- Caffeine levels peak in breastmilk about 30 - 120 minutes after you ingest it.
- Only about 1% of your caffeine dose gets to your baby through breastmilk.
- As an adult, you metabolizes caffeine in 2 ½ hours, but your newborn and premature infants take about 80 hours (3-4 days). So if you ingest caffeine regularly, it can accumulate in your small baby’s system over time. Over the first 6 months, your baby metabolizes caffeine faster, to reach the same rate as you.
- Symptoms include fussiness, jitteriness and poor sleep.
- Be aware that babies with apnea of prematurity are given caffeine as a drug to prompt them to breath.
- Iron in your breastmilk may decrease if you drink more than 16oz per day of coffee. Thus, your baby may develop mild iron deficiency anemia. This is NOT related to caffeine, but is due to other components of coffee.
- Generally, 300mg of caffeine per day is likely safe for you to ingest.
| Caffeine source | Dose |
| 8oz brewed coffee | 100-200mg |
| 8oz tea | 10-50mg |
| 12oz soda | 25-50mg |
| 1 cup chocolate chip | 100mg |
Kay Anderson MD, IBCLC
5/23