What Vitamins Should My Baby and I Be Taking While Breastfeeding?
Human being is equipped with ample natural resources so that he can exploit them to get the necessary inputs. Similarly, nature has provided a readily available nutritional resource for a newborn baby as well owing to the fact that the baby is not deployed with eating tools. If we talk about that resource full of ample nutrition, what else can it be than the breastmilk with amazing properties? However, it is apparent that the quality of breastmilk depends on the input. As long as the mother takes a nutritionally rich diet, the baby does not require any additional supplements as per nutrition experts. Now, it is necessary to understand whether mothers require any additional supplements while they are breastfeeding their babies.
Experts' recommendations suggest that the feeding mothers should continue taking the prenatal vitamins they have been taking in the course of their pregnancy. Many women usually stop their prenatal vitamins by the time their child crosses the walking milestone or by the time the child starts on solids. However, facts have been established that mothers require similar vitamins to what they were consuming at the time of their pregnancy. Additionally, vitamin D and iron levels have to be continually monitored even after your delivery if you are breastfeeding. It is essential to maintain the same levels as during the pregnancy to make sure that the mother does not fall short of the vitamin levels post child birth.
The important element that needs to be realized that women bleed post delivery and this can continue for months leading to Anemia and hence iron supplements are essential after child birth. Since breastfeeding caters to additional requirements, a feeding mother has to be aware of her vitamin levels to maintain her health and her baby's health as well. As the iron and Vitamin D deficiency cannot be instantly replenished, mothers should emphasize on taking those supplements on the advice of their health practitioner. Rather than just taking the supplements, doctors advice to get an exposure to sunlight to get healthy which is a natural source of vitamin D.
If at all the mother was in shortage of these levels right from pregnancy, then the baby is usually recommended to take small doses of iron with a little exposure to sunlight along with the mother. This can be an outing to the mother as well as the baby together. However, it is nothing like a nutritional food as we all know and eating nutrition rich food can have it all for you and your baby. Let us have brief information on the iron rich sources from the food for the mother.
- Green leafy veggies such as spinach and broccoli
- Spirulina or blue green algae
- Beef Liver
- Red meat
- Pork and poultry
- Marine food
- Beans and pulses
- Raisins, Pistachios and apricots and other dried nuts
- Fortified cereals with iron
- Breads and pastas
- Peas and other fresh beans
Adequate sunlight and all of these foods rich in iron should be sufficient for a healthy mother and when the mother is not in short of any vitamins, the baby should not be needing any of them. The essential factor is to keep a track of the vitamin levels to b e able to replenish them if required.
by Richa Verma
Gloss