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If you’re a new breastfeeding mama, you are likely hungry and exhausted and in need of healthy meals for breastfeeding moms. While it may be easy to put your health on the back burner while you adjust to life with a newborn, nutrition is key for both you and your baby. With some quick planning, you can get much-needed nutrients without complicated meals.

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As a Registered Dietitian and mom of three, I’m well-versed in the efforts of breastfeeding and the vast amount of energy it requires.

Nursing a baby takes a lot of energy. You’ve probably noticed that you are more hungry now than when you were growing a baby.

Breastfeeding hunger as a new mom is no joke – it can be a steep learning curve to feel intense hunger constantly.

This hunger isn’t a bad thing, though!

Our body needs it, especially when we have so much repair during postpartum – pelvic floor repair, tissue and organ repair, nutrient repair, etc.

If you want to work on strengthening your pelvic floor during pregnancy or postpartum, I highly recommend this free course from MUTU! The free videos and information offers a great way to see where you are and what needs to be strengthened for better movement, mobility and more. I’ve personally gone through MUTU and it was life changing!

Your body amps up your appetite to get the nutrients you need to produce milk and keep yourself healthy, so eating a balanced diet is important.

A healthy diet for breastfeeding moms is based on a variety of foods to replenish nutrients that were lost or burned during birth and early postpartum.

We want protein in all meals and snacks, whether it’s lactation smoothies or chocolate protein waffles.

When you honor your hunger with nourishing, enjoyable foods and essential nutrients, you’ll have the energy you need to thrive in the infant stage!

As a Registered Dietitian and breastfeeding mom of three, I really value the importance of healthy recipes for breastfeeding moms.

The trick for postpartum moms is to have nourishing food and easy snacks available for when the hunger hits!

Fresh fruits are a great start (and source of Vitamin C!), but we also need more calorically dense options.

Yes, you’ll need plenty of good snacks for breastfeeding and healthy meals, made with a variety of foods.

In the postpartum stage, you need easy and nutritious foods (and extra calories) to help your baby growth and thrive, and make sure your body is properly healing.

That’s why I’ve rounded up some healthy meal ideas for new breastfeeding moms – don’t worry, we’ve got plenty of green leafy vegetables and nutrient-dense foods that taste good.

Important Nutrients for Breastfeeding

You may have focused on adding nutrient-dense foods to your diet while pregnant.

It’s a good idea to carry on with those healthy recipes and iron-rich foods in the postpartum period.

Your body was responsible for some vast changes during pregnancy: increased blood volume, shifts in hormones, and increased fat storage, to name a few!

Not only is your body recovering from growing a human, but also from the delivery.

After all 3 of my births, I was focused on including many of the best foods for postpartum recovery and healthy food choices.

Now add in breastfeeding, and your body has a lot of nutrient demands.

You need an average of 500 additional calories every day to support your milk supply and breastfeeding journey, which is around 200 more than you needed during the last part of your pregnancy.

How you get those calories can make all of the difference in your health and maybe even baby’s health.

Plus, your diet impacts the nutrient makeup of your milk and your supply.

Here’s a rundown of some of the most important nutrients for breastfeeding moms:

Protein

Protein has been a nutrition buzzword for some time now, and for good reason. The amino acids in protein are the building blocks of all of your body’s tissues.

That means you need protein to repair any tears that occurred during delivery, or to recover from a c-section. If breastfeeding, your body is producing milk, which requires amino acids.

Additionally, your baby needs protein and there is a direct link between your intake and the protein content in your milk.

Increased dietary protein intake has been found to correlate with increased adiponectin in breast milk.

Adiponectin helps to regulate metabolism and fight inflammation—and may help to reduce the risk of diabetes and obesity later in life.

Protein needs while breastfeeding are around 65-71 grams per day, or an additional 17 grams daily.

To feel full after your meals and healthy snacks (even breastfeeding night snacks), you should try to include a protein-rich food.

Good protein foods include:

• Chicken
• Beef
• Pork
• Fish
• Shellfish
• Eggs
• Milk
• Protein powder – which you can toss in a delicious pregnancy smoothie or postpartum smoothie!
• Cottage cheese – Cottage cheese makes this high protein overnight oats recipe a great one!
• Greek yogurt
• Cheese
• Legumes like lentils, black beans, or peas
• Nuts and seeds like almonds, chia seeds, or pumpkin seeds
• Tofu
• Tempeh
• Whole grains like quinoa or oats

You can also get protein from supplements like whey protein or collagen powder (read more about collagen for breastfeeding moms).

