New Mom Nutrition Tips: Eating Right for You & Your Baby


You know how important it is to eat right when you’re pregnant, but what about after your baby arrives? Following good nutrition tips is just as important after delivery as it is before, whether you’re breastfeeding or formula feeding. Your body is going through so many changes post-delivery and the right eating habits can make a huge difference in how you feel during those changes. Check out a few important new mom nutrition tips that will have you eating right for you and your baby!

New Mom Nutrition Tips for You and Your Baby

Hydrate Right: Staying hydrated- especially when you are breastfeeding- is such an important part of eating right for you and your baby. How you stay hydrated matters. Skip the sugary drinks and stick to water as often as possible. I’m not saying you can ONLY have water, but make it your main source of fluids. If plain water isn’t your thing, add flavour by infusing fruits, like cucumbers and limes.

New Mom Nutrition Tips: Staying hydrated- especially when you are breastfeeding- is such an important part of eating right for you and your baby.

Make Friends with Protein: Protein is incredibly important to healing, so this nutrition tip is important for all new moms. When I was a nursing student, protein was the star of our nutrition education. Be sure to add plenty of lean meats, beans, dairy products and lentils to your diet. Fortunately, there are so many sources of protein that it’s actually pretty easy to add enough to your diet. Health Canada also encourages you to eat at least two servings of heathy fish choices, such as salmon and char; but avoid the more predatory fish, such as fresh tuna, shark and swordfish, which are high in mercury.

Fortunately, there are so many sources of protein that it’s actually pretty easy to add enough to your diet.

Add variety: Did you know that eating a variety of foods when you’re breastfeeding helps expose your baby to different tastes early on? Unless your doctor tells you otherwise, there’s no reason to go bland! I wouldn’t put hot sauce on your food, but definitely add variety to your diet with different seasonings and flavours. Salads are a fun way to do this!

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Keep Snacks Handy: Another important nutrition tip for all new moms, regardless of how you feed your baby: make sure you keep snacks handy! I remember times when I was rocking my son in his room and he’d finally fall asleep. I was afraid to move (he had colic, sleep didn’t come easy), so I’d sit there starving! I learned to keep healthy snack bars in the pocket on his rocking chair. Stash those babies everywhere! The snacks, I mean, not your actual baby!

Limit the caffeine: The hardest thing for me during my pregnancy and after my son’s birth was giving up coffee. I cut way, way back to the recommended allowance per day. Medical reasons prevented me from breastfeeding, yet I still had to avoid caffeine for a while because of my blood pressure (preeclampsia after effects). If you’re breastfeeding, Health Canada recommends limiting your caffeine intake to no more than two 8 oz. cups of coffee or tea per day

Give yourself a break: Perhaps my most important new mom nutrition tip is to not be too hard on yourself. If you end up eating a giant slice of “welcome home baby” cake at 2am because it’s the only thing close to you when you’re absolutely starving, it’s not the end of the world. Don’t make a habit of it, but don’t beat yourself up!

Likewise, if you planned to breastfeed and something prevents that from happening, don’t let it eat at you. For moms who cannot or choose not to feed breastmilk, give your baby the best possible alternative, infant formula like Nestlé Good Start. It has probiotics, small proteins for small tummies and Omega 3 & 6 to support brain and eye development.

This post is sponsored by Nestlé Canada.  The opinions and language are my own, and in no way do they reflect Nestlé Canada. Please consult your healthcare professional before introducing infant formula.

Do you have any new mom nutrition tips to share? Tell us about them in the comments!

 

 

27 thoughts on “New Mom Nutrition Tips: Eating Right for You & Your Baby”

  1. These are some great tips that every new mom must take a note to keep themselves fit enough & to make sure the baby is healthy as well. I agree, Staying hydrated plays an important role if you are a breastfeeding mother.

  2. I was very careful with what I ate when I was expecting and nursing. After I quit nursing I was less careful, which is just silly.

  3. These are great tips and reminders for new moms. The other day I didn’t want my cat to move, and wasn’t taking care of my own biological needs. So I can relate, sort of!

  4. Solid advice! During pregnancy is the best time to get involved in healthier eating – it is a great motivating factor for sure! Hopefully once the pregnancy is over mommy has adopted some better eating habits to last her and her little one a lifetime.

  5. This is my second child and how come I only read about protein for healing?! OMG!! Maybe that’s the reason it took awhile for me to heal!!! Anyway, I guess I’ll try to remember that now!!! Though I don’t want to get pregnant again. LOL. I drink coffee in the mornings and tea too.. Wish I could take choco milk.

  6. Such great tips for new moms. I stopped drinking coffee while I was pregnant and while I was breastfeeding. Not sure if my friend who is a new mom is doing the same. I will share this with her.

  7. I had to give in to my cravings every time when I was pregnant with my babies. I guess it backfired on me because they were huge and were so hard to push out. My niece is on her 6th month of pregnancy and I would say she is doing a better job than me. I will send her the link to this post.

  8. Good nutrition is so essential to growing a healthy baby! I had a really hard time balancing my cravings with what I knew I should be eating while I was pregnant. My midwives were great sources of information when it came to healthy foods that would satisfy the various cravings.

  9. I weaned myself from caffeine before trying to conceive and I’ve never gone back. My youngest is 26 and I’m still on decaf everything, except the occasional piece of chocolate.

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