When you’re told ‘don’t eat this’ and ‘don’t eat that’ when you’re breastfeeding, don’t listen to them! You can have almost anything, except alcohol. Some things, however, such as caffeine, should be consumed in moderation. But how much is too much, and should you drink coffee when breastfeeding?
Can you drink coffee while breastfeeding?
The answer is yes for caffeine and nursing! But without overdoing it.
Coffee (including also tea and chocolate) contains caffeine, a stimulating substance that arouses the production of adrenalin.
Excessive consumption of coffee, or rather caffeine, can cause insomnia and irritability in your baby, especially during the first few months of life.
Caffeine actually passes into the mum's milk at a rate of about 1%, and is absorbed over a period of about 1-3 hours. However, some infants can be extremely sensitive to it, especially those born prematurely.
Studies on coffee and nursing (Hale 2019) have in fact shown that a baby's ability to metabolise caffeine only develops from three to four months of age. In addition, the blood caffeine endurance time decreases as the child grows.
How much caffeine when breastfeeding?
It’s advisable not to exceed 3 coffees per day, although some health organisations recommend 2 cups per day as a safety precaution, such as the European Food Safety Authority.
A study published in the journal Paediatrics monitored the sleep of breastfed babies from 900 women who drank coffee. The conclusion reached by the experiment was that a baby's sleep is not altered if the mum consumes coffee in moderation.
On the other hand, if the mum consumes more than 5 cups a day (i.e. more than 750 ml of coffee), their baby shows signs of restlessness, fussiness, sleep disturbances and even colic.
Coffee while nursing: which foods and drinks contain caffeine?
Don’t forget that caffeine is not only present in your cup of coffee!
It’s also present in other foods and drinks:
- Cocoa
- Chocolate
- Decaffeinated coffee (contains about 3%)
- Tea (black tea, green tea, Matcha which contains a large amount...)
- Energy drinks such as Red Bull
- Fizzy drinks such as Coca Cola
The quantity of caffeine varies depending on the food or drink. To give you an idea:
- A cup of coffee contains 50-100mg of caffeine (there’s less caffeine in coffee made in a moka coffee pot than in an espresso coffee from a vending machine)
- A can of coca cola contains 40mg of caffeine
- A cup of tea contains 50mg of caffeine
- A can of Red bull contains 100mg of caffeine
- 100 grams of cocoa contains 100mg of caffeine
This means that if you only drink two coffees a day, but eat two chocolate bars and drink a can of Coke, your baby could feel the effects of caffeine!
👉 Want to learn more about what to eat while breastfeeding? Read our full guide on which foods to limit and some interesting facts.
Sources:
For more information specific to the UK read the breastfeeding guidelines NHS
