Say goodbye to boring bites with this ultimate list of snacks for breastfeeding mothers.
Breastfeeding is hungry, and thirsty, work. So it’s important to keep up your strength and maintain good eating habits.
Small amounts of what you eat do pass on to your baby through breastmilk.
However you do not have to have the perfect diet to produce healthy breastmilk for your baby. Although some of what you eat does pass to your baby, the quality of your breastmilk is not 100 per cent dependent on having a perfect diet. You can read more about how a mother’s diet impacts on her milk over on KellyMom.
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What’s more important about your diet is that it nourishes you, giving you energy and hydration so that you can produce enough milk for your baby.
So, focus on getting your five portions of fruit and/or veg per day, three balanced meals and healthy snacks when you’re hungry.
This post is all about giving you inspiration for what to eat between meals.
The perfect breastfeeding snack is:
- Easy to hold and/or eat with one hand
- Not too messy
- Tasty when cold – because sometimes that new mum brain fog causes us to forget we’ve got a snack to finish!
This list of 30+ breastfeeding snacks includes a few bake or no-bake recipes as well as some great smoothie recipes, but you don’t have to overcomplicate the snacks if you don’t want to!
I hope you find inspiration in this list of lovely lactation-boosting food ideas!
Best breastfeeding snacks
Fruit
Try a fruit salad or just grab one of the following fruits on their own. All fruit contains different minerals and vitamins, so try to have a bit of variety throughout the week.
Fruits to eat when nursing:
- Bananas
- Apples
- Strawberries
- Grapes
- Mango
- Blueberries
Dried fruit
Try dried apricots, dates, and raisins. These are a great snack because the pack of dried fruit will not go off too quickly and you can easily eat them with one hand with no mess!
Packs of dried fruit are also super easy to chuck into your bag as a snack on a day out.
Carrot sticks and hummus
A simple snack to put together. – especially if you buy the pre-cut carrot sticks from your local supermarket.
Hummus is made of chickpeas, garlic and oil, making it a great energy booster as well as a healthy eating option.
Flapjacks and fruit
You could buy flapjacks or try making your own! There’s a fabulous recipe on the La Leche League site.
Flapjacks are a great source of fibre and iron. You could add dried fruit to your recipe if you are making them yourself. Alternatively top your flapjacks with some sliced fruit for a really nutritious lactation snack.
Homemade muffins
A healthy muffin recipe can also be great for baby-led weaning once your little one is six months and ready to start solids!
There are so many different muffin recipes, and my personal favourite is a cheese muffin, but these here are perfect for boosting your breast milk supply:
- Banana chip lactation muffins
- Cinnamon raisin muffins
- Blueberry muffins
- Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins
- Blueberry oatmeal muffins
Yoghurt with granola and fruit
You can eat this one-handed while sitting at the dining room table and nursing!
The beauty of this is you can serve it however you prefer.
There is some wonderful inspiration over on this post from Jar of Lemons.
Try sprinkling a few pumpkin seeds on top too, as these are excellent for boosting your breast milk supply.
Avocado on toast
A simple but really healthy snack that should give you a great boost in energy.
Avocado is fantastic for your health, boasting fatty acids, vitamin C, vitamin E and potassium.
Porridge pots
A quick convenience snack for when you have zero time but are feeling super hungry.
Grab your favourite flavour from the supermarket and keep stocked up at home. Whenever you’re hungry, you just pop one into the microwave and they’re ready to eat.
Peanut butter on toast
Peanuts and peanut butter are safe for breastfeeding mothers, as long as you are not allergic to them!
In addition, exposure to foods like peanuts from an early age has been shown to actually reduce the risk of allergies in children.
Chicken drumsticks
A super simple but very good snack. You can hold it in one hand and nurse your baby with the other.
Simply cook up a batch of drumsticks and keep them in the fridge for snacking over the next couple of days.
Why not try adding your own rub or marinade for a little extra flavour? My favourite is to drizzle a little honey or BBQ sauce over the top.
