How bad do you think it is to drink caffiene while BF?

I think that like a lot of things it depends on the baby. I drink 1 dr. pepper a day. (I know, I know, it's my one vice...) it's never bothered dd. Now, I drink it at lunch and a couple of times when I had caffeine later in the day (dinner...) it kept her up a little later at night. But not always.

-Angela

I drink 1-2 cups of coffee every morning. I've done this for the entire time I was pregnant and didn't stop once the baby got here either. Neither of us seem suffer any ill-effects from the caffeine, so I really don't worry. In fact, some days I also have a Coke for lunch and it hasn't caused any problems either.

I think it depends on how your babe reacts to the caffeine. My caffeine intake didn't affect DS, and I have a Coke in the morning and some iced tea at night.

I drink 2-4 cups per day(gulp) when I was preg as well, does not affect my baby, that I know of.

It really depends on the baby, to a great extent. Two of my kids weren't affected by caffeine at all while the other two seemed to get really bad colic from any caffeine I drank.

Jen

I drink a good amount of pop and have never had any problems with any of my kids, now broccoli is another story

I drank de-caf while pregnant (caf made me jittery, and the baby would boogie for hours if I had regular coffee) but once DD arrived I started drinking caf coffee again.

Usually I'll have a cup of caf coffee in the morning, then one or two cups of black tea during the day. DD hasn't shown any reaction to the caf, so, like PP have said, it really depends on your little one!

I'm EBF and I drink 1 or 2 cups of coffee a day. It doesn't seem to affect my baby at all.

I think moderation is key

Another coffee addict here, and also mother to a couple of the sleepiest babies you've ever seen. Never seemed to affect them at all. BTW - I usually drink 1-3 cups a day.

I stopped drinking coffee and limited my caffeinated soda to one a day while pregnant but during breastfeeding I allow myself a cup of coffee in the morning and 2 sodas during the day.

No reason to worry unless you're consuming more than five (5 oz) cups of coffee per day.
"According to research, very little caffeine passes into a mother's milk, between 0.6 to 1.5 percent of the maternal dose (Berlin 1984). One study found that it takes the amount of caffeine that is in more than five cups of coffee per day before a breastfeeding baby is affected (Nehlig and Debry 1994)..."
"If a breastfeeding mother consumes more caffeine in a day than is found in five (5 oz) cups of coffee (more than 750 ml), caffeine could begin accumulating in her baby's system, causing symptoms of caffeine stimulation."

From

Click to expand...

The Breastfeeding Answer Book, p. 599

I also love coffee and drink mostly decaf though I do drink caffeinated sometimes. One thing to remember is that any coffee you buy at a coffee shop (caf or decaf) is going to have way more caffeine than what you brew at home. I think if you just pay attention you will see if it affects your dc or not. For me, it is the taste I love and I was able to get over the caffeine.

to the OP ~ i'm sure it's fine. i generally drink at LEAST 2 cups of coffee a day (usually 4)... if i don't i get major headaches... not to mention just completely crashing. usually i'm functioning on 2-3 hours of sleep... so caffeine is a somewhat necessary evil for me.

i didn't drink hardly any while i was pregnant though... and i stayed away from it until my daughter was about a year old. but once i was back in school (on top of working, etc) i found i really needed that to keep me going, and i started w/ small amounts to see how she'd react and she's fine with it.

but she's also almost 2! so i don't know if that makes a difference.

i suppose it's one of these things to me that i think is a really personal decision... i don't think there's one blanket answer that will be right for everyone.