oh hey guys um sorry i was just enjoying a cup of coffee. how many of you enjoy that
first cup of coffee in the morning as much as i do if you just had a baby and you've been either cut
out or have cut back on caffeine during pregnancy you're probably wondering if it's okay to resume
your caffeine intake during lactation so stay tuned to the end of this video where we're gonna
cover whether or not it's okay to have caffeine during lactation the things to look out for
and kind of suggested limits on how much caffeine you can drink during your lactation journey so
if you're new here my name is cassie reyes i am a registered nurse and a
board certified lactation consultant and i'm also co-founder of people's lactation
based here in washington dc and i'm so happy that you found the channel if you're interested
in watching more lactation specific content please subscribe down below give the video a like
and if you hit the bell you're going to be notified each week when i post a new video
so right off the bat let's answer the all-important question can you have coffee during
lactation and the answer is yes as long as you're not drinking more than five cups a day so each
baby is different and how they're going to respond to the amount of caffeine that you're taking in
and it could be that your baby might be a little bit more sensitive to the caffeine in your diet
if you had completely cut out caffeine during pregnancy so babies who aren't
exposed to caffeine during pregnancy might be a little bit more sensitive to caffeine
if they're exposed during lactation the american academy of pediatrics does say that caffeine is
usually compatible with lactation so we're going to talk about things to look for and babies that
might be extra sensitive but overall a little bit of caffeine is mostly safe during lactation
the levels of caffeine in your milk tend to peak around one to two hours after you consume it
so that's worth noting because if you for example were to have a cup of coffee after your feed it
should mostly be or those peak levels should mostly be out of your milk by the time your
next feeding is which would usually be in two to three hours some babies are just more sensitive
than others so the most important thing is to watch your baby and see how your baby reacts to
your caffeine intake in your diet babies that may be higher risk for being affected
by caffeine are pre-term infants or ill babies who have some other health condition going on
so definitely if you have a high-risk infant it would be worth talking to your pediatrician or
checking in with your lactation consultant just in case but otherwise it has been shown that
in general the recommendation is that if you drink less than 750 milligrams of coffee per
well 750 milligrams of caffeine per day you should be okay 750 milligrams of caffeine just to put
that in perspective for you is about five cups of coffee not if you're drinking starbucks because
starbucks coffee is a little bit stronger so find out how many milligrams of caffeine
are in your starbucks coffee depends on how big your coffee is too so
but five cups of five ounce regular coffee in general are gonna put you at that 750
milligram threshold um i don't know about you i'm a big coffee drinker or have been in the past
but i have never as far as i can remember had five five ounce cups of coffee in a day
so as long as you're okay staying under that pretty high threshold i think you should be good
during pregnancy the recommendations are usually 200 to 300 milligrams per day or less so if you
were drinking in that range during pregnancy and you just continue that throughout lactation
you should be good to go some things to look for in your baby however are that if your baby is
extra fussy or irritable or just doesn't sleep for a long stretches of time um you could try cutting
back on your caffeine intake you always want to do that slowly because caffeine withdrawal
is real and it can cause some pretty nasty side effects especially like headaches so cut back
slowly and try to cut it out for a couple of weeks and see if it helps improve your baby symptoms
the awesome thing is is that even if your baby is sensitive now you could try to reintroduce
caffeine down the road as babies get older they tend to be better at tolerating caffeine
in parents diet remember that coffee isn't the only source of caffeine however
so other things like tea soda energy drinks also have caffeine in them chocolate hot cocoa so if
you're having some of those other foods in your diet you have to take those into consideration
too for the totals of caffeine that you're taking in there are a lot of rumors around that
caffeine intake can lower your milk supply however that is not evidence-based there is actually not a
lot of evidence supporting the fact that caffeine lowers your milk supply and some studies have even
shown that it might increase it i wouldn't drink caffeine to increase your milk supply
there are other ways to do that but rest assured that overall your milk supply should not be
affected by introducing a little bit of caffeine into your diet so how much is too much caffeine
well i did give you some numbers and some ranges to aim for it's really going to depend on your
individual baby so the most important thing is if you're reintroducing caffeine into your diet
or upping the amount that you're consuming then just pay attention to your baby pay attention for
new symptoms of irritability or restlessness and adjust the levels in your diet accordingly
um i hope that that answers all your questions i hope that you're happy with the answer especially
for my coffee lovers out there and i know that uh the sleep deprivation after having a baby is
also real so if you need that cup of coffee in the morning to get you going rest assured that
it is most likely going to be safe for you and your baby during lactation i hope that
you guys have a great week remember to subscribe down below um also let me know in the comments
if you've had any experience with introducing caffeine into your diet during lactation how did
your baby react did your baby have any negative reactions to the caffeine that you were consuming
and what did you have to do about it i look forward to seeing you guys next week remember to
subscribe and hit the bell so you're notified each week when i post a new video have a great week bye
you