Top tips ... new mum health

I was talking the other week to a friend who is struggling with reflux with baby number two.  We never had reflux - apart from the very occasional sick-up - but as posted previously really struggled with colic.  It struck us that lots of the advice that is given for colic and reflux is the same and that lots is related to the new mum's diet and well-being.  The problem is that when colic or reflux strikes at 3 or 4 weeks you get into a mad cycle of reactively trying to "fix" your diet and inevitably it doesn't really seem to work and just makes you more obsessive and anxious which is the very thing you're supposed not to be.

I know most of the pregnancy and new baby books have sections on mum's health but I think my brain was a bit too foggy to really take it all in and what I really needed was a simple list I could give to my mum before the baby was born and say "make sure I do this!"  And then even if they didn't manage to prevent colic or reflux I would still have known that I had done everything I could and wouldn't have gone into "mad mummy" mode of analysing every single last thing I ate and googling frantically for yet more things to worry about.

So here's a starting attempt at a list of proactive top tips to prevent colic and reflux and make you feel better in those first 3 months plus a separate list of tips for managing reflux.  There's some really obvious things that are easier said than done but so valuable if you can do them and ideas on diet including:

• Sleep, sleep, sleep as much as you can!
• Keep off caffeine of all sorts
• Avoid acidic fruit but eat lots of non-acidic fruit
• Enjoy leafy green veg but avoid gassy veg like cabbage, sprouts and broccoli
• Moderate dairy intake
• Plus lots more in the full list

What else would you add?  What really helped you? What do you wish you started earlier?  Do give me your ideas and I will update the list.

**************** NEW MUM'S HEALTH LINKY *************************************
And if you've got any great blog posts on your health in the early months do add to the linky below ....