Article: Your baby is relying on you for nutrition, and your body has to sustain another person, so it's important for you to eat a balanced diet. You'll need about 500 extra calories a day while your body is making milk. Eat a diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, protein, and healthy fats to maximize your intake of vitamins and minerals. Remember to keep taking your prenatal vitamins as long as you're breastfeeding. Since breastfeeding will actually burn a lot of calories, avoid cutting calories or dieting to lose weight. Breastfeeding provides infants with the best nutrition possible, but recent studies have shown that breastfeeding babies would benefit from vitamin D supplement. It's recommended that infants receive a daily intake of 400 IU of vitamin D. Talk to your doctor about administering vitamin D drops to your infant. Most vitamin D supplements can be purchased over the counter at grocery stores. Make sure you are selecting the appropriate dose and only give infants the liquid-based form. Plan on drinking water at regular intervals throughout the day and don't wait until you feel thirsty. Since staying hydrated can be difficult when you're busy caring for the baby, keep drinks nearby and drink throughout the day. A good way to ensure that you drink enough is to connect your water drinking to a task-such as drinking half a glass every time you nurse or change a diaper. Drink primarily water, milk, decaffeinated teas, or juices-preferably juices with no added sugar. While you can have a little caffeine every day (about 300 mg or 1 to 2 cups of coffee, or 2 to 4 ounces of espresso), you should limit your intake while breastfeeding because caffeine can be passed to your baby through your breast milk. If you notice that your baby is irritated after you drink caffeine and breastfeed, try having your coffee after breastfeeding and then waiting 4 hours to breastfeed again. While you can have a drink or 2 a week while you're breastfeeding, you should plan on having the drink 2 to 3 hours before you breastfeed. A single (25 mL) shot of spirits (25 mL), an 8-ounce glass of beer, or a small (125 mL) glass of wine each count as one drink. If you know you'll be drinking and your baby will need to breastfeed, consider pumping in advance. You should also avoid smoking for your and your baby's health. Smoking can lower nutrients in breastmilk, and it can change the way your breast milk tastes, causing your baby to refuse it. If you take medication, ask your doctor if it's safe to take while you're breastfeeding since some medications can be transferred through breast milk. In some cases, your doctor may be able to recommend different medications that are safe to take while breastfeeding. Remember to ask your doctor about herbal supplements too. Many of these aren't regulated or tested, and some can actually reduce milk supply.

What is a summary?
Eat a healthy diet. Talk to your doctor about vitamin D supplementation. Stay hydrated. Avoid consuming alcohol 2 hours before you breastfeed. Check with your doctor about medications.