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During fasting, your body does not receive food, which forces it to produce energy by burning stored fat...
Breastfeeding is a natural process programmed in the body of every woman who has given birth. Babies who are fed fully and for a long time with mother's milk have stronger immunity than children who are bottle-fed. They bond strongly with their mother, as breastfeeding brings mother and baby closer together. Breastfeeding babies are actively developing and growing quickly.
Breastfeeding is much healthier than formula
Each woman has her own physical characteristics, and milk may remain in small quantities, especially after a cesarean section, anesthesia, during periods of stress or illness. What should you do so that you can fully feed your newborn and not resort to artificial formula? The simplest thing is to eat foods that increase breast milk production in a nursing mother (we recommend reading:). To enhance lactation you need to eat right.
After the baby is born, the mother needs to rest more and be in comfortable conditions. A woman, if she is not too physically strong, is able to feed her baby to the full only if she has adequate sleep and an adequate daily routine.
Childbirth is a difficult test for the body, and it can experience various disruptions, which, in turn, affects lactation.
There are also serious hormonal disorders. In this case, lactation can be established only with the help of hormonal therapy, but such milk will no longer be beneficial for the baby. There is also a hereditary predisposition to lack of lactation. Why does the amount of milk in my mother's breast decrease? Let us highlight the main reasons for decreased lactation in a nursing mother:
If you do not have serious illnesses or disruptions in the functioning of the body, try to normalize lactation with proper nutrition. What a mother eats affects not only the quality of milk, but also the quantity. The mother needs to adhere to a certain diet so that the baby does not have allergies or problems with the gastrointestinal tract, so that enough milk comes in. A nursing mother does not need to eat a lot. Eat in moderation, healthy foods. Calculate your diet and be sure to include the following products:
The quality of the prepared food matters. Do not snack in pastry shops or restaurants; buy food in trusted stores. Before eating yogurt, especially in warmer months, check the expiration date. It is better to use starter cultures or make fermented milk yourself in a yogurt maker or thermos. It is better to eat vegetables and fruits from your own garden or purchase from regular sellers, because often the “gifts of nature” are pumped with nitrates. Drink enough liquid (up to 3 liters per day), because this is a prerequisite for increasing lactation. This could be liquid fermented milk products, tea, compote, water, herbs, and a little milk. It’s good if the liquid is warm overnight.
Why is it so important for a nursing mother to eat right? On the one hand, the child needs this. Everything you eat ends up in your milk. Food should contain enough carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins and microelements. On the other hand, the mother must support her body, which is not yet strong after childbirth, stressed by breastfeeding and constant worries about the newborn. If your milk is not enough, you feel that the baby is not getting enough, do not rush to run to the pharmacy for formula. Try to increase lactation by introducing certain foods into your diet.
A nursing mother should not be on a strict diet. Rather, she should eat like a person who cares about her health, who does not know what fast food, alcohol and food from public catering are, according to Dr. Komarovsky. The following ingredients should be strictly prohibited in the diet of a nursing mother:
Let us consider in detail the question of which foods actively stimulate milk production in a nursing mother. The list shows products that increase milk production, the microelements they contain and the consumption rate (calculated per serving). This is healthy and tasty food, not medications. It is much better to resort to natural methods of treatment.
100-150 gr. | Watermelon, fermented baked milk, kefir. |
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70-80 gr. | Pure carrots and freshly squeezed juice, beef. |
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40-60 gr. | Buckwheat, natural honey, pure cottage cheese, beef tongue, oatmeal. |
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30-50 gr. | Chicken or chicken broth, rice and barley porridge, low-fat fish, hard cheese, black currants, lettuce. |
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5-20 gr. | Walnuts, virgin oil, radishes, beets and freshly squeezed beet juice, dill or fennel, garlic. |
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The most popular foods that enhance milk production are fennel and walnuts. Fennel infusion is also given to babies with colic, so drinking it is doubly useful. Improvements in the amount of milk will not keep you waiting if you regularly drink a cup of warm tea with a spoon of honey at night (more details in the article:). An infusion of walnuts in milk not only enhances lactation, but also improves the condition of the body as a whole. Great if you love fermented milk products, which help stimulate milk production and improve digestion.
