Since Aug. 1-7 was World Breastfeeding Week, breastfeeding mothers have been asking me lots of questions about what they should be eating to ensure they and their babies stay healthy when they breastfeed.

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Important nutritional information

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Breastfeeding mothers need at least 300-500 additional calories per day to meet their own energy needs and produce enough milk to grow their babies.

What kind of foods can generate those calories?

Ideally, fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and proteins and certainly dairy products rich in calcium. In fact, mothers don’t have to drink milk to make milk — but they do need to stay hydrated and to take in enough calcium.

Mothers also need foods rich in iron, omega-3 fatty acids, and folate to ensure good brain growth of baby even after baby is born.

As to vitamins, if a mother is vegetarian, B12 needs to be added to their breastfeeding diet as well as vitamin D although all babies who breastfeed can also benefit from extra vitamin D as recommended by your baby’s health care professional.

If a breastfeeding mother’s diet is lacking in any significant nutrient, a multivitamin may be recommended by your doctor.

Mothers should check food labels to be sure their diet consists of the right nutrients when it comes to helping their baby grow.

What about a mother eating food that a baby might be allergic to? Well, it is rare for a breast-fed baby to show an allergic reaction while exclusively breastfeeding to something mother eats — so mothers should not avoid eating what they might normally eat unless they have a known food allergy. Only if allergic symptoms arise in a baby such as difficulty breathing, diarrhea or a skin rash should food be eliminated from a mother’s diet.

Sometimes mothers may find their babies are crankier after eating a food such as cabbage or something spicy — this is not an allergy — but a sensitivity and by reducing the intake of this food, usually a child’s disposition improves.

Caffeine can also affect a baby’s ability to sleep or even their mood — so limit the coffee intake to no more than one or two cups a day and drink it as well after rather than before breastfeeding.

Hopefully, tips like these will be good food for thought when it comes to knowing more about what to eat and drink if you are breastfeeding your baby.

Lewis First, MD, is Chief of Pediatrics at The University of Vermont Children’s Hospital and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine. You can also catch “First with Kids” weekly on WOKO 98.9FM and NBC5.