mar
Maintaining a Healthy Diet
The health and nutrition of a newborn baby depends exclusively and entirely on the breast milk of his mum. Therefore, caring for your own health and providing yourself the right nutrition is a responsibility you undertake not only for yourself but also your child. If your child is large and fast growing, the stock of fat that you have gathered during pregnancy may fast be used up. To keep producing good quantities of breast milk, you will need to eat more, quantitatively and qualitatively.
Diets for such breastfeeding mothers usually consist of high number of calories and high amount of nutrients.
Even though mothers in famine conditions can produce milk with nutritional content, a mother that is malnourished may produce milk with lacking levels of vitamins A, D, B6, and B12.
If they smoke, breast feeding mothers must use extreme caution. More than 20 cigarettes a day has been shown to reduce the milk supply and cause vomiting, diarrhoea, rapid heart rate, and restlessness in the infants. SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) is more common in babies that are exposed to smoke.
Heavy drinking is also known to harm the imfant, as well as yourself. If you are breast feeding, you should avoid alcohol or consume very small amounts at a time.
The excessive consumption of alcohol by the mother can result in irritability, sleeplessness, and increased feeding in the infant. Moderate use, normally 1 – 2 cups a day normally produces no effect. Therefore, mothers that are breast feeding are advised to avoid caffeine or restrict intake of it.
By following a healthy diet and limiting your intake of the above, you’ll ensure that your baby gets the right nutrients during your time of breast feeding. This stage of life is very important – as you don’t want anything to happen to your baby.