Some foods that prolong lactation in a nursing mother are not only healthy, but can cause allergies - everything is individual here. Doctors do not recommend consuming it in quantities greater than the specified daily intake. If you yourself do not suffer from food allergies, the baby’s body may experience an opposite, negative reaction to the following foods:
Increasing lactation is not easy, but possible. Eat foods that improve milk production, put your baby to the breast often (this promotes the production of prolactin), drink plenty of fluids and get plenty of rest. The mother of a newborn should, first of all, not clean the house or prepare a menu for the whole family, but take care of the baby. The first year of your child's life will fly by quickly. You will still have time to stand at the stove or run around with a vacuum cleaner in your hands in all subsequent years, but you will not return the period of breastfeeding.
Remember that your milk is the key to your child’s health for decades to come. Think about your health, and let your loved ones help you in this good goal.
Many mothers face a shortage of milk. Let's figure out what the amount of milk depends on and how you can increase lactation.
The hormones prolactin and oxytocin are responsible for milk production. These hormones begin to act actively from the effect on the breasts, on the nipples, that is, while the baby is sucking on the breast. The main reason for good lactation is frequent breastfeeding, especially at night. If you feel that your baby is not getting enough, feed him more often. You should not follow the regime and feed by the hour if you have problems with lactation. Milk arrives in the same quantity as it left. With frequent and prolonged breastfeeding, the body will understand that it needs to produce a little more milk. But don’t think that now you will feed your baby for days. As soon as you manage to establish breastfeeding, you can gradually increase the intervals between feedings and, if desired, even switch to a regimen, that is, feed every 3 - 3.5 hours for 10 minutes.
Why are night feedings so important for good lactation? The fact is that it is at night and in the morning that prolactin, the lactation hormone, is most actively produced. In the absence of breastfeeding at this time, the hormone will gradually subside and lactation will decrease. The time from 2:00 to 7:00 is especially important; try to wake up the baby if he does not wake up on his own and apply it at least once during this period. To get enough sleep without losing breastfeeding, you can practice co-sleeping during the period of establishing guards. Constant skin-to-skin contact will have a positive effect on lactation, and during feeding you will not need to get up, you will be able to feed lying on your side and rest all night. The only disadvantage of co-sleeping is the baby's possible addiction. If you don’t want co-sleeping to become your permanent norm, try to accustom your baby to his crib as early as possible.
Analyze your diet - are you consuming enough calories and nutrients? Often, mothers in the first months of a child’s life eat incorrectly, do not eat enough healthy foods, or are completely malnourished. The diet during breastfeeding should increase by an average of 700 kcal per day and include a variety of foods. If there is a lack of calories for a long time, lactation will decrease and the mother’s health will deteriorate.
Must be consumed every day:
Do not drink alcoholic beverages under any circumstances and avoid smoking. Alcohol and nicotine have a bad effect on lactation and can harm the baby.
Ginger drink. Grate the ginger root, pour boiling water over it and let it brew. You can add honey, lemon, sugar. Can also be added to regular tea.
Fenugreek tea. Fenugreek seeds are brewed with tea.
Anise infusion. 2 tsp. Pour anise seeds into 1 cup of boiling water and leave to steep for 1 hour. Cool and drink 2 tablespoons 3-4 times a day half an hour before meals.
Cream with cumin. Add 2 tbsp to 2 cups of 10% cream. l. caraway seeds, pour the resulting mixture into a ceramic pot, close the lid and place in the oven to simmer (at low temperature) for 30-40 minutes. Cool the drink; drink half a glass for breakfast and dinner.
Carrot juice. Grate well-washed carrots on a fine grater, squeeze out the juice and drink half a glass 2-3 times a day. You can add milk, cream, berry and fruit juices to the juice (no more than 2 tablespoons).
Caraway kvass. Cut 1 kg of rye bread into small pieces, dry, lightly fry, add 10 liters of water and leave for 3-4 hours. Strain the infusion, add 25g of yeast, 0.5kg of sugar, 40g of caraway seeds and place in a warm place to ferment for 10-12 hours.
Drink made from anise, fennel and oregano. Mix 10 g of crushed anise fruits, fennel fruits and oregano herb. Take 1 tsp. mixture and pour a glass of boiling water, leave for 2 hours. Drink half a glass 2-3 times a day.
Radish juice with honey. Infuse 100g of radish with 100g of water, add salt.
And remember, in order to increase lactation, it is very important to avoid stress and experience negative emotions as little as possible, so try to protect yourself from many advisers and bad news.
