Breastfeeding and caffeine

kristakayyye

Hi all,
I'm breastfeeding a 3 week old baby and decided I needed a coffee today. I drank about half of a lg caramel macchiato from Starbucks. How long before it's safe to feed her from me again?

jessjuhnke

I think it's pretty dependant on your baby. I drink a couple cups of coffee a day and I have never had any issues however some women on here have issues with very small amounts of caffeine.

Ceridwen77

I learned that my newborn was very sensitive to caffeine the hard way! I also learned that until 3mo of age the half-life of caffeine in baby is 3-5.5days. Yes, days. It really depends on your baby but it's tough to find out you have a sensitive one when the half life is so long. By 3 months the half life drops to 14hrs and then around 4mo it's the same as an adult (4-7hr). My lo is almost 5mo old and I now enjoy my coffee. 

CecilB93

Not a coffee drinker here, but I'll drink Dr Pepper and idk that I've had any issues with LO as far as needing to wait to feed him. It sounds to me like trial and error, just another thing that varies for each baby. 

emcarl24

I drink 2-3 cups of coffee and nurse my now 10 week old without issues. I have been since he was born. No delay. Like pp said its just trial and error. You won't know if your baby is sensitive unless you try it, so it is really your choice as to whether you are willing to risk finding that she is. 

2-Step

It's safe to feed her right away, I don't think there is any evidence that drinking a small amount of caffeine is unsafe or harmful to your child. There is a chance your LO could be sensitive to it and it might make her fussy though.

I drink a large cup daily and have never had a problem. I also have heard that if you drink coffee throughout your pregnancy that your LO will be less likely to be sensitive to it. I'm not sure if that is true, but I had a half cup every day during pregnancy and went back to my full cup right away with no issues. If I were you I would just test it out and see how your LO reacts. I drank it while nursing all there of my kids and never had any noticeable problems. I didn't drink excessive amounts, just my one cup in the morning. I don't know how people get through life with small children without it!

peregrinefalconx

*lurking--for knowledge*

I thought this thread was "breastfeeding and cocaine." Now that would have been a different thread.

SmrBrd2012

I had 1-2 cups of coffee every day and still BFed normally. If you can have a glass of wine while BFing, you can certainly have a cup of coffee....That being said, if you notice your LO is behaving differently after you have caffeine then she could have a sensitivity to it.

ashleyorm

Agreed, trial and error. See what happens.

DaliaJesse

200mg of caffeine is recommended for nursing moms but more than that will likely harm your baby, cause them to be wakeful, restless or irritable. 

Few babies will be sensitive to even 200mg of caffeine, in such cases you need to avoid it completely. Alternatively you can have decaffeinated tea or coffee.