Breast Milk and Caffeine

Up until recently, I had been extremely vigilant about my caffeine intake because my son is still drinking breast milk.  I only had decaf lattes - which were only a once in a while thing, stayed clear of chocolate in all of its forms, and drank only herbal teas that were caffeine free. 

For some reason, when my husband brought home boxes of Halloween chocolates last week, I didn't think twice about eating some "fun-sized" treats.  That is until I noticed my son was acting a bit out of sorts.  If you've been reading my blog, you probably know that I just weaned my son from the pacifier last week.  So I thought that was the reason for his moodiness.  My son has always been active, but a few days ago, he had been more challenging; he woke up from his naps in a very sullen mood, he threw tantrums, and would not stay still for story time.  I know that these are all typical behaviors for toddlers, but it was more than normal. 

Sure enough, I stopped having chocolate and other caffeinated treats two days ago, and my son's behavior seems back to normal.  I remember the days when I had to wait until I had a couple of days' worth of extra breast milk - either frozen or in the fridge - so I could have some caffeinated treats or spicy foods.  Then, to make sure that my son did not get any kind of reaction from my breast milk, I used to "pump and dump" the milk for up to a day following the "binge".  I think my slip-up has come from the fact that I've been doing this for 14 months now and see the end coming near.

So this is just a reminder to mothers out there about caffeine intake – it can affect your child's behavior if he or she is still drinking breast milk.  If it doesn't, that's fine, but if it does, simply reducing or cutting out caffeine altogether may make a difference in keeping your child's mood more steady.