Coffee and breastfeeding

Coffee During Breastfeeding

As a new life develops, physical changes become noticeable, and with them, a heightened sense of responsibility. As a result, you might adjust your dietary habits, paying close attention to which foods are beneficial for both you and your baby.
The nutrition in the first 1000 days of your child, from the beginning of pregnancy until their second birthday, is crucial and has a lasting impact on both their current and future health. Breastfeeding is considered the best initial food source for infants. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of an infant's life. Breastfeeding reduces infant mortality and provides health benefits into adulthood.

Drinking coffee in moderate amounts is safe for women during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Here's what you should know: When you breastfeed, caffeine from your coffee passes through your bloodstream into your breast milk and reaches your baby. This can lead to restlessness, sleep disturbances, stomach discomfort, and gas for your baby. It's important to be aware that other caffeinated foods, such as tea or (milk) chocolate, also contribute to your daily caffeine intake. In this article, you'll learn how much caffeine is suitable for you, its effects on your baby, and how you can keep track of your caffeine consumption.

How Much Caffeine is Recommended for Breastfeeding Women?

To promote the health of both mother and baby, breastfeeding women are encouraged to modify their diet, including reducing caffeine intake. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recommends that breastfeeding women do not exceed their habitual caffeine consumption of 200 mg per day. This caffeine amount is considered safe and does not pose any safety concerns for the breastfed infant.

When you drink coffee, caffeine passes into breast milk. Depending on how well your body metabolizes caffeine, some of the caffeine you consume will be transferred to your baby. Caffeine is a stimulant, and your baby will feel its effects, possibly leading to restlessness, disrupted sleep, or even stomach discomfort and gas. If you don't want to give up your coffee moment but still want to protect your baby from caffeine's effects, opt for decaffeinated coffee. This way, you both benefit: you get to enjoy a decaf break, and your baby enjoys restful sleep.

How Quickly is Caffeine Metabolized in Infants?

After drinking a cup of coffee, caffeine is distributed evenly throughout your body. It can be detected in your blood, saliva, breast milk, and other body fluids and organs. You’ll start to feel the stimulating effects of caffeine after about 30 to 45 minutes. As a healthy adult, you primarily metabolize caffeine in the liver. Substances like caffeine are filtered through your blood to your liver, your largest internal organ, which detoxifies harmful substances. The liver is vital not only for detoxification but also for metabolizing fats, carbohydrates, and proteins and storing essential vitamins and minerals like iron, copper, and zinc.

Caffeine is metabolized by the liver and broken down into substances that no longer have a stimulating effect. The process of caffeine breakdown in the liver relies on specialized enzyme systems. In newborns, the breakdown of caffeine is significantly slower due to the immaturity of these enzymes. This means your baby cannot metabolize caffeine effectively, and its stimulating effects last longer. As your baby gets older, their liver enzyme systems develop, and by around 6 months, your baby can metabolize caffeine similarly to an adult.

Caffeine Breakdown in Infants:

• Newborns: 65–103 hours
• 3–4 Months: 14.4 hours
• 6 Months: 2.6 hours
• Adults: 2.2–3.5 hours

How to Keep Track of Your Caffeine Intake

Caffeine is found in over 60 different plants, including tea, mate, and kola nuts. Additionally, chemically similar substances like theophylline and theobromine are present in many plants. The way you prepare coffee or tea significantly affects the caffeine content of your beverage. A cup of filtered coffee can contain around 80–100 mg of caffeine, while a small espresso contains about 40 mg of caffeine. A cup of tea may have up to 50 mg of caffeine, depending on how it's brewed. Even cocoa contains a small amount of caffeine (about 6 mg per cup). Chocolate, including milk chocolate, contains caffeine alongside theobromine and other stimulating substances.

Many food, cosmetic, wellness, and medicinal products also contain added caffeine. It's important to avoid excessive caffeine intake during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Products with higher caffeine content are often required to carry warnings on their packaging. For example, beverages like energy drinks with caffeine concentrations above 150 mg per liter must include a label warning that the product is not recommended for children or pregnant/breastfeeding women.

Be mindful of these warnings and read product labels carefully to maintain a caffeine-conscious lifestyle.

Image sources: Picture with baby feet: ellieelien-hX4_6hHTxRc-unsplash(1)

Image with coffee: jana-sabeth-c5jXEqjbZU4-unsplash