As a breast-feeding mother, chances are you’ve been hearing all kinds of advice about what to eat and drink – and what not to eat and drink. Here are a few common sense rules to take the mystery out of it and give you the confidence to enjoy a varied diet while you breast feed.

Common sense rule #1

- your baby is drinking 24-48 oz. of fluid a day, so you need to take in that much more water than you need for your own health. It doesn’t take milk to make milk (adult cows make plenty, but don’t drink any!), but it does take liquid. You probably know by now that water, juice, and milk are good sources of fluids. But caffeinated beverages actually deplete your body of water. If you are used to using them, cut down to only one or two glasses a day. As you choose healthier drinks, you will find you no longer crave – or even really like – the caffeine flavor (or artificial energy) so much.

 Your body is pretty good at telling you when you need to drink if you pay attention to it. You’ll probably find that while you are breastfeeding your mouth starts to feel dry. Keep a big mug of water at your ‘breast feeding station’ and start each feeding with a big drink of water. Then have some more during and afterwards as your body suggests. You can drink water or juice between feedings whenever you think of it, too. But stay away from using soft drinks and alcohol on a regular basis – neither of them is healthy for you or the baby.

Common sense rule #2

 - Your baby is taking in 200-500 calories a day, so you need to take in that many more calories than you use yourself. Just remember that it isn’t just calories baby needs, he needs vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates too. Your body will sacrifice its own health to make good milk for the baby, so keep yourself healthy by learning and practicing good nutrition. It’s often a good idea to keep taking your prenatal vitamins for as long as you breast feed.

Common sense rule #3

 - Whatever is dissolved in your bloodstream will be passed into baby’s milk supply. That means if you eat chocolate, baby will be drinking chocolate metabolites. I used to be able smell it on my babies – it doesn’t smell like chocolate really, but does have a distinctive odor! If you take medication, baby will be getting some drugs too. When I was badly injured and was taking pain medication, my breastfeeding baby got really sleepy! (I had to pump and dump my milk until I could get off the really strong stuff.) If you eat hot, spicy food, baby will be getting some spicy capsasin in his milk, too.

Now, if you have been eating chocolate, spices, and broccoli right through your pregnancy, your baby has been exposed to all those metabolites in its blood supply and will be used to them. They should not give him/her any particular upsets. But if somebody told you to avoid such things while carrying the baby, you haven’t prepared him/her for the things you will want to be eating afterwards. Then s/he may react unfavorably if you decide to indulge yourself once the baby is born! In any case, if baby seems to become gassy or have unusual stools whenever you eat certain foods, you would be well advised to avoid them for at least a few weeks and then try introducing them again in smaller ‘doses.’

And that’s just common sense for a happy and healthy mom and baby breast feeding experience!

A friend whose cold sore cleared up in a single day recently thanked me for passing along my favorite common sense cold sore remedy – reminding me I should share it with you, too. OK, here it is: Don’t  bother with the things you put on the outside, just double up on your vitamins. Instead of once a day, take your daily multivitamin morning and evening for a couple of days. Here’s why I think this is a common sense answer.

Cold Sore Causes

If you look up cold sores, you’ll find that most authorities agree they are caused by a virus. It’s a contagious one called Herpes Simplex. And once you get it, you can get rid of the symptoms, but the virus just goes and hides in your body waiting for another chance to give you trouble!

Some people seem to have pretty regular cold sore outbreaks. Others only get them occasionally. But the kinds of things that seem to be associated with the virus coming out of hiding are all things that put stress on your system – emotional stress, physical stress, or environmental stress. It seems that these stresses put your immune system goes into overdrive, using up your vitamin stores – and especially those water-soluble ‘stress vitamins’ the B’s and C. When your immune system isn’t keeping up the pressure on Mr. Herpes Simplex, he sneaks out of his hiding place and attacks!

Treating Cold Sores

Cold sores are painful and unsightly, so people have come up with a lot of ways to care for them. Most of them treat the symptoms – drying out the blisters, numbing the pain, or moisturizing the drying up spots. These are things you put directly on the sore. Some of the treatments, however, are taken as pills. They are either over-the-counter or prescription strength chemicals aimed at killing the virus. (Of course, as mentioned above, they really just send the virus back into hiding. Nobody has found a way to get it totally out of your body.)

Vitamins are the Common Sense answer.

The natural way for our bodies to controll or combat any disease is with a healthy immune system. I think that those who get cold sores more often, most likely live with their immune system just on the edge of health. Those who have fewer outbreaks either maintain a less stressful life-style or have a stronger, better-supported immune system. And your immune system stays healthy through proper nutritional balance. Nutritionists generally suggest that it helps to maintain a strong immune system and keep your body in nutritional balance to take a good daily multivitamin.

So anytime I find a cold sore showing up, I just bolster my immune system with some extra vitamins by taking twice as much of the daily multivitamin I already taking.  I think that’s using Common Sense!

Common Sense Blog

Hi! I’m Margaret Ida and I’m a real believer in common sense remedies. I see them as simple, effective and inexpensive. I’ve learned about and used a number of them over the years. They come from my experience as a ’home management executive’ with a large family and limited means; as an RN working in Labor and Delivery, postpartum, nursery, prenatal education, and extended care; and as a life-long learner and volunteer in my community and church. I am happy to share what I have learned here as thoughts occur to me. When you find something that can help you – or somebody you know – please share it, tell your friends where you found it, and use it in good health!