Often, breastfeeding mothers are concerned about a decrease in milk supply. At the same time, women are in a hurry to supplement their feeding or even switch it to artificial nutrition. However, breastfeeding is called natural because it is provided by nature, and there is no better nutrition for the baby. Experts say that in 98% of cases, a decrease in lactation is a temporary and completely normal phenomenon. In addition, this phenomenon is cyclical and can be repeated every two to three months. Therefore, there is no need to rush to feed your baby. With a little effort, the milk supply will increase again. And, first of all, products that increase lactation will help with this.
First of all, to maintain or increase lactation, you need to increase the amount of fluid you drink per day. The body of a nursing mother produces about 900 ml daily. milk, which means you need to drink about a liter more liquid than usual. These can be drinks, juices, tea, milk and even soups. But you shouldn’t overdo it with liquid either; its amount per day should be no more than 2 liters. Otherwise, the volume of milk may indeed increase, but its quality will suffer - the amount of vitamins, proteins and fat will decrease. Instead, experts advise including foods for your diet - milk, green tea, and fermented milk products. For example, before feeding, it is recommended to drink a cup of freshly brewed green tea, always hot, you can add milk to it. Instead of tea, you can drink kefir or yogurt. It is also recommended to drink black during the day. It is advisable to drink 0.5 liters of milk daily.
Products that increase lactation are also nuts, seeds, carrots, fennel, feta cheese, honey, some seasonings, in particular anise, cumin and ginger. Not only milk drinks stimulate lactation, but also walnut syrup, carrot juice, and natural blackcurrant juice. Products to increase lactation include apilak, which mothers are advised to use, among other things, to strengthen the body. However, apilak should be used with caution, since bee products can cause allergies in a child.
In addition, products that increase lactation include many medicinal herbs that were successfully used by our great-grandmothers. These include nettle, oregano, hawthorn, anise, and dill. The benefits of consuming herbs are obvious, because many of them not only have lactogenic properties, but also have a beneficial effect on the nervous system and help strengthen the immune system. By the way, there are many recipes that include both lactogenic herbs and products that increase lactation.
Folk recipes
20 gr. Nettle leaves (dry) are poured with boiling water (1 liter) and infused. Take 1 tbsp infusion. spoon three times during the day.
Crush the fruits of anise and dill (25 grams each) and mix. Then pour 1 teaspoon of the resulting mixture with a glass of boiling water. The infusion is taken three times a day, before meals, 1 tbsp. spoon.
50 gr. oat flakes are mixed with dried apricots and walnuts (100 g each). The mass is poured with fermented milk drinks or milk.
Buckwheat is fried in a frying pan and eaten like seeds throughout the day.
Take half a glass of freshly squeezed carrot juice three times a day.
100 ml. radish juice and cooled, salted boiled water are mixed with honey (1 tablespoon). Drink this solution three times a day.
Ginger decoction is effective for increasing lactation. Take a tablespoon of ginger (ground) per 1/2 liter of water and boil for 5 minutes. Take the decoction three times a day, one-third of a glass.
2 tbsp. spoons of walnuts (shelled) are poured into a thermos with two glasses of milk (first bring to a boil). Leave the mixture to infuse overnight. In the morning, divide the solution into 4 parts, drink the entire volume per day.
100 gr. Grind figs, dried apricots and raisins and mix with ground walnuts (1 cup). Add 100 gr. honey and butter, mix again. Take the mixture 15 minutes before feeding, one tablespoon at a time.
Mix 4 cups of kefir with a liter of milk, add 10 g. walnuts, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of crushed dandelion petals and dill leaves. Beat the mixture with a mixer, take half a glass with breakfast.
Sometimes breastfeeding can be associated with some problems. And the point is not only that a woman does not want to breastfeed, but that sometimes hypolactia occurs - insufficient milk production. But this condition can be prevented.
Why does milk deficiency occur?
As practice shows, a true lack of milk is quite rare, affecting only 5% of women who seek help, and this is associated with serious hormonal disorders. In other cases, all causes of hypolactia can be easily eliminated by prescribing a special diet for breastfeeding mothers, working with the mother, and teaching proper latching and feeding. And only if these methods are ineffective, special tea or even drug therapy is prescribed.
First of all, the menu of a nursing mother when breastfeeding should include:
The listed products should be included in the daily diet, only in this case it can be called balanced.
In addition to the healthy group, there is a group of foods that need to be excluded from the diet, or at least reduce their consumption:
There are a number of products that specifically increase milk production, for example:
Correct drinking regime
In addition to feeding a breastfeeding mother, a sufficient amount of liquid in the diet is also important in increasing lactation. Experts recommend drinking at least 2 liters per day, and 10 - 15 minutes before feeding you need to drink a glass of warm liquid, this can be sweet compotes, tea with milk (preferably green). There is a list of products that increase milk production in a nursing mother, for example, carrot juice, or a “cocktail” consisting of juice and cream/milk.
