Overnight Oats for Breastfeeding Moms: 5 Ways

Overnight oatmeal is one of the best things that can happen to busy moms. With just five to ten minutes of prep the previous night, you can have a nutritious and healthy breakfast in the morning. And what’s even better? Oats (and a bunch of the other ingredients in these recipes) are lactogenic! So check out these easy, healthy, perfect overnight oats for breastfeeding moms.

Why Overnight Oatmeal for Breastfeeding Moms?

When you are a breastfeeding mom the most important things to remember when choosing meals is: are they healthy? is this going to help my milk supply? is there protein in this meal? and how fast can I make this?

You of course can’t weight all those questions in your mind every single time you get hangry. A lot of the time you are nap trapped or breastfeeding trapped and get really hungry and just need to eat SOMETHING! (Although if this is your third baby or beyond you probably just carry them around breastfeeding at this point!)

But it IS a good idea to try to begin running those four questions through your mind as you select foods to eat while breastfeeding. If you are struggling to find meals that fit this profile I suggest trying out The Milky Mamas Postpartum Plan. It’s a 28 day diet and exercise plan that teaches you EXACTLY how to eat postpartum to lose the excess baby weight WHILE increasing your milk supply, regain the strength you lost during pregnancy, and have more energy postpartum. Even if you just want to learn how to eat for increased lactation alone, I’d suggest trying it out. The Milky Mama’s Postpartum Plan comes with so many healthy milk boosting recipes!

So why overnight oats? They are one of the healthiest and easiest ready to eat breakfast ideas that increase milk supply. Lactation smoothies are a second meal that fit this bill.

Oats are rich in fiber and including them regularly will help you meet their daily requirement of fiber. Pure oats are whole grain and gluten free. Make sure you get certified gluten free oats if you can’t eat gluten.

You feel full longer when you eat oats and the soluble fiber in oats help control blood sugar. They are also rich in vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants.

Overnight oatmeal is a balanced dish that contains a good amount of fiber from oats, protein from dairy products and nut butter, essential vitamins and minerals from fresh fruits and natural sweetness from fruits or honey/ maple syrup.

What I love the most about overnight oats is that you can experiment with different flavors everyday and not get bored of it. I am sharing 4 different flavors with you today that I love! The base is simple and you can always customize it as per your taste. If you have a favorite topping/ flavor combo, I would love to know!

First let’s see how to do the base –

Ingredients –

3 tbsp rolled or old fashioned oats

2 tbsp whole milk yogurt or Greek yogurt

¼ cup milk of your choice

2 tsp sweetener of your choice like honey/ maple syrup

¼ tsp vanilla extract

optional – you can always add a scoop of breastfeeding safe protein powder for more protein (getting enough protein is REALLY important for making enough milk. It has a direct correlation to how much milk you produce)

All you have to do is, mix these ingredients and top it with the toppings of your choice. You can additionally coarsely grind the oats before adding it to the recipe if you like a pudding like texture.

You can also add a tbsp of chia seeds to the base.

How can I make this vegan –

Simply substitute the milk and yogurt with plant-based options.

How to make this gluten free –

Use certified gluten free oats in the recipe.

Peanut butter banana oatmeal –

Over night oatmeal base

• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• ½ banana chopped
• 1 tsp honey/ maple syrup
• 1 tsp hemp seeds

Add the ingredients mentioned above on top of the oatmeal base and refrigerate overnight.

Cover the container with a lid. You can add the toppings the previous night or when you are serving it.

Very berry overnight oatmeal-

Overnight oatmeal base

• ¼ cup mixed berries like blueberries, raspberry, strawberries etc
• 1 tsp maple syrup / honey
• 1 tbsp homemade berry compote or jam (optional)

Add the ingredients mentioned above on top of the oatmeal base and refrigerate overnight.

Cover the container with a lid. You can add the toppings the previous night or when you are serving it.

Apple pie oatmeal –

• ¼ cup diced apples
• ¼ tsp cinnamon or pumpkin spice
• 1 tsp honey/ maple syrup

Add the ingredients mentioned above on top of the oatmeal base and refrigerate overnight.

Cover the container with a lid. You can add the toppings the previous night or when you are serving it.

OPTIONAL – you can sauté the apples in a little butter and spices until they become slightly soft if you prefer a softer texture.

Chocolate oatmeal –

Overnight oatmeal base

(For chocolate oatmeal, I like to mix 2 tsp cocoa powder to the base along with some maple syrup honey to balance the bitterness from the cocoa)

• ¼ cup chopped strawberries
• 1 tbsp mini chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp chopped nuts
• 1 tsp chocolate syrup (optional)

Add the ingredients mentioned above on top of the oatmeal base and refrigerate overnight.

Cover the container with a lid. You can add the toppings the previous night or when you are serving it.

Additional toppings / add ins to the recipe

• Nut butters like almond butter, peanut butter, cashew butter etc
• Tahini
• Hemp hearts
• Flax meal
• Chopped nuts
• Fruits of your choice like mangoes, chopped pears, pineapple etc
• Spices like cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric
• Coconut flakes

You can make different overnight oats for each day and refrigerate it for the week.

The toppings can also be mixed in the base instead of adding it on the top.

Serve it warm or cold depending on how you like it. Some people love the quick, satisfying, cool oats in the morning. For others the texture of oats cold is an immediate gag! To warm it up simple microwave it for a minute or 30 seconds. It’s still a healthy and simple milk boosting breakfast that you prepped in mere minutes.

 

Breastfeeding Overnight Oats – 4 Ways:

RECIPE

Prep time – 10 minutes

Cook time – none

Ingredients

Overnight oatmeal base – for one bowl / serving

• 3 tbsp rolled or old fashioned oats
• 2 tbsp whole milk yogurt or Greek yogurt
• ¼ cup milk of your choice
• 2 tsp sweetener of your choice like honey/ maple syrup
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp chia seeds (optional)
• optional: a scoop of breastfeeding safe protein powder

Peanut butter banana oatmeal –

• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• ½ banana chopped
• 1 tsp honey/ maple syrup
• 1 tsp hemp seeds

Very berry overnight oatmeal-

• ¼ cup mixed berries like blueberries, raspberry, strawberries etc
• 1 tsp maple syrup / honey
• 1 tbsp homemade berry compote or jam (optional)

Apple pie oatmeal –

• ¼ cup diced apples
• ¼ tsp cinnamon or pumpkin spice
• 1 tsp honey/ maple syrup

Chocolate oatmeal –

• 2 tsp cocoa powder – for the base
• ¼ cup chopped strawberries
• 1 tbsp mini chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp chopped nuts
• 1 tsp chocolate syrup (optional)

Method:

Make the base by mixing all the ingredients needed for the base. Add the cocoa powder to the base if you are making chocolate oatmeal.

Add the toppings and cover the container with a lid.

Refrigerate it overnight.

 

Wrapping Up Overnight Oats Recipes for Breastfeeding

Overnight oats are fast, healthy, and can be made with one hand whenever you have time because they keep pretty well in the fridge for a few days. They also help to increase breastmilk supply. Eating for milk supply is really important during breastfeeding. Many of us struggle to keep a good supply and things like growth spurts and mental leaps can make babies require additional nutrients.

Learn how to include galactagogues into every single meal to increase milk supply every day in the Milky Mama’s Postpartum Plan. It really helped me get a grasp on how to eat for milk supply so that I never worried again if I was making enough and had lots of tools to increase it quickly if there was ever a growth spurt, cold, etc.

Sharing is caring!