GC Duluth Pediatrics | Newborn Q&A

What is the best food for my baby?
Breastfeeding is the best food for your baby. One mother’s breast milk is different from another mother. Therefore, your breast milk is tailor-made for your baby. If breastfeeding is difficult, consider buying a good breast pump and then give the breast milk in a bottle. If feeding breast milk is not an option, formula can be the next option.
How do I increase my breast milk production?
If you follow these three steps diligently, then I can guarantee that you will have increase in breast milk production:
1. Drink water - if the mother is dehydrated, she cannot produce adequate milk. You need to drink water and not other drinks such as tea or juices.
2. Breastfeed every two hours - many moms try to wait until the breast is feeling full to initiate breastfeeding but this is a huge mistake. Mother’s body will try to decrease milk production if breast is engorged. Therefore, you need to either breastfeed or pump on a regular basis. Breastfeed every two hours during the day and every three to four hours at night.
3. Breastfeed at least 30 minutes per feeding - you need to breastfeed 15 minutes on each breast to ensure that your milk production will increase in time. It takes 3 days for milk production to increase.
It is critical that you do not give formula before breastfeeding. If you do need to give formula, breastfeed first, then supplement only one ounce of formula.
What kind of food should I eat to produce the best breast milk?
Remember that anything that goes into the mother’s body will get into the mother’s breast milk. Therefore, food that is good for mom is also good for the baby. Main sources of diet for mother should include:1. Grain 2. Vegetables 3. Fruits 4. Beans 5. Nuts.
Mothers can eat animal proteins such as beef, chicken, or fish. However, I do not recommend eating a large quantity and certainly, less is certainly better.
If I drink cow’s milk, will I produce more milk or more nutritious milk?
This is a myth. Drinking cow’s milk will not make your breast milk better. In Japan, they did comparative study between infants fed by mother’s breast milk vs. cow’s milk formula. This study showed that breast milk was more superior in vision development, brain development, less food and skin allergy (Atopic Dermatitis), and less incidence of diabetes type I (autoimmune disease). However, subsequent repeat of the study a decade later did not show any significant difference between mother’s breast milk vs. formula. This really puzzled the researchers. Superficial observation could conclude that newer formula is as good as breast milk. However, when researchers looked into the lifestyles and diets of the mothers, they noted a unique difference. They found that the mothers from the newer study were more americanized and they were consuming much more dairy on daily basis compared to mothers on the initial study, who were consuming traditional japanese food not containing much dairy. In my opinion, this shows that drinking cow’s milk will decrease the quality of the breast milk!

What is the best food for my baby?

How do I increase my breast milk production?

What kind of food should I eat to produce the best breast milk?

If I drink cow’s milk, will I produce more milk or more nutritious milk?