I have 1-2 cups of International Coffees French Vanilla every day. My 1 month old who is BFing is awake but grumpy and at times inconsolable during the day when he is sleepy but can't fall asleep. I am not sure if the coffee is affecting his sleeping and would like some opinions. He is my third child and I don't remember having this much trouble gettingmy others to sleep when they needed to. I don't remember if I drank any coffee when I was BFing them so I really can't compare. Any advice would be great.
I can't speak to whether it is too much...only that I had read that caffeine makes its way into breast milk. International coffees--while very tasty--also have a lot of added sugar.
Is there a decaf international coffee that might work?
As someone who absolutely needs my morning coffee, I commiserate.
Good luck!
My first son was highly sensitive to caffine when I was breastfeeding and my second son was not. I think it really depends on the child. I would do some experimenting and decrease your caffine intake for a week and see if that makes a difference.
Caffine goes directly into your breat milk, really any amount is too much for a baby, it hits them much more strongly. If you absolutely have to drink coffee, try 1/2 decafine and wait at least 2 hours before nursing. Also, caffine is hard on their stomaches and may cause them stomache pains. I also nursed and missed my caffine -- but treated what I put into my body while breast feeding the same as when I was pregnant.
Your on your third baby... remember the motto of all infant moms "This too shall pass". Enjoy your coffee.
Thinking about his sleeping habits does he normally fall asleep on breast or off? Does he sleep with you at night? Is it possible he is having trouble sleeping during the day because the cues he gets at night aren't there? I also agree to mention this to pediatrician at the next visit making sure he isn't having pain from other unknown condition. I think my boys were at their gassiest (is that a word) around 4-6 weeks, maybe extra attention to burping might help.
I could be wrong but I have never heard of the caffeine from any drink going into breast milk? How can it travel to the breast milk? I honestly have never heard of this. If I was you I would get my child checked out by the pediarician, because maybe this is a sign of something wrong with him. I didn't think anything of my 3rd child being fussy and I took him for a routine check up and found out that he has SVT (supraventricular Tachycardia) that means he has a fast heart rate which goes 200 bpm or higher and later they found that he had WPW (Wolff Parkinsons White Syndrome) which mean he has an extra conductor in his heart which makes it beat faster. He was fussy, wouldn't sleep at times.
My doc told me not to exceed 300 mg of caffeine a day. He said roughly for every 5 oz of coffee that is 100 mg. He also said it takes 30-45 minutes for it to be at it's peak in your milk. I would drink my morning coffee then immediately feed my daughter so the caffeine level would not be at it's strongest yet. It sounds like you are not taking too much, but maybe you should try to spread it out a little. Drink one cup in the morning, then another later on maybe? Seems like I remember the doc saying that it takes babies 12 hours or longer to completely process caffeine also, so maybe that is why he is irritable during the day and not right away after he nurses. As other mom's said, this could just be a phase for him too. Or he could be too stimulated to fall asleep. Maybe he needs less activity around him, dimmer lighting, etc. Hang in there!
I am a coffee addict - 4-5 pots a day, thru three pregnancies and nursing, with the okay of 3 different OBs (different states).
I actually spoke with LLL about this, and the leader advised me it's no big deal. I was having stress issues and cut back a pot or so a day, and my milk dried up. Totally. I'll never cut back again when I'm nursing #4 & #5 (hopefully coming in the next few years).
S.,
I have a four year old son, 2 year old daughter and almost 5 mo. old baby girl. With my son, I drank little to no caffeine. I was a first time mom and very paranoid about my intake. With my 2nd, I drank 2-3 cups per week. Now, with my third, I usually drink 2-3 cups per day. My third has been the fussiest baby of all and I have no idea if it is related to my caffeine intake. However, I have noticed within the last month that she is a much calmer and happier baby and I have not cut back on coffee. I wish I knew the answer to this question! I actually had a terrible time getting all my kids to sleep during the first few months of their lives, so you may want to give it a little more time. I would like to keep my coffee intake at two cups per day. For myself, I feel like this is reasonable. I try to keep it to one cup in the morning and then I drink another cup around 3pm in the afternoon. But most of the time, I am still drinking 2 cups in the morning. Sorry, this is probably more information than you needed. I also drank about two cups per day during this last pregnancy. I wish I could give you a solid answer on this one.
Best Wishes!
J. F.
my sister drank coff all day and brf her kids all six of them and when i say all day i mean easy six pots and her kids were find so i guess i would say it will pass some babies are just restless babies
The only way to find out is to cut it out for 2 weeks and see what happens when you drink it again. Otherwise, you'll never know if it is bothering him or not.
