The month of Ramadan represents a great value for Muslims as they have to fast the whole month, the month of Ramadan represents a challenge for lactating mothers, and for little children who will begin to fast this year for the first time. Lactating mothers may feel a little bit afraid of any decrease in their milk breastfeeding. The mothers may be afraid of their little children who have begun fasting recently. So all the previously mentioned categories need to meet all their nutritional requirements during Ramadan at the Iftar time.

In this article, we will give you some tips and advice about nutrition for breastfeeding mothers and children in Ramadan, and the importance of proper nutrition for breastfeeding mothers and children in Ramadan. We will briefly discuss the best healthy diet for a breastfeeding mother in Ramadan that can help nourish them and prevent any decrease in their milk production. We will talk about nutrition for children during the month of Ramadan, their best healthy diet that can prevent the occurrence of any nutritional problem, and how you can give them their required nutritional requirements.

What is the importance of proper nutrition for breastfeeding mothers and children in Ramadan?

The nutrition for breastfeeding mothers and children during Ramadan represents great importance for saving the health and well-being of the children and breastfeeding mothers and helps save the milk production of the lactating mothers. The importance of proper nutrition for breastfeeding mothers and reaching the best healthy diet for a breastfeeding mother in Ramadan can be as follows:

• Keeping and preserving good milk production for the fasting month of Ramadan to keep the health and well-being of the lactating infant, and keeping his nutrition at normal levels.
• Maintaining the health and well-being of breastfeeding mothers, and preventing their affection with anemia or any signs of weakness during the month of Ramadan.
• Preventing the affection of the child or mother with dehydration during fasting.
• Ensuring that the child is getting the essentially required protein energy and other nutritional requirements. As we mentioned before,  the child may miss the school meal in Ramadan, or may not eat well during Iftar, this may lead to improper nutrition and nutritional problems.
• Ensuring that the child has got enough water supply during the non-fasting hours, to ensure his rehydration after fasting hours and preventing dehydration.

• Ensuring that the child has taken his required amount of mineral salts that may decrease during fasting.

Tips and tricks in nutrition for breastfeeding mothers and children in Ramadan 

After you have known the importance of nutrition for breastfeeding mothers and children in Ramadan, we will give you some tips and tricks that can help you achieve the best proper nutrition for breastfeeding mothers and children in Ramadan.

• You should be careful about the amount of water taken after the iftar meal either for children or breastfeeding mothers, as they need to take enough water from the iftar to the suhoor meal. This amount of water and fluids can be taken in the formation of low-sugar juices to prevent the effect of high sugar on increasing thirst during fasting hours.
• Begin your Iftar meal with dates, as it can prevent the rapid changes in the blood sugar levels, and prevents the rapid decrease in blood sugar levels after fasting. It is a nutritive substance in the nutrition for children during the month of Ramadan.
• Be careful about any increase in eating sweets as well as sweetened drinks, as it can withdraw water from the body, increase the feeling of thirst, and decrease the water loss through the kidneys as well that can help you achieve the best proper nutrition for breastfeeding mothers and children in Ramadan.
• Decrease the amount of caffeine taken, as it has an effect resembling the effect of sugar, and it acts as a diuretic that can withdraw water from the body, excrete it through the kidneys, and increase the feeling of thirst.
• Eat enough fresh fruits and vegetables, this is an important thing for lactating mothers, and children who have begun to fast recently as well. Vegetables and fruits can give your body its required amount of minerals, and vitamins. It is considered a good source of water during fasting hours as well.
• You should take your suhoor meal, and be careful about what you are eating. A Suhoor meal should contain fresh fruits and vegetables and a source of calcium, such as milk, cheese, and egg.
• Be careful to take all your prescribed supplements during the non-fasting hours, and do not leave any type of your prescribed medications during the month of Ramadan.
• You should try to eat an additional 2 meals between iftar and suhoor, which should contain vegetables, and fruits, with enough water between meals that can help you achieve the best proper nutrition for breastfeeding mothers and children in Ramadan.
• Begin your Iftar meal with dates, as it can adapt your blood sugar level, and prevent a rapid decrease in blood sugar after fasting as we mentioned before.

What is the best healthy diet for a breastfeeding mother in Ramadan?

All mothers are searching for the best diet, either breastfeeding mothers, or those who have children just begun to fast recently. Some of them are searching for the best healthy diet for a breastfeeding mother during Ramadan, and others are searching for nutrition for children during the month of Ramadan. We will give you the best guide for getting the best healthy diet for a breastfeeding mother in Ramadan, and how to get the best nutrition for children during the month of Ramadan that can help you achieve the best proper nutrition for breastfeeding mothers and children.

• The best healthy diet for a breastfeeding mother in Ramadan 

The best healthy diet for a breastfeeding mother in Ramadan should contain some essential nutritional requirements to give the mother what they have lost during her fasting hours to be able to produce breastmilk for her infant, as the best healthy diet for breastfeeding mothers can be as follows:

