Nutritional Requirements for a Nursing Mom

Calories

• On average, if you're breastfeeding you should be getting 400 to 500 more calories a day than you did before you were pregnant -- about 2,200 to 2,700 calories a day, or about what you were eating during your last trimester of pregnancy.

Hydration

• It's especially important for nursing mothers to stay hydrated, as it can directly affect your milk supply. Drink a cup of water every time you nurse as an easy reminder and aim for 8 cups of liquid a day. Unsweetened fruit juice, broth or clear soup and herbal tea are also good choices for hydration.

Calcium

• Try to get 1,300 milligrams of calcium a day. A cup of milk contains 300 calories, so drinking milk is a good nutritional move -- it helps provide your fluids, too. Other good sources of calcium are dairy foods such as yogurt and cheese. Non-dairy sources of calcium include dark green vegetables, canned sardines, black-eyed peas and other beans and blackstrap molasses. Look into fortified foods, such as soy milk and orange juice.

Iron

• Iron is another important nutrient for nursing mothers. You should get 9 milligrams a day. Red meat is rich in iron but it's hardly the only source -- try beans and dried fruit, too. Dark leafy greens and blackstrap molasses double as good sources of both calcium and iron.

Protein

• Make sure to eat enough protein as well -- two or three servings of 3 to 4 ounces each. Red meat, poultry, seafood and dairy products are all high in protein, as are soy products such as tofu and soy milk. Nuts, beans and eggs are also good sources of protein.

Foods to Avoid

• Nursing mothers should avoid high-mercury fish, as mercury can be passed through breast milk and cause developmental problems in your baby. King mackerel, swordfish, tilefish, orange roughy and shark should not be eaten while breastfeeding, and only limited amounts of tuna, grouper, Spanish mackerel and bluefish should be consumed. Nursing mothers should also avoid caffeine -- 2 to 3 cups a day is acceptable but no more. Caffeine can make a baby restless and irritable. You should also abstain from alcohol while breastfeeding.