A Mother’s Olympic Sport

Successful athletes are dedicated to their sport. They eat, sleep and breathe their craft adhering to the strictest regiments. I am not a professional athlete and I don’t love the gym, though I have gone there when it was a dire necessity—before my wedding. I not patient either, but I do have one good quality—persevering and pushing ahead when I don’t want to do something such as … nursing on demand at all hours of the day and night.

Breastfeeding, you see, is like a sport. In order to succeed at it, you have to have dedication, perseverance and adhere to a strict regimen of rest and diet. A mother’s diet can significantly impact her child’s well-being and that, in turn, can impact your overall happiness. For example, some babies are not tolerant of dairy, while others of sugar. Besides being tolerant, you need to make sure you rest and eat enough to actually produce enough milk for your baby. Certain foods aid lactation and so, like an Olympic athlete adheres to a strict diet, nursing mothers need to adhere to guidelines too. Oatmeal and nuts are among the foods that are said to aid lactation and so in order to keep myself energized and Eliza fed and less cranky, I now stock an endless supply of home-made granola.

It is absolutely delicious packed with dried cranberries, cherries, almonds and pecans. I had an amazing helper assisting me in whipping up my granola, too. Now that she made it, she loves snacking on it. It is a win-win deal.