Food & meal tips for new moms

Woman chopping vegetables

Welcoming a new baby into your life is an incredible experience, but it also brings a whirlwind of changes that can make meal planning a daunting task. To ease the transition and ensure you’re well-fed in those early, sleepless weeks, it’s essential to prepare in advance.

Here are a few tips to make those early postpartum days a bit easier when it comes to keeping yourself nourished:

Planning & Stocking Up

  • Months before baby arrives, dedicate some time to meal planning for the first few weeks. Create a simple menu with easy-to-prepare meals. Make soups, casseroles and other easy meal prep ingredients, such as shredded chicken, ground beef, cooked lentils or chickpeas, and freeze them.

  • Stock your pantry with non-perishable essentials like canned beans, lentils, rice, pasta, whole-wheat bread, oatmeal, and healthy snacks (nuts, seeds, granola bars).

  • Frozen fruits, vegetables, and pre-cooked frozen proteins, such as chicken breasts, or frozen salmon, are lifesavers. They’re nutritious and require minimal prep, so keep them on hand.

  • In the months leading up to your birth, plan meals and double recipes with leftovers in mind (think big casseroles or soup), then freeze half for when the baby comes.

  • If it isn’t obvious already, freezers will be your best friend. I recommend buying a deep freeze if you don’t already have one, as they’ll allow you to store a ton of food. Plus, they’re a safer, better option for storing pumped breastmilk.

Shopping Strategies

  • Take advantage of online grocery pick-up and delivery services. Many grocery store chains offer these services for free or minimal fees, and the cost can be worth it when you’re exhausted, hormonal and hungry.

  • Buy ingredients that are already prepped, like pre-cut veggies and fruit, for easy snacks to have on hand.

  • Explore meal kit delivery services to take the pressure off cooking entirely, especially during the early weeks. Many offer discounts for first-time users.

Embrace Flexibility & Ask for Help

  • Before the baby is born, ask someone to set up a meal train for you. It’s a great way to give your friends and community a way to help you out.

  • When people visit or ask if you need anything, tell them to bring snacks, lunch or dinner. This isn’t the time to be shy—it’s a perfect time to let people take care of you!

  • It’s okay to order takeout!

  • Keep a stash of frozen dinners or microwave meals as a last resort.

Hire a Postpartum Doula

One of the ways I support my postpartum clients is by preparing nutritionally dense, healthy meals and snacks. Postpartum doulas are a fantastic resource for making sure you remember to eat, because honestly? New moms have a hard time keeping up with feeding themselves when they’re laser-focused on feeding the baby. Having someone who can gently remind you to eat something, who can whip up a quick snack while your hands are full, who can meal prep ingredients for dinner later….it’s incredibly helpful.

Looking for an added postpartum nutritional boost? Reach out to see how I can help you stay well-fed post-baby.

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The postpartum change curve