With so many old wife’s tales out there about
breastfeeding, many mums-to-be may be wondering 'what should I eat when breastfeeding twins?'
Well I'm here to set the record straight! Hi there and welcome to my channel. I'm Melanie McGrice and
I'm a specialist fertility and prenatal dietitian. Breastfeeding forms part of the first 1000 days of
life, a period that I am particularly passionate about. Basically it is the time from conception
until your bub is two years old. The reason I'm so passionate about it is that if we can get the
nutrition just right, we can set your bub up for success through the power of good food. Stay tuned
and I'll explain what you should be eat when breastfeeding twins...
Welcome! In this video I am going to teach you the ins and outs of what to eat for breastfeeding twins.
Breast milk is known as liquid gold. It is recognised as the golden standard for feeding
human babies and we know that they don't need anything other than breastmilk for about the first
half of their lives, with the exception of vitamin D and K which are often given as supplements.
Many twin mums are worried about breastmilk supply and believe that what they eat or drink
will either help or harm them. The truth is that breast milk volume is not significantly
affected by what you consume. The way that breast milk production works is the more you take out,
the more milk your body will make. So as long as you are emptying your breasts regularly,
either from a feed or through pumping, your body will make enough milk for your bub.
A good rule of thumb is to feed on demand and respond to your bubba's hunger cues.
This will help to establish your milk supply in the early days.
Another belief many mums hold is that you have to drink huge amounts of fluids to
make more breastmilk. While breastfeeding is generally thirsty work, especially with twins,
around 3 litres, or 12 cups per day should be sufficient for most mum's, but depending on
your body size and your environment this amount can change. If you are not a big water drinker,
use fruit like lemon or orange slices to help encourage you to drink more to prevent
dehydration and related symptoms such as fatigue, irritability and loss of concentration.
From a nutritional point of view, the amount of energy, protein, folate, minerals and trace
elements in breast milk are generally independent of your diet. Instead of mirroring your diet,
your body draws from your reserves to maintain these levels. A good example of this is calcium.
If you don't consume enough calcium in the form of calcium rich foods like milk, yogurt and cheese.
or as a supplement, your calcium stores (which are your teeth and bones) will start to deplete.
The same goes for energy, your body will use some of your fat stores as well as energy from
the food you eat in a day to maintain the energy levels in breastmilk. For each baby you'll need an
additional 500-600 Calories per day on top of what you were eating before you were pregnant. Eating
small, frequent, energy dense meals can help make eating large amounts of calories easier.
Eating more high fat foods is a great way to hit your calorie targets because fat is energy dense.
This means that a little goes a long way. Just be careful with regards to the types of fats that you
choose because the type of fat predominant in your diet will also be predominant in your breastmilk.
So if you are eating lots of fast foods, processed foods and processed meats your breastmilk will
probably be higher in 'bad' saturated fats and trans fats. In mice studies, the amount of
saturated fat a mouse pup receives is directly related to fat deposition. Although we don't
have human studies to confirm this, it is probably wise to eat more unsaturated, healthy fats such as
olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds more regularly than their saturated fat counterparts.
Other nutrients that are dependent on your diet include vitamin A,
D, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, fatty acids and iodine. So these are the nutrients that we want to focus on
to make sure that the breast milk levels are sufficient for your bub's optimal development.
When you eat a varied and balanced diet made up of plenty of colourful fruits and vegetables,
wholegrains, low fat dairy, healthy fats and lean proteins like fatty fish,
it is possible to meet your daily recommendations for these nutrients.
Although food should always be your first port of call, it is also recommended that mum's continue
to take a postpartum supplement at least until they are no longer breastfeeding. Looking after
yourself while you are breastfeeding, especially if you are breastfeeding twins is essential.
At the end of the day, your body knows exactly how to make this precious liquid gold. All you need to
do is give it the right ingredients. If you want to deep dive into all aspects of nutrition related
to twins and multiples, make sure you get our Multiples Nutrition Toolkit. Head over
to melaniemcgrice.com/shop to get access and don't forget to subscribe to my channel
and follow us on social media for more interesting videos on nutrition during the first thousand days of life.
Thanks for joining me and I can't wait to see you in my next video.