First, I would suggest talking to a lactation consultant for how-to breastfeed an adopted baby. Contact your state public health department, WIC or a certified lactation consultant to locate qualified professionals. You will need to prepare your breasts and might need some hormone shots to support breastfeeding. Talk to your doctor about this too.
Second, it is never too soon to start modeling eating healthy for a growing child. Try out the
Healthy Body Calculator® and add that you are breastfeeding. You can include slow weight loss (1 pound per week) if that is your goal as well. The calculator will include the extra nutrients you need for breastfeeding. You will need more of every nutrient except Vitamin D and iron. When you start breastfeeding, the quality and quality of breast milk is dependent on the mother’s calorie and fluid intake. A 3-month-old infant can drink up to 3/4 liter of breast milk per day and that fluid has to come from the mother’s system. The nutrient content of breast milk does vary between mothers and the composition of milk changes over the length of breastfeeding. Only when the mother is malnourished or not eating does this affect the nutrient content in breast milk? Your body is 80% efficient in turning your energy (calories) into milk energy (calories).
Next, use My Plate to plan healthy meals and read My Plate topic. Since there is a range of servings per food group in My Plate, choose the larger number of servings i.e. 3 milk, 4 meat, 3 fruit and 5 vegetable to meet your increased nutrient and calorie needs. You may not need 11 servings from the Bread, Cereal, Rice, Pasta group though depending on your calorie needs. You may find that 9 servings are adequate.
