What to eat when you’re breastfeeding

It’s no surprise that your energy and nutrition needs go up when you’re breastfeeding. Choose healthy foods and beverages to get the extra calories and nutrients you both need.

Did you know? Nursing—feeding your baby directly from your breast—helps to protect her ability to drink only as much as she needs.

Just as it was important to eat right while you were pregnant, it's also vital that you continue to do so while breastfeeding. Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you adapt to life as a nursing mom. 

Everything you need to know about expressing your breast milk and choosing the most suitable breast pump for you.

By Dr. Ted Jablonski, family physician

Depending on their level of hunger, your baby’s cues may become very obvious to you. The longer their hunger cues go unanswered, though, the more vocal and focused they will be to communicate that they're hungry.

Check out these four tried-and-tested breastfeeding holds that help you both relax and encourage your baby to latch on well. Which one works best for you? 

Breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months, and sustained for up to two years or longer with appropriate complementary feeding is important for the nutrition, immunologic protection, growth, and development of infants and toddlers and has many benefits for you as well.

Experts agree breast milk is best for babies. Not only is it the most nutritionally complete food your newborn will ever have, but it also benefits you and your baby in other ways, some that will last a lifetime.

6 things you need to know about feeding your baby in their first six months.

Did you know? Your breasts make just the right amount of breast milk for your baby. 

Breast milk is the best start for babies.

Now you’ve mastered breastfeeding in the comfort of your own home, it’s time to get out and about!  

Did you know? Getting your baby into good sleep habits now can affect their sleep as they grow up. 

Did you know that your breast milk changes to meet the needs of your baby? During the first few days after birth you will produce colostrum, a nutrient-rich milk, in small amounts, perfect for your baby’s tiny tummy. By the second week your breast milk will change to mature milk to meet your baby’s growing needs.

Can you identify which of these responsive feeding principles are fact and which ones are fiction?

Breastfeeding is a learned process—by mom and baby—and you may face some challenges in the first few months of breastfeeding. The most important advice is to seek help as soon as you sense a problem and find a good support network early on.

Take action with these tips to try.

Breast milk contains the right quantity and quality of proteins to boost your baby’s growth and health—both now and in the future.