Coffee vs. BreastFeeding

Can I still drink coffee while breast feeding?

Short answer: YEEEESSS! Girl YEEEESSSSSSS! As a matter of fact, as a licensed professional I’m telling you… drink. that. coffee! I do NOT want to see you on the 11 o’clock news!

Let’s Break it Down

Does coffee pass through my breast milk? Yes- But that’s okay! I promise, you have bigger fish to fry.

If you are drinking an excessive amount of coffee, say…6-10 cups/day ( that’s 570-950 mg of caffeine) then you are likely to see side effects such as jitteriness, irritability and poor sleeping patterns in your baby.

DISCLAIMER: Even if you aren’t breastfeeding- if you are drinking that much coffee a day then YOU are likely to also see these side effects! In fact, I think we may have to have an intervention and call you in a support group because honey… you need a weee bit of help.

Here’s a tip… the safest amount of caffeine for anyone per day is 400mg (just throwing that out there)

Moving on…

SO if it safe for the everyday woman to drink 400mg of caffeine (there is approx 95mg in a cup of coffee depending how strong you like it) then it’s perfectly fine for a breastfeeding mother to drink say… 1 cup of coffee. Heck! Sometimes I have 2! If you’re creeping up on 4 or 5 theeeen you may want to back off a little. But your sanity is worth it mama!

**Note** There is an exception to every rule. There are instances where some babies are overly sensitive to caffeine and mom may need to cut back or abstain altogether. But I wouldn’t make it a hard and fast rule.

AND HEY! If you’re looking for the best 200mg of caffeine to start off your day and you’re in or NEAR the Kent, Ohio area- check out Trisha Weiss with “Fox & Flannel.” She has a MOBILE coffee cart ladies! It’s sinfully delicious- Starbucks Who??

By: Fox & Flannel