What foods can’t be eaten when breastfeeding? Dietary considerations for breastfeeding mothers

Breastfed babies usually get the same nutrition as their mothers. So mothers need to pay special attention to their diet. So what foods should not be eaten during breastfeeding? What are the dietary precautions for breastfeeding mothers?

What not to eat while breastfeeding

Breastfeeding mothers cannot eat spicy food, coffee, strong tea, etc. Do not put MSG in the dishes that mothers eat, because MSG will prevent the absorption of zinc. If you want your baby not to lack zinc, then don't eat MSG.

In addition, mothers should take in nutrition scientifically, instead of eating too many supplements for fear of starving the baby or insufficient milk. Mothers should take in slightly more nutrition than usual, eat multiple meals a day, and try to drink more lactation-promoting foods, such as the most classic crucian carp soup and pig's trotter soup.

In order to promote the baby's brain development, mothers can eat some brain-boosting foods to ensure that breast milk can provide sufficient nutrition for the baby's brain development. Such as animal brain, liver, blood; fish, shrimp, eggs, milk, tofu, sesame, walnut, peanut, pine nut, carrot, spinach, enoki mushroom, banana, apple, millet, corn, etc. are all good choices.

Breastfeeding precautions

1. Breast care: If the pregnant mother decides to breastfeed, she should start taking care of her breasts before pregnancy, pay attention to massage when bathing, wear a loose bra to avoid compression of the mammary glands and blockage. If there are problems such as inverted nipples, you can consult a doctor and try to correct them as early as possible.

In addition, the mother's nipples should be kept clean at all times to prevent nipple and breast diseases. If the posture and method are appropriate when feeding in the future, there will be no big problem. After each feeding, if the baby does not suck the breasts empty, the excess milk should be sucked out with a breast pump. This is not a waste. Emptying the breasts can promote more milk secretion, relieve the pain of new mothers' milk swelling, and also have a health care effect on breast health.

2. Start breastfeeding as soon as possible: Generally speaking, 30 minutes after delivery, although the new mother has not started breastfeeding and may not have enough milk in her breasts, she should try her best to let the baby suck the breast and cultivate the baby's habit of sucking the breast as soon as possible. Otherwise, the baby may reject the mother's breast in the future.

3. Do not discard colostrum: The milk secreted by the mother within five days after delivery is called colostrum. Some mothers think that colostrum is "dirty" or has no nutritional value, so they squeeze it out and discard it, which is a pity. In fact, colostrum is the essence of nutrition, rich in the highest human immune factors and growth factors, which can enhance the baby's immunity and promote the baby's development. Therefore, you should feed your baby as hungry as possible within five days after delivery and try to supplement your baby as much as possible.

4. Pay attention to insufficient breast milk: When the mother's breast milk is insufficient, the breasts often do not swell before breastfeeding, the baby swallows less during breastfeeding, the baby sleeps short and restless after breastfeeding, often cries, and the weight does not increase or increases slowly. At this time, the mother needs to find out the reasons and correct them.

5. It is harmful for babies to sleep while feeding: Do not let your baby sleep with the nipple in his mouth. This is not only unhygienic, but also easily causes suffocation and vomiting. It will also affect the development of the baby's gums and cause deformities.

6. Keep a happy mood: The mother should breastfeed in a relaxed mood. If the mother has a mental burden or is very nervous, it will affect the secretion of milk.

Things you can't eat during breastfeeding

For the sake of the baby's health, mothers who are still breastfeeding should be patient with some foods, even if they are delicious. It is better for mothers to avoid the following things during the breastfeeding period.

1. Spicy foods and caffeine: Onions, garlic and other spicy foods should be avoided, as they can cause diarrhea or flatulence in babies, because these foods will change the taste and acidity of the milk after being absorbed by the mother's digestive system.

2. Foods that only contain calories: Try not to replace a reasonable diet with greasy or sweet foods, such as fried potato chips, candy and cakes. Because these foods usually contain high calories, but lack nutrition, can only provide short-term energy, and have a great impact on the quality of breast milk. In addition, fried foods are difficult to digest. For mothers who have just given birth, their digestive power is weak, and eating them is not good for their recovery.

3. Spicy food: If you eat spicy food during breastfeeding, it will enter the baby's body through breast milk and affect the baby's health. But it is okay to eat a small amount of condiments, such as pepper, vinegar, etc.

4. Chocolate: The theobromine contained in chocolate will penetrate into breast milk and accumulate in the baby's body. Theobromine can damage the nervous system and heart, relax muscles, increase urination, and cause indigestion and unstable sleep in babies. If mothers eat too much chocolate, their appetite will be affected and they will gain weight.

5. Pickled fish and meat: Generally, the daily salt intake for adults is 4.5-9 grams. According to your usual habits, you should not avoid salt, nor eat too much salt. If mothers eat too much salt, it will increase the burden on the kidneys, which is not good for the kidneys and will also increase blood pressure.

6. Eating too much MSG: Eating MSG has a serious impact on the baby's development, especially for babies under 12 weeks old. It will cause adverse consequences such as intellectual impairment, growth retardation, etc. It is best for mothers not to eat MSG during breastfeeding, and never be greedy for freshness and eat MSG at every meal.

7. Medicines and alcohol: After medicines and alcohol enter the blood, they can enter the baby's body through breast milk. Therefore, you should pay attention to the contraindications of medicines and avoid drinking.

8. Fruits that cannot be eaten: (1) Cool fruits: Most fruits in summer are cool fruits, such as cantaloupe, watermelon, melon, pear, kiwi, mango, and grapefruit. If a breastfeeding mother consumes too much cool fruits such as watermelon, it is easy to cause diarrhea in the baby. Oranges, grapefruits, tangerines and other fruits are rich in vitamin C, but these fruits are irritating and may cause vomiting, diarrhea, rash, runny nose and other symptoms in the baby. (2) Chilled fruits: Especially in summer, many people like to put fruits in the refrigerator to chill before taking them out. This is a taboo for breastfeeding mothers. If you eat too much of this kind of fruit, not only the mother is prone to diarrhea, but also the baby. The best way is to leave the fruit out of the refrigerator at room temperature for half an hour before eating.

9. Vegetables that cannot be eaten: Vegetables are rich in vitamins and can promote bowel movements, making them very suitable for eating during breastfeeding. However, not all vegetables are suitable for breastfeeding mothers.

For example, breastfeeding mothers should eat less leeks, malt water, ginseng, etc., because these vegetables will inhibit milk secretion. Try to eat less or no vegetables with hot properties, such as garlic and fennel, which are easy to cause internal heat in the mother's body, which will affect the baby. In addition, raw and cold vegetables cannot be eaten, as it will cause diarrhea in the baby. Vegetables must be heated and cooked before eating.

Common vegetables that can cause milk production should be eaten less or not during breastfeeding, such as leeks, peppers, beans, mushrooms, eggplants, lotus roots, fungus, bamboo shoots, etc. These vegetables can easily affect the normal secretion of breast milk, which will affect the feeding of the baby and may affect the baby's health due to low milk supply. However, in most cases, it is good for breastfeeding mothers to eat more vegetables, which can promote digestion and maintain a healthy diet.