What food to avoid during confinement period?

Confinement period is the time when the body of a new mother returns to its normal state. A healthy, nutritious diet will help the new mother recover from childbirth.

For the breastfeeding mother, a proper meal is even more important as what new mothers eat or drink will eventually pass into breast milk.

Many confinement nannies, therefore, ask new mothers to stay away from certain food during the confinement period.

1. Avoid salty food

Most women will experience swelling or edema in the third trimester. It is important for the water accumulated in the body to be discharged during the confinement period. If you eat salty food, the salt in the food will affect the discharge of the accumulated water. At the same time, the sodium ion in the salt will also affect metabolism which is not pleasant for the mother who needs to recover as soon as possible.

2. Avoid drinking large amount of water

Drinking water is a way to prevent constipation after delivery and is important for establishing a steady flow of breast milk. But new mothers should avoid drinking a large amount of water to prevent the accumulation of water in the body and affect the recovery.

3. Avoid cold drink and cold food

Functions of stomach and spleen of the new mothers have not fully restored during the confinement period. Cold drink and cold food will affect their recovery. Cold food and drink will also trigger abdomen pain and prolong the lochia.

4. No coffee

When you drink coffee, a very small amount of caffeine will enter the bloodstream and end up in your breast milk. As your baby’s body does not have the enzyme to break down and get rid of the caffeine, caffeine will accumulate in his or her body. The caffeine may cause your baby to become irritable, jittery and develop sleeping problems

5. Stay away from seafood that is high in mercury

Although seafood is generally a healthy option, some may contain a high level of mercury. Mercury, apart from being poisonous to the infant, can also cause gastric problems in the baby.

Fish that is high in mercury include King mackerel, marlin, orange roughy, shark, swordfish, tilefish, ahi tuna, and bigeye tuna.

6.Limit the consumption of the citrus fruits

Citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, and lime may aggravate baby’s tummy and result in diaper rash. For the first few month of baby’s life, her intestine tract is immature and may be sensitive to citrus.

7.Avoid spicy food.

Constipation during confinement period is common. Spicy food and the like may cause new mother and the breastfed baby to develop constipation. These food include chili, pepper, curry garlic, mustard, chives.

8. No oily food.

As the digestive system of the new mothers is still weak after childbirth, new mums are prone to constipation and diarrhea. Therefore, confinement food should not be too oily. Glutinous rice dumplings, glutinous kuehs, and fatty meat are some examples of oily food that need to be avoided at all cost.

Check confinement meal if you are looking for a service provider of confinement meal.