Your Baby Drinks its Own Pee

Your Baby Drinks its Own Pee. We know, that sounds so disgusting. But let’s talk about why it’s important, and how your nutrition is important.

 

We all have heard a mom say “I’m eating for two now” but is that really true or is it a path of unhealthy choices that can leave your body and your baby ill prepared for birth and life outside the womb?

 

Your body doesn’t need to eat for two.

Women are encouraged to gain between 15-30lbs during pregnancy. So let’s break that down:

 

Baby: 6-8lbs full term

Placenta: 1.5lbs

Uterus: 1.5lbs

Enlarged breasts: 1-2lbs

Fluid Volume: 6-8lbs

Blood Volume: 3-4lbs

Fat Stores: 5-7lbs

Total: 24-32lbs

 

Most of your weight gain should NOT be fat.

 

In fact, eating a high fat, high sugar diet leaves you at great risk for gestational diabetes, Pre-eclampsia, pregnancy induced hypertension, and an increased need for cesarean section. You only need 300 extra calories per day to grow a healthy baby. This is adding in a daily snack like 1 medium apple and 2 tbsp. peanut butter or 2 hard boiled eggs and 6 whole wheat crackers.

What should you be eating to grow a healthy baby?

 

We give our clients 2 tips to help with choosing the best foods for our bodies.

 

  1. Skip the grocery aisles. About 80% of your diet should consist of the foods you find on the perimeter of the grocery store. These foods have a short shelf life, which means they are fresh foods low on preservatives (chemicals). Also, eat organic when you can. We know it’s expensive, so choose organic on things like strawberries and fruits/vegetables you don’t peel before eating.

 

  1. Eat the rainbow. Eating a variety of colors will ensure you are getting all the complex minerals and vitamins your body needs for complete health.

 

Hydration is also incredibly important for a healthy and safe pregnancy.

 

Women need about 10 cups of water per day, that is a little over 2 liters. If you’ve been hot or sweating, you need more than that. But we have good news! Sparkling water, decaf teas, and small amounts of juice count towards your fluid intake numbers. Our bodies need fluids to properly function and flush toxins out of our body. Dehydration causes headaches, muscle aches, exhaustion, and skin dryness.

 

Does my baby really drink it’s own pee?

 

The answer is, YES. Babies start to pee inside the amniotic sac around week eight, though urine production really picks up between weeks 13 and 16. They start drinking this mix of pee and amniotic fluid around week 12. By week 20 most of the amniotic fluid is urine. This means if you aren’t staying hydrated, your baby is drinking concentrated pee. Yuck.

So be kind to your body and your baby and let us know if you have any tips to staying hydrated or choosing healthy snacks. If you need ideas, you can check out our Pinterest page here.

 

5 Comments

  1. Babies drink pee every 3 hours. Their pee contains their own stem cells. These stem cells (and pee) go in their nose, eyes, lungs, mouth, digestive tract, etc. There is no reflex to stop it from happening. A baby’s stem cells helps it form and heal it self as it develops. Pee is clean and sterile.
    Eating a clean diet is as important for your baby as it is for you. A baby is born with ~200 toxins in its cord blood. That is not from pee, it is from mom’s environment.
    Thank you for engaging in this topic. Good education!!

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