eating for breastfeeding

Last week I was very lucky to win a giveaway on Kiwi Mummy Blogs for a voucher from Kate at Yum Yum Kids. Check out this fabulous website as Kate doesn't just sell everything you could ever need for feeding your little ones, she is also a  qualified nutritionist and has heaps of advice and ideas for anything nutritionally related.  

Here are some cute things that have caught my eye...

'Green to Grow' BPA- free bottle

Skip Hop plate

Russian doll placemat

Penny Scallan cars lunchbox

I thought I'd ask Kate her advice for a good diet when breastfeeding as Jack is not keen on a bottle yet and I am feeling pretty tired (3 kids will do that to you!!), especially in the mid to late afternoons. And after reading the first few chapters of YSM Body Bible I realised that I am actually not eating enough in the day, and that I need to increase my intake of protein and reduce my sugar intake! So I asked Kate if she could give me (and any of you breastfeeding mums out there) some advice on good eating for breastfeeding. Well, she came back with some fantastic advice so I've made it into notes to share with you- even if you're not breastfeeding there's a lot of advice for good healthy eating too.

• When breastfeeding your baby will be getting all he needs from your milk as your body will prioritise this over everything else.
• requirements for protein and complex carbohydrates (ie low GI carbs such as pasta, potatoes, wholegrains, vege's) increase when breastfeeding
• breastfeeding is one of the only times when you do actually need more food.  It is roughly 2000 – 2100kJ extra a day which basically equates to another meal (probably easier to just make up for it with snacks)!   It is good to try and get the extra 2000kJ from nutrient dense foods too not just a large piece of chocolate cake (although that does sound tempting)!  Reason being is that other vitamin and mineral requirements do go up too
•  For sustained energy you need to be looking to include protein, fibre and low GI carbohydrates (I.e. Whole grains).  All these will provide you with a slow release of energy versus sugar or refined/processed carbohydrates which is a big spike followed by a very big subsequent drop in blood glucose levels. 

A meal plan...Kate analysed what I typically eat in the day and gave me some ideas...

Breakfast: Toast (wholegrain bread is best) is fine but it would be good to try add some protein to this.  Eggs are great but can be time consuming when cooked the traditional way.  I often just crack an egg into a tea cup and zap it in the microwave for 20 seconds, give it a swirl and then another 10 seconds…you'll see if it is ready.  Other ideas are cheese on toast or cottage cheese on toast.  Try and not have your tea with your meal at the exact same time as the tannins will reduce your iron absorption although the juice with vitamin C will probably help to combat this (vitamin C increases iron absorption).  Porridge (made with milk) is also good topped with some fruit and yoghurt. A bowl of cereal and milk is a great option too.

Morning tea: Try to have something a bit more substantial and nutrient dense than just biscuits.  Maybe have one biscuit and add something else to this like a pottle of yoghurt, dried fruit and nuts, cereal and fruit, muesli bar (choose ones low in sugar) etc.  No reason to cut out all the yummy stuff, just a matter of making sure you are getting enough good stuff too.

Lunch: Soup with some whole grain bread is great, be good to try and include a serve of protein as this will keep you fuller for longer (the sustained energy you talked about). Or add lentils, chick peas or barley to soups.  Can you make a little extra dinner and then all you need to do is heat it up for lunch the next day?  Quiches can be great.  I make a very easy fritatta which can be made in bulk, portioned into muffin tins and frozen so all you need to do is take one out of the freezer and it is all done! http://www.yumyumkids.co.nz/articles/Yum+Yum+Kids+Fritatta.html  Have a piece of fruit with lunch too if you want to ensure you are getting enough then you are not only relying on fruit for your snacks alone.

Afternoon: You will be starving by 5pm because firstly you have not had enough for lunch and secondly you only had fruit for afternoon tea (although a smoothie made with yoghurt and milk is a much better option).  I would move the cheese and crackers forward to afternoon tea time if you feel like these so that you don't get to that point of no return.  Or even a slice of wholegrain toast topped with banana, marmite, peanut butter or cheese.  Crackers although good can quite often not really be that filling or provide much in the way of fibre etc.  But they are not a bad option.  If having fruit have something else with it too – you will then find you are not so hungry come 5pm.  Same things apply as per the morning tea.  If you are still hungry just before dinner maybe have some chopped up carrots with hummus or cottage cheese or a glass of milk to see you through.  

Dinner sounds good – try to make sure it includes protein, veggies and a serve of complex carbohydrates. What about desert??? Definitely need this! :)

What you need more of while breastfeeding:

• Vitamins: Vitamin C requirement almost doubles, vitamin A increases substantially and so does folate so aim for 6 servings of fruit and veggies every day (4 x veggies, 2 x fruit).  Dark leafy greens are a good source of folate – but generally just aim for a good colour mix which will ensure a good balance of all different vitamins they provide.
• Good quality carbohydrates are needed to fuel the breastfeeding process.  Dietary fibre requirements increase from 25g to 30g – that is as much as a man.  This equates to roughly 7 serves (yip quite a bit) of whole grain carbs.  Grainy breads, muesli, porridge, brown rice etc
• Extra protein - protein rich foods are also a good source of iron, zinc and Vitamin B12.  Aim for two serves of protein a day.  Meat, nuts, fish, eggs, chicken, legumes
• Dairy, although protein, is generally given it's very own recommendation as it is really important - aim for at least 3 servings a day which you are probably not getting at the moment.  Hence try to include in snacks.
• You need more fluids while breastfeeding – around 10 cups a day.  This can be hard in winter.  Herbal teas are good or trim milk also good.
• Iodine –  consider taking a supplement.  Around 150mcg generally is recommended.

Great advice don't you think. Some of the things I'm going to be doing is making more mid afternoon smoothies, making my own meusli bars, buying some mixed nuts to snack on, and trying to have a proper lunch everyday that includes some protein- I'm thinking soups with chickpeas will be a great start. And drinking more water! 


If you have any nutrition related questions for you or your little ones you can contact Kate on 

• the Yum Yum Kids facebook page (Kate puts lots of great feeding tips and ideas on here) 
• or the Yum Yum Kids website.

Hope this helps any of you breastfeeding mums out there :) If you have any tips or recipes to share would love to hear of them!

Megan x 

PS: Sorry the font is little in this post-can't figure out how to change it as it's meant to be 'normal' size- think it's because I copied and pasted from my email.