These high-protein snacks for pregnancy double as a great option for breastfeeding moms too.

Calcium

Calcium is a mineral that is essential for bone development.

Your baby will be growing like crazy in the next months. Infancy is the fastest period of growth and your breastmilk can do the job.

Here’s the thing: your baby will get what they need to develop. But if you don’t get it through your diet, the calcium will come from your own bones.

All the more reason to make sure your calcium intake is on par with the recommendations of 1300 mg daily.

Some dietary sources of calcium include:

• Milk
• Yogurt
• Cheese
• Calcium-fortified products like juice and tofu

Choline

Choline is a mineral that supports your baby’s growth, immune function, and memory.

Your dietary intake of choline affects the choline concentration in your breastmilk.

For that reason, there’s an increased need for choline during pregnancy and in breastfeeding women.

You can find choline in these foods:

• Eggs
• Chicken
• Beef
• Potatoes
• Cruciferous veggies like broccoli, cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, and bok choy
• Soybeans (tofu, edamame)
• Fish

Vitamin A

Your breastmilk contains vital fat-soluble nutrients like vitamin A.

If your diet is low in vitamin A, your milk will be as well. The good news is that if you are getting enough, your milk will have the nutrients your baby needs.

It’s important to note that fat-soluble vitamins are better absorbed when consumed with sources of fat.

In other words, be sure to pair your greens with an oil-based salad dressing (or raw olive oil and balsamic vinegar) or sautee your veggies in olive or avocado oil.

Vitamin A is key for vision development and plays a role in growth and immunity.

You need almost double the amount of vitamin A a non-pregnant woman needs!

You can get vitamin A from the following foods:

• Carrots
• Sweet potatoes
• Leafy greens, like spinach and kale
• Pumpkin (dairy free pumpkin muffins are a favorite nursing snack)
• Red or yellow bell peppers
• Mangoes
• Eggs
• Liver
• Cod liver oil
• Dairy products like milk and cheese

Vitamin D

Another fat-soluble vitamin you need while breastfeeding is vitamin D.

Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin, as exposure to the sun’s rays helps convert vitamin D to a usable form in your body.

Essential for bone health, vitamin D also helps support your baby’s immune system.

Breastmilk does not typically contain the recommended daily amount of vitamin D for babies, so you may need to take a Vitamin D supplement if you are exclusively breastfeeding.

Some research suggests that supplementing with high doses of vitamin D can increase the vitamin D content of your milk to adequately meet your baby’s needs.

Talk with your healthcare provider to discuss vitamin D dosing.

To increase your dietary vitamin D, try these foods, but understand that it can be difficult to get enough Vitamin D through food.

• Fatty fish like salmon or tuna
• Cod liver oil
• Eggs (the yolk in particular)
• Fortified products like juice, milk, and yogurt (if you do avoid dairy for baby, take a look at these dairy free snacks)

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Lastly, there are omega-3 fatty acids, which are very important for breastfeeding moms.

While EPA and DHA are usually together in supplement form you can read about The Difference Between EPA and DHA, which we covered in a past post.

These healthy fats are linked with benefits like reduced cognitive decline, improved heart health, and enhanced mood.

The impact on mood may be especially important during the months after you give birth.

Some research even shows that low intake of omega-3 fatty acids is associated with increased postpartum depression.

Besides benefits for you, the omega-3 fatty acid DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) plays a major role in baby’s brain development and vision.

Sources of omega-3 fatty acids:

• Fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, sardines, or tuna
• Shellfish
• Fish oil (cod liver oil or fish oil supplements)
• Seeds like flax seeds, chia seeds, and hemp seeds
• Nuts, like walnuts
• sesame seeds or tahini paste (this lemon garlic lentil hummus is a great way to get it!)
• Fortified foods, like eggs and yogurt

Foods to Avoid While Breastfeeding

In general, most foods are fine for breastfeeding moms. However, there are a few things to be mindful of.

Certain Fish

First, fish is a great dietary way to increase your omega-3 fatty acid intake.

It’s a great source of protein and other vitamins and minerals, too, and it’s great for heart health and possibly reducing the risk of heart disease.

The “catch” is sometimes fish contains harmful contaminants.

So if you’re eating fish that family or friends have caught, be sure to check for any fish advisories.

If you’re in the clear, limit yourself to one serving for that week.

