How Much Coffee Can I Drink While Breast-Feeding?

So you finally popped out that baby ? what a relief! Now all of the pregnancy restrictions are off, and you can return to your old vices with abandon, like coffee, sushi, wine, and horseback riding (not at the same time, we hope!).
Not so fast? If you?re breast-feeding, your body still isn?t your own just yet. You may be able to indulge more in both alcohol and caffeine, but you still have to worry about how what you eat and drink will affect your baby as their main source of food. Magical, isn?t it?

Let?s review a few quick statistics about breast-feeding and coffee drinking before we forge ahead:

• As of 2010, 75% of babies were breast-fed at birth.
• 43% of infants were breast-fed up to 6 months.
• 22% of infants were breast-fed up to 12 months.
• 54% of Americans over 18 drink coffee each day.
• On average, a coffee drinker in the US consumes 3.1 nine ounce cups a day.

The real question is: How much coffee is safe to drink while breast-feeding? We?re going to answer that burning question based on extensive research to give you a clearer picture of how much coffee you can enjoy while nursing your new little guy or gal.

What Amount of Coffee Is Safe to Drink While Breast-Feeding?

Let?s start by scratching the surface. Mega baby website BabyCenter reveals that it is fine to consume caffeine while breast-feeding since only 1% of caffeine will end up in breast milk. This caffeine surge will peak within a few hours after consuming a caffeinated beverage, like coffee.

But there?s a catch. According to BabyCenter, a newborn baby?s body doesn?t have the ability to break down and excrete caffeine. Before the age of three months, this makes it easy for caffeine to accumulate in the system.

While this sounds scary and even dangerous, experts believe that you can up your caffeine intake from the recommended 200 mg maximum during pregnancy up to 300 mg a day while breast-feeding. This is the equivalent of 16 ounces of brewed coffee and won?t likely cause a change in your baby?s behavior.

Moving on, breast-feeding specialty website Kelly Mom also agrees that it?s A-Okay to drink a moderate amount of caffeine while breast-feeding. Kelly Mom points out that babies younger than six months may be more sensitive to caffeine in breast milk. A baby may also react differently to caffeine if a mother avoided caffeine throughout her pregnancy.

Kelly Mom cites a few interesting sources to back up her argument:

• The book Medications and Mother?s Milk categorizes caffeine as Lactation Risk Category L2, meaning that it is a safer substance to consume. Caffeine in breast milk will remain low at 0.06-1.5%, peaking 1-2 hours after consumption.
• While one study associates regular coffee drinking with a potential decrease in the iron content of breast milk, the American Academy of Pediatrics also confirms that caffeine can be ?compatible with breast-feeding.?
• Caffeine has not been proven to decrease milk supply. In fact, quite the opposite is true as one study points out that drinking caffeine could help to stimulate breast milk production.

Other major organizations like the March of Dimes and experts like Ruth Lawrence, PhD, agree that 300 mg of caffeine a day is a reasonable recommendation for breast-feeding women. However, mothers of preterm babies and newborns may want to cut back even further since very young infants metabolize caffeine more slowly.

What Happens If You Drink Too Much Coffee While Breast-Feeding?

The definition of ?too much? coffee is up to you and your doctor. If you consume more than 300 mg a day, per the recommendations above, you may observe signs of caffeine stimulation in your baby, as detailed by the Breastfeeding Answer Book:

• Active
• Alert
• Wide-eyed
• Fussy
• Difficulty sleeping

One step to take is to cut back on the amount of coffee that you drink for 2 to 3 weeks to see if any of these symptoms change. Keep in mind that a baby who is sensitive to caffeine at a young age may become less sensitive as they get older ? meaning that you can reintroduce more coffee to your diet with age, even while breast-feeding.

Each baby is completely different. While some women stick to the moderate 300 mg limit, others have reported drinking coffee in a higher range of 300-700 mg of caffeine a day.

How Much Caffeine Is in Your Coffee?

Now that we?ve answered the big question of the amount of coffee you can drink while breast-feeding, it helps to better understand the exact caffeine content of your cup of Joe. Consider the estimations below to calculate how much caffeine you consume each day:

• 8 ounces instant coffee: 76 mg caffeine
• 8 ounces brewed coffee: 137 mg caffeine
• 8 ounces decaffeinated coffee: 2 mg caffeine
• 8 ounce Starbucks coffee: 250 mg caffeine
• 12 ounce Starbucks coffee: 375 mg caffeine
• 12 ounce Starbucks latte: 75 mg caffeine
• 16 ounce Starbucks coffee: 500 mg caffeine
• 16 ounce Starbucks latte: 150 mg caffeine
• 1 shot espresso: 27 mg caffeine

That should cover all the bases, shouldn?t it? But wait ? monitoring caffeine in your diet while breast-feeding takes vigilance and attention to detail. Don?t forget about countless other caffeine sources that could add to your daily caffeine consumption, like:

• 1 ounce dark chocolate: 23 mg caffeine
• 1.55 ounces milk chocolate: 9 mg caffeine
• 8 ounces green tea: 25 mg caffeine
• 8 ounces black tea: 47 mg caffeine
• 8 ounces hot chocolate: 12 mg caffeine
• 8 ounces chocolate milk: 8 mg caffeine
• 8.3 ounce Red Bull: 77 mg caffeine
• 12 ounce soft drink: 35 mg caffeine

The good news is that you likely won?t have to cut out coffee altogether while breast-feeding your baby. You can stick to the caffeine guidelines in this article and enjoy coffee several hours before a feeding to allow caffeine levels to subside before you nurse.

Source: http://www.thecoffeebump.com/blog/2012/12/how-much-coffee-can-i-drink-while-breast-feeding.html

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