Eating Well For Your Baby

Congratulations, you are pregnant! The next nine months are going to be an exciting time, not just for you but for your growing baby! Think of all the things a baby has to accomplish in only nine (ten) short months. They start as a single cell and then divide at an enormous rate. Their organs develop, the heart forms and starts beating and all five senses form.

Basically your baby goes from a little blob that can’t be seen with the human eye into a seven, eight, nine or even ten pound adorable newborn baby. In order for your baby to develop as healthy as possible, your diet should play a big part. This is because your diet is how your baby is going to receive all the vitamins, minerals, protein and fluids that he or she needs to grow and develop. The best thing you and any other pregnant mother can do for your growing baby is to eat as healthy as you possibly can. Let us look at all the benefits eating well can do for your baby.

First, eating right is going to help your baby’s organ development. Your baby only has a short time to develop vital organs such as their heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys. Eating a diet that lacks vitamin D or calcium can interfere with your baby’s bone and tooth growth.

Next eating too lightly through out pregnancy might stop your baby from growing as it should in your uterus. You might find yourself measuring behind for where you should be in your pregnancy. Small babies are at a greater risk for healthy problems once they are born. On the other hand, eating to much can cause your baby to grow too big to fast. Babies who are measuring ahead are at a greater risk for delivery complications. Babies who are too big usually can not be delivered vaginally without the assistance of instruments such as forceps or a vacuum. Some women are forced to have a cesarean section because they can not deliver their baby vaginally.

Some research has been done that shows what you eat during pregnancy can affect your baby’s eating habits down the line. Babies can taste and get use to the flavors from food that makes its way into the amniotic fluid. It is quiet possible that your baby will have a preference for certain foods before they even take that first spoonful of solids. By making sure your diet contains a lot of vegetables and fruit can help ensure that your baby will enjoy eating that went he time comes.

Also, as hard to believe as it is, some studies have shown that what you are eating can contribute to your baby’s personality. Research has shown that babies born to mothers who were under-nourished tend to smile less and are drowsier compared to those who at healthy. Also, studies have shown that moms who consumed enough omega-3 acids during their final trimester have babies who showed healthier sleep patterns than other babies.

Lastly, your baby’s brain needs you to eat healthy especially during the last trimester. Unlike the rest of your baby’s organs, the brain has its greatest growth spurt during the third trimester. This is the best time to eat protein, calories and omega-3 fatty acids. These ensure optimum brain development.

There has never been a more important time to eat healthy than pregnancy. Eating healthy while pregnant is the best gift you can give your child to be.

Eating for Breastfeeding

In your third trimester, your baby was old enough to start getting a taste of the foods his or her mommy likes. Now that your baby is here and you’re breast feeding, your baby will get an even better taste of your favorite food.

Typically if you are nursing your baby you should produce anywhere from 23 to 27 ounces of milk a day. In order to do this, you need to increase your calorie intake by about 500 more a day.

You also have to increase your water consumption to at least 2 1/2 to 3 quarts of water a day. You may notice that you are thirstier during nursing session. This is because the water you drink goes right to milk production. Try not to drink more than 3 quarts of water a day. Anything more than 3 quarts can reduce the amount of milk your body produces.

As stated earlier, you need to up your calorie intake. Plan to take in about 2500 calories a day or more if you are planning to nurse for longer than three months. These extra calories should not come from junk food. Junk food and sweets are just empty calories and offer no nutritional value to you or your baby. Eat more protein. A good rule of thumb is to eat 1 gram of protein each day for every pound you weigh. If you weigh 150, aim to eat 150grams of protein a day.

If you were not doing so during pregnancy, adopt the six meals a day program. Eat breakfast, a midday snack, lunch, a mid afternoon snack, dinner and a night time snack. Your body is going to be making milk continually so it is a good idea to keep it charged with calories through out the day.

There are some foods you might want to avoid during pregnancy. Pretty much everything passes through breast milk and to the baby. This is why the first thing pediatricians advise nursing moms to do when their baby has colic is to look at what they are eating. Chocolate has been blamed in many cases of colic and can cause an upset tummy for most babies. f you have a baby with a tummy ache think back to see if you had a candy bar or even a cookie in the hours before you nursed. The best advice is to stay away from chocolate while you are nursing.

Stay away from greasy and spicy foods while you are breastfeeding. Greasy foods sometimes upset adults stomachs, imagine what it would do to your baby’s immature stomach? Wait until your baby is older and no longer nursing before you start making trips back to McDonalds.

You may also want to stay away from garlic and onions while you are breast feeding. Both of these can flavor the breast milk and you may find that your little one will not nurse if you have eaten these. Your little one may be just a tad too young to appreciate the taste of garlic and onions anyway. Remember it takes a few hours for the food you eat to make its way into your breast milk. You may have eaten one of these foods right before you nurse and see your baby is fine but by either the following nursing session or the one after you might find your baby having a reaction then.

Your breast milk does not only taste like what you eat, but also what you drink. Just as with pregnancy, you should stay away from a lot of caffeine while breastfeeding. You might need some coffee or caffeine filled soda to keep you functioning and a cup or two will not hurt you or your baby, but too much could have disastrous effects. Just as we experience the jitters and shakes from too much caffeine, your baby does also. Keep your caffeine down to a minimum.

You have made an excellent choice breastfeeding your baby. Keep it up by making good choices as to what you eat.