You’ll also want to avoid high-mercury fish, like mackerel, marlin, shark, swordfish, bigeye tuna, tilefish, and orange roughy.

Too Much Caffeine

Don’t worry, you can have your coffee or herbal tea.

However, too much caffeine can lead to poor sleeping patterns and fussiness in your baby.

Furthermore, downing coffee all day rather than water or another hydrating drink can leave you dehydrated. Staying hydrated with water (and electrolytes) is always the best choice.

Good hydration for breastfeeding is also important for your supply, on top of the health benefits.

Try to limit caffeine to 300 mg or less daily (i.e., 2-3 small cups of coffee).

Alchohol

And we can’t forget about that alcoholic drink.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends that you refrain from alcohol when breastfeeding or talk about it with a health care provider.

Some research suggests that little alcohol is secreted in your milk and it can be safe to enjoy your favorite drink on occasion.

If you do, it is recommended that you nurse your baby before having the drink.

Or, have a drink and then wait until the alcohol has completely cleared your breast milk before nursing (for infants at least 3 months of age).

This typically takes 2-3 hours for a standard drink: 12 ounces (355 milliliters) of 5% beer, 5 ounces (148 milliliters) of 11% wine or 1.5 ounces (44 milliliters) of 40% liquor, depending on your body weight.

You can also consider pumping milk before drinking alcohol to feed your baby later.

Healthy Meals for New Breastfeeding Moms

Wondering what qualifies as healthy eating for breastfeeding? Almost everything!

You can eat a wide variety of foods to meet your body’s increased nutrient demand, and we have so many healthy recipes for breastfeeding moms.

But as a mom of a newborn, the last thing you need is a complicated recipe that leaves a ton of dishes to do.

The meals I’ve rounded up are nutrient-dense AND quick and easy to make. Enjoy!

References:

• Kominiarek, Michelle A, and Priya Rajan. “Nutrition Recommendations in Pregnancy and Lactation.” The Medical clinics of North America vol. 100,6 (2016): 1199-1215. doi:10.1016/j.mcna.2016.06.004
• Bzikowska, Agnieszka et al. “Correlation between human milk composition and maternal nutritional status.” Roczniki Panstwowego Zakladu Higieny vol. 69,4 (2018): 363-367. doi:10.32394/rpzh.2018.0041
• Binder C, Baumgartner-Parzer S, Gard LI, Berger A, Thajer A. Maternal Diet Influences Human Milk Protein Concentration and Adipose Tissue Marker. Nutrients. 2023;15(2):433. Published 2023 Jan 14. doi:10.3390/nu15020433
• Kovacs, Christopher S. “Maternal Mineral and Bone Metabolism During Pregnancy, Lactation, and Post-Weaning Recovery.” Physiological reviews vol. 96,2 (2016): 449-547. doi:10.1152/physrev.00027.2015
• Gannon BM, Jones C, Mehta S. Vitamin A Requirements in Pregnancy and Lactation. Curr Dev Nutr. 2020;4(10):nzaa142. Published 2020 Aug 24. doi:10.1093/cdn/nzaa142
• Durá-Travé T, Gallinas-Victoriano F. Pregnancy, Breastfeeding, and Vitamin D. Int J Mol Sci. 2023;24(15):11881. Published 2023 Jul 25. doi:10.3390/ijms241511881
• Welty, Francine K. “Omega-3 fatty acids and cognitive function.” Current opinion in lipidology vol. 34,1 (2023): 12-21. doi:10.1097/MOL.0000000000000862
• Weinberg, Richard L et al. “Cardiovascular Impact of Nutritional Supplementation With Omega-3 Fatty Acids: JACC Focus Seminar.” Journal of the American College of Cardiology vol. 77,5 (2021): 593-608. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2020.11.060
• Liao, Yuhua et al. “Efficacy of omega-3 PUFAs in depression: A meta-analysis.” Translational psychiatry vol. 9,1 190. 5 Aug. 2019, doi:10.1038/s41398-019-0515-5
• Rupanagunta, Gnana Prasoona et al. “Postpartum depression: aetiology, pathogenesis and the role of nutrients and dietary supplements in prevention and management.” Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society vol. 31,7 (2023): 1274-1293. doi:10.1016/j.jsps.2023.05.008
• Anderson, Philip O. “Alcohol Use During Breastfeeding.” Breastfeeding medicine : the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine vol. 13,5 (2018): 315-317. doi:10.1089/bfm.2018.0053