Keep Check on Drinking Coffee While Breastfeeding

Coffee and breastfeeding

To take care of a new born a mother has to work a lot. She seldom gets time for herself. Sometimes she is not even able to sleep for days. All this makes her tired and to reduce this tiredness and fatigue she may need a cup of coffee to feel energized. Coffee has excellent stimulant properties that make her energized again to meet all demands of her newly born baby.

Now, a nursing may have heard from her friends and well-wishers that coffee and breastfeeding are no-no. While she is breastfeeding her baby she should avoid alcohol, coffee and other items that are harmful for her baby. Now the question arises that whether drinking coffee during lactating period is safe or not?

Coffee and its effect on a baby

 

 

When a mother is breastfeeding anything that she eats or drinks is passed to her baby through the milk that she feeds. After drinking a cup of coffee the caffeine present in it enters the blood streams and then the milk of the baby. After drinking coffee the caffeine content in the blood is highest after one hour of consumption and then it gradually reduces. Now, when the nursing mother drinks coffee regularly some amount of caffeine gets into the body of baby too.

A baby however does not have his liver developed so it does not have enzymes that will detoxify the caffeine from the body of the new born baby. It will take around 100 hours to remove that much caffeine from a new born baby that an adult can complete in six to eight hours. When the mother drinks coffee regularly, her baby has caffeine accumulation in his body.  Thus a change in the behavior of the child can be noticed.

Negative effects of coffee

The effect of coffee on babies may differ from one baby to another. While some of them may be very sensitive to it, others may not be much affected by it. However, commonly for the effect of caffeine in their body they remain over active. They sleep very little and have mood swings easily. They may become unsettles and cry a lot as they are unable to do what they wish. Some babies may have digestive problem.

Apart from the baby, coffee and breastfeeding is important for others too. Those who drink more than three cups of coffee everyday will have breast milk with low iron content. This happens as too much caffeine may hamper the iron absorption capacity of body. This may lead to iron deficiency in mother which will naturally pass on to the baby. And when this continues for long time both mother and baby may suffer from anemia.

Conclusion

thus, the question still remains that whether coffee and breastfeeding should never be done together or there are chances? If you were addicted to coffee before your baby was born , then after their birth you need to drink coffee. Drink one or two cups daily so that the content does not become more. However, keep an eye on the baby to see if there are ant behavioral changes.

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