• The best healthy diet for a breastfeeding mother in Ramadan should contain an additional source of energy, as the breathing mother needs an additional 500 Kcal to the calories of her normal diet according to her body weight. The most important sources for energy are carbohydrates with their different types, but we need to depend on compound carbohydrates such as oats, and wheat more than simple ones, as the compound carbohydrates can increase the feel of satiety, and increase energy production.
• The best healthy diet for a breastfeeding mother in Ramadan should contain enough amount of calcium to compensate for the calcium lost in milk production, as breastfeeding mothers need 1000 mg of calcium daily, so they need to take enough calcium through the consumption of milk, egg, cheese and yogurt with their different types.
•  The best healthy diet for a breastfeeding mother in Ramadan should contain enough water, as the lactating mother should take at least 3 liters of water daily. This amount of water should be well distributed between Iftar and suhoor. You should not drink a lot of water at suhoor only, as it will be excreted by your kidneys.
• The best healthy diet for a breastfeeding mother in Ramadan should contain good sources of proteins, such as red meat, poultry meat,  some types of fish (as breastfeeding mothers can not eat fish that contain high amounts of Mercury), and grains like peas and beans. Breastfeeding mothers need at least 67 grams of protein daily.
•  The best healthy diet for a breastfeeding mother during Ramadan should contain the required amount of essential fatty acids necessary for the human body’s vital health. The essential fatty acids are found in nuts, some types of fish, olive oil, corn oil, and other types of oil.
• The best healthy diet for a breastfeeding mother during Ramadan should contain low amounts only of caffeine-containing drinks, like tea, coffee, and cola, as it can increase diuresis, withdraw water from the body, and increase the feeling of thirst during fasting hours.
• The best healthy diet for a breastfeeding mother in Ramadan should contain sources of different vitamins, like vitamin C, A, E, and other vitamins, which can be found in fresh vegetables and fruits. The breastfeeding mother’s diet should contain a source of Iron, to compensate for the loss that has occurred during pregnancy and parturition.

•  Nutrition for children during the month of Ramadan

The best diet for nutrition for children during the month of Ramadan should contain all the nutritional requirements required for the child. The fasting of the children should begin at the appropriate time for their age and begin gradually.

• The best healthy diet for nutrition for children during the month of Ramadan should contain enough protein according to the child’s age.
• The best healthy diet for nutrition for children during the month of Ramadan should contain the amount of vitamins needed by the child. The presence of fruits and vegetables is essential to cover this point and should be found in Iftar, Suhoor, and in snacks.
• The best healthy diet for nutrition for children during the month of Ramadan should contain enough iron, as a lot of children may be affected by anemia due to low iron content in their bone marrow.
• The best healthy diet for nutrition for children during the month of Ramadan should contain enough Calcium from products like cheese, milk, milk products, eggs, and leafy vegetables, as the children need Calcium for the formation of their teeth and bones.

When can breastfeeding mothers fast? When they can’t?

Of course, not all mothers will be able to fast during breastfeeding, as there are a lot of cases where the decrease in food and water can decrease milk production because of that the nutrition for breastfeeding mothers and children so important to follow in Ramadan. The decision in this case will be according to the breastfeeding specialist, who can decide if the mother can fast or not. But generally, the breastfeeding mother can fast in these cases;

• If the child is not dependent completely on breastfeeding, as if he is taking extra milk sources, or if he is eating food with his breastfeeding.
• The mother is not suffering from any health problems, especially those that cause bleeding or severe dehydration
• The baby is not suffering from any health problems, especially dehydration like diarrhea, severe vomiting, or any other problem that impairs breastfeeding.
• The breastfeeding mother should stop fasting immediately if she has any signs of inability to fast or the presence of any decrease in her breast milk.

In the following few letters, we will guide you to the reasons that prevent the fasting of the mother.

• If the mother is lactating a baby less than 6 months. Or depends completely on milk as a sole source of nutrition.
• If the mother is suffering from a disease or any health problem, especially health problems that cause bleeding.
• If the baby is suffering from a disease, especially diseases that cause dehydration like diarrhea.
• If the mother is suffering from any disease that causes dehydration, like vomiting and diarrhea.

What are the best and perfect conditions to let children fast

Of course, every mother needs to know the best conditions that make the fasting of her child easy and without any problem because of that the nutrition for breastfeeding mothers and children so important to follow in Ramadan. We will give you in these few letters the ideal and best conditions for fasting for the children, to best fasting experience.

• The child should reach the age of fasting, which has been determined by 10 years, and some other scientists have determined it with 12 to 15 years, or at the age of puberty, but the child should be accustomed to fasting by gradual fasting that has been mentioned before.
• The child should be free from any diseases, especially these diseases that cause dehydration, like vomiting and diarrhea.
• The child should be free from any chronic conditions.
• The child should stay at home for the first days of fasting, to ensure the absence of any dizziness due to hypotension or hypoglycemia.

Different tips about nutrition for children during the month of Ramadan

• The child should start fasting when he approaches 10 years old, as it is the appropriate age for fasting. The children can not be able to fast completely before this age.
• The child should be accustomed to fasting gradually, as he can fast to Dhur prayer time, then to Asr prayer time, then he can fast for a complete day.
• The child should not suffer from any diseases during the month of Ramadan, to be able to get a healthy fasting experience, especially these diseases that cause dehydration to children.
• The child should get his appropriate amount of water, which has to be well distributed from Iftar to Suhoor. Water can be replaced by sugar-free juices.
• Get special care for proteins, and try to get enough of it during the month of fasting, as children need protein for the establishment of their bodies.
• You have to give special attention to the cases of diseases of food assimilation, like lactose intolerance, sickle cell anemia, and other diseases, which have to be given special attention during the formation of the nutritional program.

Conclusion

Breastfeeding mothers and children who have recently fasted need to get good and balanced nutrition for breastfeeding mothers and children, that can ensure good and appropriate growth to children, and the breastfeeding mothers need this balanced and appropriate nutrition for maintain good milk production and prevent problems that may occur during fasting, like dehydration, hypotension, and hypoglycemia that may occur to breastfeeding mothers, and children as well. 

Good and appropriate feeding and nutrition for lactating mothers can maintain the health of mothers as well as the health of their children, and prevent any health problems that occur with children due to any decrease in milk production like dehydration, starvation, continuous anxiety, inability to take his mother’s breast and dryness of the diapers from urine.it is important to know that, mothers should immediately break their fast after the appearance of these signs.