Breast milk is aptly coined as “nectar of life ” for a Read orn. Breast milk is the best option that your baby can have in the first 6 months of his life. Even water is discouraged to be given during this period as for that you need properly sterilized utensils as well as the water itself. Breast milk is free from all these hassles, in fact, the thick yellow coloured milk that comes out after delivery has the maximum number of antibodies and a great booster to the immunity of newborn.
I think most of the moms are aware of the endless benefits of breast milk, the problem surfaces when you don’t provide an adequate quantity to fill the tummy of your baby. My gynaecologist had shared a very beneficial decoction which I will share with you guys in this post. I had taken this decoction for 2 months as a result of which neither faced any gastrointestinal problems nor in the flow of breast milk for my twins.
Now that you are a new mother and you are on the path of nursing your newborn, here are some tips to establish good milk supply in the first few weeks after your baby’s birth.
New mothers need an extra 500 calories per day. Depending on how active you are, this translates to anything between 2200-2700 calories per day.
- To produce both good qualities as well as the quantity of breast milk, mom’s diet should have protein, fat and water.
- New Mom should consume 4 litres of water every day. Part of this could be derived from the following decoction preparation.
- Boil a litre of water with 2 tbsps of Jeera ( cumin seeds),2 tbsps of ajwain (carom seeds) 2 tbsps of methi ( fenugreek seeds) and a small piece of ginger.
- Strain and drink it warm 3-4 times in a day.
- This decoction is good for digestion as well as breast milk production.
- Few Nutritious food items which are handy for snacking and quick meals like Dahi ( curd), cheese, salads, fresh fruits, nuts, whole grain bread/ crackers, eggs, sprouts.
- Also, you can grind dry jeera ( cumin seeds) – black pepper in the proportion of 2:1. This can be used with rice and ghee ( clear butter) at lunch & dinner Both as an appetizer and digestive.
Here is a sample Diet plan for New Mom
Morning
- Milk ( you can add proteins or Horlick)
- 4 dry dates soaked in milk overnight or 4 almonds soaked in water overnight.
Toast with butter/jam (Optional)
Mid – Morning
1.Any breakfast food such as poha, Upma, idli, dosa, bread sandwich, eggs, Anything nutritious, easily digestible.
2.Fresh fruits/ fresh juice
Snacks
1. A handful of nuts: Walnuts, Almonds, Dates, Dried figs, Raisins or mixture of all the above-mentioned nuts in little quantity respectively.
2. Bowl of sprouts raw or steamed however preferred. You can add lemon juice, chopped onion, tomatoes with a bit of black salt along with coriander leaves.
3. Few pieces of paneer tossed on a frying pan with salt and chat masala.
4.Small laddoos of TIL (sesame seeds), jaggery, ghee (clear butter) or any other traditional postpartum laddus.
Lunch
1. Start with a bowl of rice ( 5-6 tbsps) along with ghee, a pinch of salt and jeera-black pepper powder. This helps in digestion and helps to regain strength post-delivery.
2.Rice or roti with daal ( preferably moong dal for first 20 days after delivery).
3. One cup of Lauki( gourd) cooked in your dal or as curry. This vegetable works wonder for breastmilk production.
4. One dish should be of green leafy vegetable like Methi leaves (fenugreek leaves), this leafy veggie also helps in breast milk production.
5.Curd or buttermilk
Mid – Afternoon
1.Tea with biscuits.
2. Healthy snacks not fried one or a fruit/fruit salad
Evening
1. Sabudana kheer ( sabudana soaked earlier and cooked in milk you can add almonds, cashew, or raisins as per your choice). Would recommend this for all feeding mothers, sabudana stimulates for good breast milk production.
2. Once good milk flow is established it can be replaced by veg/non-veg soup.
Dinner
1. Start again with a bowl of rice, ghee, salt and jeera- black pepper powder. This would assist in digestion especially in the night.
2. Rice or roti with veg / non-veg curry.
Nighttime
1. Warm milk before going to bed.
2. Can carry few easy healthy snacks item if you are awake to nurse your baby and feel hungry.
Hope this post, helps all the new mom out there to establish a good flow of breast milk as well as combat digestive problems which usually most of the woman face after delivery.
Read Diet chart for 6-8 months baby
You can also read other related posts on breastfeeding here :
How to explain breastfeeding to your elder child
thanks so much for the small recipes for breast-feeding mothers. I will be saving this post to use as a guide for new moms in my family. Sometimes new moms, especially first time ones struggle with doubts, i’m sure these special diets will give them confidence.
Do share it as this diet plan was charted out by my Gynaecologist herself.She is a reputed one in Hyderabad.
This is a very helpful post for new moms… thank you for sharing the meal plan too. Sharing it with my one of my friends who is going to have a baby soon
It is great that you took the time to put together this comprehensive and wholesome diet chart for breastfeeding mothers. The period of breastfeeding is a confusing one for mothers- where some lose weight during this time, some, like me, put it on! So it’s good to be aware of what should be eaten and what should be avoided. Drinking plenty of water is key!
Thats is a comprehensive diet chart for new moms Debidutta…am sure many will benefit from it.
Great informative post dear and I am glad you had included jeera ajwain decocation recipe in this. I had consumed this after birth of my both girls and I could say confidently, it is so beneficial for breast feeding moms.
Perfect chart. Did follow most of these things and it indeed helped
Especially the jeers water. KKeep writing m keep sharing
Very useful post for all the new moms, I feel so fortunate that I followed every points during my delivery days under the guidance and care of my mom and mom-in-law. Very informative!
Loved your post it’s very useful .yes your homemade mentions for digestion and diet plan are quiet nice.. although my kid is grown up but I can relate n remember my days
Yes I loved your post regarding board exams…thanku aunty from my son..as he is in 10th.
U r a gem for u IAM here ..thanks again.❤️
I am happy that your son found it useful . Convey my best wishes for his exams.
Sure..
Wonderful diet plan for some people though some are allergic and stuff to many things. I used to have methi and jaggery and i loved it so much that my mom used to make it in bulk and i would have two bowls every single day for a week.
I was not aware of the allergic part as for my knowledge most of the diet is regular food that we have at home. Moreover this plan was also given by my gynae .
This is actually a practical food plan, no fancy things and all simplified to ease understanding. During initial months my diet was similar to this, with replacement of dal. I used to have kulthir dal instead of toor or moong, it helps with body aches and recovery. 🙂
Moong is good but did not know about benefits of kulthir dal for post delivery recovery.
What a great read. So helpful for all breastfeeding moms who are breastfeeding.
These are some really useful and healthy tips. So glad that you have shared them here. Keep writing
Breastfeeding is one of the most important phase of a mother which brings both the mother and baby close to each other. Diet of course is very crucial which every mother should take good care of.
That is a must read post for new moms. I hope I had this ready reference available when I was breastfeeding. A very well written and informative post I must say
A wonderful post for new moms!