If you know me in person, (or even digitally) you know that I LOVE coffee. (I especially enjoy a good cup of joe in exotic or interesting locations. My favorite was in the Amazon rainforest.)
I don’t know when my love affair started exactly, but I know it was after having our first kid and it progressed slowly to the mature relationship we have today.
At first, I was the only one in our house who drank coffee, so I had a coffee maker than only made one cup. I used cheap coffee and put about 1/2 cup of flavored creamer in it. I typically only drank 1 cup a day. If I ordered coffee out, it was an expensive latte, again, with lots of sugar and flavor.
Our younger two babies who had dairy issues where born and it shook up my coffee habits. (One had sensitivities and the other one had allergies.) I started drinking coffee black with sugar and realized GOOD coffee, like really good coffee, was so much better black than cheap coffee. (When I weaned our allergy baby, I realized I like cream in my coffee more than sugar, so that’s my “drink” now. Strong coffee with a little bit of cream.)
It’s no surprise, after reading my coffee history, that I drank coffee through all of my breastfeeding years. Thankfully, none of our little people seemed to have any sensitivities to caffeine. (When they were babies, I didn’t drink as much caffeine as I do now.) But, there was a lot of mixed information out at the time as to how much caffeine was “ok”.
Thankfully now, there’s a little less confusion.
The good news: Caffeine is recognized as safe to consume while breastfeeding. The amount “recommended” varies from 300mg-500mg (LLL suggests 300mg and KellyMom suggests 500mg is likely ok.)
The bad news: there’s no other way to tell if the amount of caffeine you’re consuming is too much for your baby other than observing your baby’s behavior.
What types of behavior would indicate you’re consuming too much caffeine for your baby? (As always, talk with your provider about any unusual symptoms and concerns. These are just suggestions on things to observe.)
Look for these behaviors:
- The baby is irritable.
- The baby is fussy.
- The baby has difficulty staying asleep.
- The baby is unusually wakeful.
Things to keep in mind when observing a baby’s behavior in regards to caffeine consumption:
- Baby gets 1.5% of the amount of caffeine through the milk that the parent consumes.
- Younger babies have a harder time metabolizing caffeine. The younger your baby is, the more likely it is that caffeine will be an issue.
- If your baby seems sensitive when they’re young, you can try to reintroduce them as they grow.
- The caffeine will peak in the baby’s system between 1-2 hours.
- Most studies state that infants have no adverse effects from moderate caffeine consumption (that 300-500mg per day suggestion.) Infantrisk states: “Medical studies have so far failed to provide strong evidence that caffeine increases the risk for adverse pregnancy or breastfeeding outcomes in otherwise healthy mothers and babies.”
- Caffeine is present in more than just coffee. Be sure to be conscious of your intake of chocolate, teas, sodas, etc. There’s a handy chart with caffeine content here.
If your baby is having issues with caffeine, don’t fret! You can try to cut back slightly to see if that works before cutting it all out, or you can try to reintroduce it back into your diet later when your baby is older. If all else fails, find a GOOD quality decaf coffee (I know. I know. For die-hard coffee fanatics, decaf isn’t even really coffee. But, it does in a pinch.)
Did you drink caffeine while breastfeeding? Did your baby seem to have any reactions from it? Tell us in the comments.