Caraway kvass, which you can prepare yourself at home, will be useful: a kilogram of black bread, 40 g of caraway seeds, half a kilogram of sugar, 25 g of yeast per 10 liters of water. The preparation method is no different from preparing regular kvass.
Since ancient times it has been known that umbrella plants - dill, anise, fennel - will stimulate lactation. These plants can be used in the form of infusions. Dandelion, nettle, oregano, and ginger also belong to the group of products that stimulate lactation.
An excellent way to increase milk production and provide the baby with all the necessary vitamins is sweetened dried fruit compote. Dried apples, plums, and a small amount of pears can be used as ingredients. Low-fat meat broths, even soups and milk can be used as drinks.
Often milk secretion decreases due to the wrong approach to breastfeeding. For example, a baby is bottle-fed and breastfed alternately. The child quickly chooses an easier sucking option - a bottle, and is lazy to suck milk from the breast. As a result, the mother's body reduces the production of nutrient fluid. The use of a pacifier and feeding “on a schedule”, without taking into account the needs of the child, also have an effect.
In addition, your milk supply naturally decreases over time. In the first time after childbirth, the mammary glands work in an enhanced mode, creating a kind of “reserve”. The body then adapts to the child's needs, producing as much nutrition as he needs. Another common occurrence during breastfeeding is a lactation crisis. In this condition, milk is not produced for several days, and then lactation resumes.
The baby's health status also affects the amount of milk. Infant jaundice, a short frenulum of the tongue, and even naturally increased drowsiness prevent the baby from completely sucking milk from the breast.
But the most important factor is the mother's well-being. Often, lactation stops in women with anemia, hypothyroidism, hormonal and postpartum problems. Chronic fatigue, taking certain medications and smoking have a negative impact.
Products with lactogenic properties help improve the secretion of mother's milk. They speed up metabolism and increase the level of the hormones oxytocin and prolactin, which are responsible for lactation.
On average, the mammary glands of a healthy woman produce up to 1.5 liters of milk per day. This amount fluctuates at different periods of feeding, and depends on many factors - age, health and, of course, the mother’s diet.
The nutrient fluid is conventionally divided into “front” and “back”. The first has a thinner consistency and contains more water, minerals and carbohydrates. It enters the baby's stomach at the beginning of feeding, quenching thirst and stimulating appetite. The “back” portion is yellowish in color, thick and highly saturated with fats and proteins.
At home, it is impossible to measure exactly how much milk a baby sucks. But you can find out if he has enough nutrition based on 3 signs:
However, not only the quantity matters, but also the fat content of the product - at least 4%. You can measure it yourself by expressing 0.5 cups of hind milk. It is poured into a transparent container and placed in the refrigerator for 6-7 hours. During this time, the milk fat will concentrate on top, forming a layer of cream. Its thickness is measured with a ruler. Each millimeter equals 1% fat content.
One of the key factors for successful breastfeeding is the mother's correct diet. It should include proteins, poly- and monounsaturated fats, complex carbohydrates and fiber. For weak lactation, you need to use the most effective lactogens:
Some drinks also increase the secretion of breast milk - barley decoction, coconut water, artificial coffee made from chicory or dandelion roots.
The lack of fat in a baby's diet affects, first of all, its growth and development. But it is not so much the quantity as the type of fatty acids that is important. Poly- and monounsaturated fats help absorb vitamins and proteins, which accelerate cell division in a growing body.
A mother's diet cannot affect the fat content of breast milk, but it can determine the type of substances that are passed on to the baby. Here are the most valuable fatty acids that should be included in the menu of a nursing woman:
To increase the nutritional value of milk, it is useful for mom to drink special drinks - for example, milkshakes with protein powder and hot tea with walnuts and condensed milk without sugar.
Modern doctors believe that a nursing mother should not limit her diet to strict limits. You can eat everything that a woman is used to, the main thing is that the calorie content of the diet is 3200 - 3500 kcal per day. However, there are a number of products that are extremely harmful for lactation:
Several more products are considered conditionally harmful - they cause negative consequences only in certain cases. Among them:
Herbal remedies - leaves, fruits and seeds of medicinal plants - help to enhance milk production. Here are 5 proven remedies:
Ordinary culinary dishes also help improve lactation - chicken soup with barley, beet salad, oatmeal with dried fruits.