You {or a friend or loved one} have just welcomed home your new baby. You’re overwhelmed with love and adoration! And you’re tired. Oh so tired. Already!
Your parenting instincts have already kicked in – no matter how much you feel they haven’t. And just when you’re about to go brew some coffee for yourself, your new baby awakes and it’s time to eat.
Nursing your new baby can have its challenges at first and proper nutrition & hydration are helpful elements to sustain longterm success.
Many people focus on specific supplements or nutrients to promote milk supply as time goes on and the baby is growing, especially to help moms that may be struggling, but the truth is pretty simply.
Eating good and staying hydrated is really all that may be needed {and has the strongest evidence base to support} for the health of your milk production.
There are some evidence to support, although conflicting and limited, that fenugreek may helped to boost milk volume. Similarly, moringa is another herb that has inconsistent and contradictory research to show it may help with milk supply as well. However, despite the limited data to back these up, both of them can be taken as teas rather than powders or capsules, so if you’re interested, drinking a cup of tea 2-3 times per day with either of these herbs may not be a bad idea. Especially considering that tea is a fluid, which is hydrating, and hydration is one of the most vital components of a sustained milk supply.
So back to eating well and keeping hydrated, which can be hard enough on their own, not to mention when you throw in the fatigue of new parenting. That cup of coffee you wanted earlier, it’s cold now. Hope you wanted to make it iced.
Eating well helps pass those essential nutrients into the mama’s milk supply and hydration helps to support a healthy volume of milk that is needed by the baby.
If you’re a new mama, get in the habit now of always carrying a big bottle of water with you. No matter where you go. From one room to the next. And refill it. This will help now as your nursing, but also later when you have to share your own water when taking a walk with your then toddler or when heading to the zoo and your tot gets thirsty as well. What’s yours is theirs. And will always be so just get used to it now.
For eating well, clients share with me all too often their reliance on eating out. Now while you can find healthier (or request) options when dining or getting take out, getting in this habit now is not necessarily something that will be good for everyone if continued long term.
So here are some of my favorite recipes that I want to share with you that are nourishing and can be made ahead of time. These would be great gifts to take to new parents, or if you’re in your final trimester, start making some of these for dinner now and freezing some {or a second batch} so you have a freezer stocked to reheatable meals for whenever you may need once baby arrives.
Spaghetti Squash Crusted Quiche
You may not be as equipped to plan out your day right now, especially when it comes to what you’ll eat. So we can’t forget about healthful snacks. Having easy + fast, not to mention good-for-you snacks on hand is also key to helping you stay nourished in this phase. Some of my favorite snacks include:
Fruit + Cheese or Nuts or Nut Butter
Greek Yogurt Parfait
Protein bars such as Oatmega, No Cow Bar, KIND (low sugar), or homemade ones!
Kashi Go Lean cereal
Van’s 8 grain waffle with almond butter (or a homemade waffle or pancake you can freeze and reheat)
Hopefully now you feel a bit more equipped to handle the nutrition portion of your new life. If you’re a a seasoned new mom, do you have favorite recipes that helped you to add to this list? I’d love to hear your experiences!
xo,
Becca
twistednutritionblog.com 