Wrap the bone in kitchen roll so that you don’t get sticky fingers while eating.
Cheese
Cheese is rich in protein and calcium making it a great snack for breastfeeding mamas.
Try slicing up cheddar and putting in a bread roll or a bagel, or spread soft cheeses on top of bagels or crackers.
Trail mix of nuts and dried fruit
A trail mix is a combination of granola, nuts, dried fruits, and sometimes chocolate.
You can make your own or buy readymade from the supermarket.
Hard boiled eggs on crackers
Hard boiled eggs are easy to make. Simply put an egg into a pan of cold water and bring to the boil. Turn the heat off and leave the egg in the pan for 10 minutes.
Remove the egg from the pan and allow to cool before peeling away the shell. Now slice your boiled eggs and lay them on top of some wholewheat crackers.
Smoked salmon blinis
It’s not just good for parties! You can get pre-made blinis from the supermarket or have a try at making your own.
Next top with a little cream cheese and some smoked salmon. You could always add a little sprig of dill if you want to make the flavour really delicious.
If you don’t fancy using blinis, try crackers or thin-sliced French bread instead.
Homemade mixed berry popsicles
Get a healthy fruit hit and cool yourself down on hot days!
These are easy to make, just buy some popsicle moulds then mix up a recipe such as this one for berries and cream popsicles.
Mozzarella and cherry tomato bites
A mozzarella and tomato salad is one of my favourite lunches. It’s just so refreshing!
But eating a plate of this isn’t necessarily easy to do with one hand. To make it breastfeeding-friendly, try making these tasty bites.
Mozzarella is safe to eat when breastfeeding.
Lactation cookies
You can find lots of lactation cookies to purchase online, but why not have a go at making your own?
It’s really simple and once you have a basic recipe that works, you can start to play around with it and add different ingredients.
Here are some amazing lactation cookie recipes to try:
- Carrot cake cookies
- Oatmeal cookies
- Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
- Best lactation cookies
- Dark chocolate and coconut cookies
Wholewheat bagel with hummus
Whole grains are a better source of fibre to regulate your digestion, plus they’re packed with other goodness too such as iron, folate and magnesium.
This means foods such as wholewheat bagels are a great choice for nursing mothers!
Lactation smoothie
A delicious fruit smoothie is perfect for rehydrating you and giving you a boost between meals.
You could simply keep some frozen fruits (either pre-frozen from the supermarket or frozen after you get home) in your freezer which you get out and blitz in a blender when you’re hungry.
Alternatively you could try some of these recipes:
- Strawberry banana smoothie
- Chocolate and banana smoothie
- Green smoothie
- Blueberry smoothie
- Mango smoothie
No-bake lactation bars
You will be able to find lactation bars for sale online, or you can just buy ordinary fruit and nut bars from the supermarket.
These are perfect snacks if you’re in a hurry.
If you fancy having a go at making your own, here are some brilliant lactation bar and bites recipes:
Top tips for what to eat when breastfeeding
Make sure you’re getting enough calories
A breastfeeding mother needs to eat between 300 and 500 additional calories a day.
This doesn’t actually equate to a huge amount of additional food. What does 300 calories look like? Here’s a list of examples:
- Bowl of breakfast cereal
- Portion of scrambled eggs
- Baked potato topped with sour cream
- Bowl of soup
Eat a balanced diet
A balanced diet includes fruit and vegetables, starchy foods, protein (which comes from foods such as meat and cheese), and dairy.
Take a vitamin supplement
Doctors recommend that breastfeeding mothers take a daily vitamin supplement.
This should be 10mcg of vitamin D. There are branded vitamin supplements on the market for pregnant ladies that include this and other essential vitamins.
I hope these delicious breastfeeding snacks have given you some delicious food ideas! You may also enjoy these articles about feeding your baby:
Tips for improving your breastfeeding latch
When does breastfeeding get easier?
