Is caffeine okay while bf'ing?

CantWait2Be · July 2011

I thought I read not to drink caffeine while bfing but I don't remember if I did that with dd or not, it's been quite a while. I dont drink coffee but do like a diet coke or so. I was drinking it while pg.

saraboston · July 2011

https://www.kellymom.com/health/lifestyle/caffeine.html

GenRN45 · July 2011

Honestly, it takes a newborn WAY too long to metabolize caffiene. I'd stay away for awhile.

darmca · July 2011

GenRN45:
Honestly, it takes a newborn WAY too long to metabolize caffiene. I'd stay away for awhile.

Yes it takes them a long time to metabolize caffeine but read the info on kellymom- "milk levels are quite low (0.06-1.5% of maternal dose"

A can of diet coke has about 45mg of caffeine- even the max 1.5% of that is only .7mg of caffeine.

Most days I have a half cup of coffee (whole if I can drink it all before it gets cold) and a can of pepsi or dr pepper and LO sleeps great (6 hours straight last night!).

GenRN45 · July 2011

That's great for your LO. Mine has enough issues and it's not worth it to me to take the chance. Wakefulness isn't the only side effect of caffeine. I didn't drink it while pg, I don't see a reason to start now.

katie4253 · July 2011

The treatment for my son's spells (low heart-rate spells called Bradys) during his NICU stay was caffeine. I really don't think it's a big deal now. What gets into my milk is far less than what he got in the hospital. Plus, I don't drink that much (1/2-1 cup of coffee in the am or a can of soda).

GBCK · July 2011

I think the 'limit' is 7 cups of coffee per day...

The amoutn passed into BM is pretty small. How it's metabolized depends on the kid--just like how it's metabolized w/ adults.

I don't worry about my caffeine intake--I don't drink it in excess but I'm not worried about the coffee I just had either.

tokenhoser · July 2011

I drink 1-2 cups a day; more than that tends to keep me up at night.

I'm not worried about the incredibly small dose DS gets. Ditto the poster that pointed out the load up preemies with caffeine as a treatment - it's not toxic to babies or anything.

SeaMama · July 2011

I drink caffeine all damn day long and did w/ DS1 too. I'm probably not the person to ask, come to think of it.... haha.

schenkertobe · July 2011

My little 4lb preemie was given caffeine every night when he was in the NICU. I drink 1-2 cups of coffee a day now and he does just fine with it. And it keeps me sane.

GenRN45 · July 2011

Caffiene in small amounts is perfectly safe... I just choose not to chance it because I don't drink caffeine. But to those who say their preemies were given caffeine in the NICU so there's no problem, I'd just like to point out that when your child was in the NICU their dosage was based on weight. The standard is 5mg/kg/day and 20mg of caffeine citrate = 10mg of regular caffeine. so it's not like they were given it unchecked. There is such a thing as too much.