After nine months of a hormonal roller coaster and physical changes comes the joy of holding a baby; your bundle of joy. As with anything worthwhile, having a baby comes with its fair share of responsibility and a reshuffling of priorities. Normally, breastfeeding sits atop of the responsibilities pyramid. For new mothers, breastfeeding not only serves to boost the health and growth of the baby but also as an opportunity for bonding with the newborn as you relax.
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Benefits Of Breastfeeding For The Baby
There has been substantial conclusive research done on the benefits of breastfeeding. It is on this background that breastfeeding is highly recommended. While infants can be fed using formulas, none is a nutritional match (factoring in the ease of digestion) for breast milk.Breast milk contains the ideal combination of protein, vitamins, and fats which help maintain optimal health while leading to the desired physical and mental growth of the infant. Among others, breastfeeding lowers the baby’s risk allergies, asthma, diarrhea, ear infections and respiratory illnesses.
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2.Benefits Of Breastfeeding For The Mother
During infancy, the babies’ excretion systems are far from developed thus they are not able to excrete caffeine at the required efficiency leading to crankiness, sleeplessness, and irritation.
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B. Citrus Fruits
While citrus fruits like Oranges and Lemons are vastly rich in vitamin C, they irritate the baby’s still-developing gastrointestinal tract resulting in spitting up, fussiness and in some babies, diaper rash. The good news is that you don’t have to get your regular dose of vitamin C from citrus fruits because fruits such as mangoes and papaya are also rich in vitamin C.
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Fish
During pregnancy, your prenatal doctor may have advised you to get fish off your menu. It should continue to be so during breastfeeding as eating fish will result in mercury-tainted breast milk which is harmful to the baby.The deliciousness of fish can make it difficult to completely do away with it, but the good thing is you don’t have to, the FDA and USDA recommend eating low-mercury fish like Pollock, catfish, canned light tuna, Shrimp, and Salmon while staying away from shark, king mackerel, swordfish, and tilefish.
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Understanding breast milk
After knowing what not to eat during breastfeeding, another concern for mothers willing to breastfeed but are not physically able to is the delivery of the milk. For these situations, there are different tools and techniques which you can use to obtain and have milk given to your baby at the right time. The most used techniques include hand expression and pumping of the milk. Irrespective of the method you choose to express the milk, you are likely to bump into the challenge of storage. The most popular and convenient way is storing in a freezer from where it can be retrieved, heated and given to the baby on demand. How long is breast milk good after warming? This is the question that holds the key for the proper administering of the milk to the infant. After heating, the milk can only stay at room temperature for 2 hours after which it should be discarded.Breastfeeding is not only baby-oriented as it can help in reversing the physical changes which occur during pregnancy. Through additional burning of calories, breastfeeding can assist in losing the pregnancy weight. When breastfeeding there is Oxycontin released which aids the uterus to revert to its pre-pregnancy size and may also lower uterine bleeding observed after birth. Furthermore, research suggests a strong link between breastfeeding and reduced risk of ovarian and breast cancer.
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What Not To Eat When Breastfeeding
On current evidence, there is no arguing with the benefits of breastfeeding from either the baby’s or mother’s perspective. However, these benefits- particularly for the baby- can be watered down if you are not cautious and selective about what you eat. What you eat is reflected in the quality of milk produced. During the recommended first 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding, wrong eating habits will not only impact your health but that of your baby too. The following is a list of what not to eat when breastfeeding. 
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Coffee
For a good reason, most of us love coffee. However, during breastfeeding, you should kick coffee to the curb or at the very least, cut back on its consumption and of other caffeinated drinks such as sodas. Can You Drink Alcohol While Breastfeeding?From experience, alcohol is a permanent fixture on this kind of “things you shouldn’t eat” lists! But hardly can it be argued as unfair. However, this doesn’t mean you should do away with your occasional glass of dinner wine or the random fraction of a glass drink as this poses no substantial threat to your baby. However, you should be concerned if you describe yourself as a moderate or heavy drinker because the alcohol you drink will be transferred to the baby during breastfeeding. Alcohol ingested by the baby through breast milk affects the baby’s sleep pattern and activity levels.
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Garlic
While it may give your food a heavenly taste, garlic is not the best smelling of vegetables or spices depending on how you classify it. And most babies don’t take kindly to garlic-flavored milk.Eating garlic laced foods results in slightly garlic-flavored milk which makes your baby sneer or fuss at the breast during breastfeeding. Avoid eating too much garlic as its smell enters the milk as early as 2 hours after a meal. And frozen milk which has been heated for baby’s consumption can be refrigerated within 30 minutes, otherwise, be discarded.
About The Author
Crystal is the founder of MakeYourBabyLaugh. She started to write the blog to help mothers and fathers who are struggling to raise their children. She hopes that her experiences in child-rearing can inspire and help parents overcome their parenting struggles.
