*Breastfeeding& Nutrition /freezing meals for first weeks*

[Baby&i]

Hello mummies !
My DH cant take time off work when baby comes and i have my three year old daughter to care for aswell as look after a newborn so know i wont have two seconds to be slaving over the cooker.. I have been trying to decide what to make and freeze and looking into nutrition during breastfeeding to help me decide. i searched a million websites and found that you should up your water intake and carry on taking your prenatal vits. milk, yogurt, broccoli, cauliflour, peppers, squash, marrow, beans, apples and berries, plums and peaches, whole weat bread and corn, eggs, asparagus and carrots, meat, wheat cerial, pasta and orange juice is especially good for you also consuming fats in butter and mayo can produce more satisfying hind milk for baby. i also saw that some things can upset babys tum like celery, turnips, water cress, citrus fruits, onions, cabbage, spices and leaks. also that parsley can slow your milk flow. Caffine can really upset baby and obviously alcohol and smoking (of which i dont do either anyway)

i didnt know if anyone could give me advice on freezing meals, recepies containing the good foods for beebs and give ,e a few tips on easy nutrition during the first few weeks so im able to look after both my babies without skipping meals thankyou xx

 

[aramintalovegrove]

I think the main thing is just remembering to eat and with a 3 year old Im sure she will tell you when she is hungry!

TBH I dont eat very well when Im on my own so have to sort of put eating into my routine each day. We always sit down as a family at breakfast and have bread stuff (toast, crumpets, croissants, muffins) and fruit, juice, jam and marmite etc on the table to dib in. At lunch I tend to nibble at stuff and keep fruit and raw veg like mange tout cherry tomatoes, cheese and cuts of meat so that I can just grab and eat as I go/get a minute. After collecting DS from school we will have a snack before a larger meal in the evening when DH is home. If I make a pack up for DH in the morning I usually make me one too to grab later in the day.

I always have two drinks when im thirsty and order a drink and a seperate tap water at cafes and restraunts. I found myself especially thirsty in the first few days of establishing my milk supply, having a water filter jug in the fridge and lots of cordial and fruit teas helps. Get a water bottle with a sports cap for when you go out for walks too as I find I get thirsty really quick when out and about.

I have stuck to my usual meals but now put added veg in and have lots of yougurts and cheeses in too to add to meals. Soups are great for bunging in lots of veg and disguising the taste of those you dont like, I used to make alot before having LO and make 2/3 different each week now as they keep in the fridge/freeze well

When I had DS I made lots of ready meals and i found them really handy stuff like lasagne, quiches, soup, pies, shepards pie, currys, pasta sauce etc etc This time I was too poorley at the end of my pregnancy to do it but TBH Esmes sleeps so much I actually like cooking and if she is up I put her in her pram in the kitchen and she sits and watches me cook.

If you are going to freeze invest in alot of tuppaware containers and plastic zip freezer bags or foil trays to store your food and think about how you are going to defrost and recook them, if it will be in the oven get more foil and if you will be microwaving stick to tupperware so you can just bung them in when you need them.

Hope that helps

 

[beanie]

wow, that's a lot of info for this time (am sleep deprived). TBH I just ate as normal, if you make sure you are eating a balanced diet that's all that you need to do. And even if you don't, your milk won't suffer (women in famines still produce adequate milk), its just that your body will suffer.

I too didn't have my OH round as he had to go back to work straight away, and a slow cooker was my best friend as it meant when Cally had a nap I could quickly prepare dinner (i.e chuck it in) and then that was it done (Cally would get fussy just before diner time so it would have been hell any other way). I mainly ate stews, chilli, pasta with sauces. Also snack bags of nuts |(not the salted type), was handy for snacking, as was a full fruit bowl. With having a LO already I had to make lunch etc so eating regularly was easy (if Cally was being fussy I'd pop her in the sling whiulst I made lunch)

 

[mum's the word]

Do you have a steamer? -if not it may be an ideal investment for you and they're available at really low prices now. I put a salmon fillet, rice and broccoli in mine and a meal is done in one go in no time, you can freeze sauces such as parsley sauce (plain and boring but I quite enjoyed eating mildly flavoured stuff for some reason) and add them too.
A chicken breast can be cooked in 20 mins, cous cous is fab to have in as all it needs is to stand in enough boiling water straight from kettle for a few mins then mix in some olive oil. Tins of sardines are handy, avacado as they can be added to salads and are a good source of energy and vitamins. A great breakfast is a cup of oats, half a cup of nat youghurt, half a cup of apple juice and a dash of honey all whizzed together with a hand blender or smoothie maker if you have one-leave all the washing up soaking and get o/h to do it when he comes in, I find washing up the worst part of preparing meals sometimes!

 

[moss]

One of the things I was most grateful to have after having Jacob was the vegetable lasagne I had frozen. I used wholewheat pasta, tomato sauce (I made it but you don't have to), garlic and herbs, broccoli, spinach, carrots, peppers and aubergine, but you can use whatever you want. Oh, I can't forget the mozarella and ricotta cheese! It was so so good and energy boosting. Drink a lot of water! If you are anything like I was, you will need to gain back your iron, so orange juice, green vegetables and whatever food you want that has a lot of iron is important, too.

 

[Baby&i]

Thanks girls that really helped, actually my DD is a huge pain in the bum when it comes to eating and she would go without food for a week if i didnt have her strapped to her booster seat at the dinner table! i do have a blender and a slow cooker, i love my slow cooker, use it aout twice a week anyway. i normally eat oats with DD in the morning or a bowl of cerial. that wont change, some days as i said i chuck ham or a roast in the slow cooker (i will carry on doing that also), or i do pasta or potatoes and veg ect. i think what im going to do is give my OH sister, mum and step mum (all love to cook) a little money and some recepies and get them to freeze me up some meals. i dont think i will have time to do it all myself im going to get on with making some spag bol, baked mac and cheese a few bags of home made mash to chuck on with frozen chicken breast and frozen veg...

my shopping list i wrote out lastnight actually says freezer tupperwear for soup, XL freezer ziplock bags, squirty water bottle i already have a large fridge tank i fill up every few days with fruitjuice with a tap on front of it. my DD loves it as she can just grab her plastic cups out the draw and press the button down to get juice cordial, canned fruit, canned corn, disposable baking pans.