Breastfeeding Nutrition Guide
A few weeks ago, I had the blessing of welcoming a beautiful baby girl into this world. Although being a mother is one of the greatest callings on this earth, life with a newborn can bring many challenges. One of those challenges that I’m currently dealing with is breastfeeding. Although my daughter is a great eater, she becomes pretty colicky after feedings.
There’s nothing more heart-wrenching than listening to her inconsolable cries knowing that my diet is to blame. Thankfully, I had the chance to video chat with a nutritionist about my breastfeeding concerns. Not only was she able to recommend foods to eliminate, but also provided some awesome breastfeeding nutrition information.
Samples and compensation were received for this post. All opinions are my own.
Breastfeeding Nutrition Guide
Know where to start: If you find that your baby is experiencing discomfort after breastfeeding, you may want to consider changing your diet. The first step in changing your diet is knowing where you stand. Chatting with Amwell’s board certified Nutritionist, she recommended keeping a daily food journal. Keep track of what you eat, when you eat, when you breastfeed, and when the baby experiences discomfort. Use this food journal as a guide to try and pinpoint what foods may be causing your baby discomfort.
Foods to eliminate: Because nutrients are passed from mother to baby in breast milk, you may want to avoid these foods (which may cause your baby GI discomfort): Dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt), green leafy vegetables, chocolate, spices (garlic), broccoli, citrus fruits, grains, soda, and peanuts.
Recommended foods: While breastfeeding, it is important to have a well balanced diet with adequate servings of fruits, veggies, lean protein, whole grains, and legumes. Try to include carbohydrates, protein and fat in each meal.
How to boost milk supply: In order to produce enough breast milk, it’s important that you consume enough calories in your diet. Speaking with Amwell’s Nutritionist, she explained that breast milk production isn’t necessarily related to the foods you eat, but rather the calories consumed. It’s important to make sure that you’re eating an additional 400-500 calories each day in order to boost/maintain your milk supply.
Amwell allows you to virtually connect over video (in under 3 minutes) with board certified Doctors, Therapists, and Nutritionists. Chatting with a Nutritionist via Amwell has been a HUGE help in dealing with my breastfeeding concerns. All I had to do was download the Amwell app to my iPad, fill in some patient information, and then I was able to choose a health care provider in my area.
As a mother, Amwell is something that I can truly appreciate. Not having to leave the comfort of my own home to chat face to face with a healthcare provider really comes in handy with sick family members. Not only does Amwell save time, but at only $49 a visit, Amwell helps save you money!
I would take a drink and eat a snack every time I nursed. That was really important, especially with twins.
Congratulations! I had such trouble breastfeeding my kids. It would have been nice to have someone a phone call away to help.
Food issues are oddly rare, to be honest, so cutting out foods for no reason isn’t important… And garlic does boost milk production. I’m a total lactivist, but I think this site and I disagree on a lot of things. It is awesome to see a site giving out info! Go #breastfeeding!
Thanks for the coupon code! I know someone who could use it!
These are great tips! Thanks for the great resource, I’ll pass it on to my bf’ing mamas!
I wish I would have known more of this stuff with my first kid. You don’t think that that broccoli or beans you ate will effect your baby the same way.
She is Beautiful!! BF is a whole world in its self. Such a precious moment for you and baby.
Congrats on your little one!! This would be so much easier then having to take the baby to the doctor for advice!
What a great resource. I am a huge advocate of breastfeeding. I have breastfed all 5 of mine, still breast feeding my littlest now.
This can be such a daunting process. These tips are great and the online doctor service will come in handy!
I don’t really have any tips. You have some great ones here though. Your baby is so beautiful!
Thanks for the wonderful coupon code! I bet many mothers will get good use out of it!
I breastfed my daughter. These are wonderful tips for a first time mother!
Don’t give up if you can’t find the perfect latch right off the bat. It’s worth it once you’ve figured it out.
What great tips. I wish I knew these when I was breastfeeding. It is so important to have good nutrition for extra ‘flow’
I didn’t know if I would be able to nurse my son, but luckily, it worked out and I nursed him for a year. I’m not sure if I will be this lucky the next time around with a baby that likes to nurse so much, but I hope so because it’s so good for them. And like you mention, you are able to pass nutrition to them based on what you eat.
I don’t have any tips. I was always reminded to watch what I ate when breastfeeding baby!
Congratulations on your baby! Breastfeeding was such a wonderful part of our lives. I miss after 7 years..
There’s some amazing information here. Back when my niece and nephew were babies, my sister didn’t know half of this stuff!
I didn’t breastfeed, so this was interesting to me. I am sure this will help lots of moms.
Breastfeeding will be one of the absolute sweetest things you will ever do.
No, I do not have any. This is a great start for anyone wanting to know about this subject. great introduction.
Congratulations on your baby girl! This sounds like a great resource, and trouble with breastfeeding can be heart wrenching, so I am sure it will be helpful to a lot of new moms.