NUTRITION DURING BREASTFEEDING

The requirement for increased calorie intake will continue after pregnancy if you plan to breastfeed your baby. You will secrete 425 to 700 calories into your breast milk daily. Therefore, you should increase your caloric intake by 500 calories each day, so your total number of calories would be approximately 3000 calories per day. These calories should be healthy calories, not the empty calories from sweets or snack foods.

You should also drink approximately 2 quarts of water per day while breastfeeding. Avoid foods that produce gas like chocolate, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower as well as spicy foods and caffeine. Caffeine causes you to urinate in larger amounts and more frequently, meaning that you will lose fluids you need for your body and your breast milk.