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.

Pacifier Weaning Day 7

Last night my son went to bed without any pacifiers.  I feared that it was going to be a hellish night, but it was not that bad.  He went to sleep.  At 11pm, he cried loudly.  I went to check on him – his temperature was okay, diaper was fine and he quieted down as soon as he saw me.  He just needed some comfort.  I rubbed his back as he laid back down and placed his stuffed animals next to him.  I reminded him that it was time for sleep and turned on soothing music.  I stayed with him for a few minutes and said goodnight.  When I left he cried, but only for a few minutes and then went back to sleep.  Then he woke up at 6:10am.

Overall, I am very happy with this gentle weaning technique and my son seemed to adjust well to it.  Prior to trying this method, I was afraid that it was going to be a repeat of what we went through with weaning from the breast – which was horrible – but this was absolutely a breeze in comparison.

Pacifier Weaning Day 6

Yesterday was Day 6 of weaning.  (Refer to previous posts for Days 1-5 of pacifier weaning).  Prior to putting my son to bed, I collected all of his pacifiers that had been cut and cut a bit more off so that it was down to the stub.  I placed 5 pacifiers in his crib for night time sleep.

After his bedtime routine, my son went to sleep quietly.  He woke up at 6am crying and seemed very upset.  When he saw me, he calmed down and handed me all his pacifiers.  I took him out of his crib and held him and let him play in my bed until it was his normal wake up time.

My son went to sleep easily for his naps during the day, but they are definitely shorter during this weaning period than they had been.  The longest nap he had this week was only 45 minutes compared to the 1-2hour naps he used to have.  I hope things eventually settle back to the naps being longer!

After my son's afternoon nap, while he was playing, I brought the pacifiers and a little gift bag to him and explained that he is a big boy now and does not need his pacifiers anymore.  I explained that we are going put the pacifiers in the bag and the Pacifier Fairy will come to get them and give them to little babies who need them.  I asked him to place the pacifiers in the bag and he did it happily.  I praised him for being such a good boy and asked him to wave goodbye to the pacifiers.  We then took the bag and placed it outside our front door and said goodbye to it.
I will provide an update tomorrow as to how things go tonight…

Pacifier Weaning Day 5

Yesterday was Day 5 of weaning.  (Refer to previous posts for Days 1-4 of pacifier weaning).  I had made no changes to the pacifiers from Day 4 of weaning.  I put my son to bed at 7:20pm.  He went to sleep without a fuss and slept very well.  He cried at 6am non-urgently on and off for 10 minutes and went back to sleep until we woke him up at 6:40am.  The only difference that I've noticed is that his second nap was shorter than usual – only half an hour as opposed to 1-2 hours.

More updates on Day 6 tomorrow…

Pacifier Weaning Day 4

Yesterday was Day 4 of weaning.  (Refer to previous posts for Days 1-3 of pacifier weaning).  Prior to putting my son to bed, I collected all of his pacifiers that had the tips cut off and cut a bit more off.  I placed 5 pacifiers in his crib for night time sleep.

After his bedtime routine, my son went to sleep quietly.  He woke up at 5:50am and began talking in his crib.  This was unusual, but he sounded very calm and cute.  He was in no way upset.  He fell back to sleep after 15 minutes and woke up at 6:30am, which is his usual wake up time.

The naps were very different this time.  When I tucked my son into his crib for his morning nap, he gestured with his arms and said "up".  He's never actually done that before.  I gently reminded him that it was nap time and he stopped gesturing up, but took a pacifier in his hand and then quickly threw it down.  After I left his room, he cried for 30 minutes on and off before falling asleep and only napped for 15 minutes.  It was the same for his afternoon nap; it took him 30 minutes to get to sleep and napped for only 30 minutes.  This was obviously out of the ordinary since his naps tend to be at least an hour long.  

More updates on Day 5 tomorrow…