Coffee is a delicious and invigorating drink with which almost every person starts the day. But during the period of gestation and lactation, most familiar products are not recommended for use. Therefore, young mothers are interested in whether it is possible to breastfeed coffee, because they do not even want to harm their babies randomly.
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Can I breastfeed coffee
Nursing women try not to drink coffee because of a fairly common myth. It is believed that with the use of this drink by the mother, the child becomes too nervous. There is some truth in this prejudice, since caffeine really does not bring any benefit to the baby. The body of a small person is simply not yet capable of assimilating and eliminating it.
Accumulating inside, this substance can have a harmful effect on the baby, but this will only happen if the mother consumes at least 3-4 cups of coffee daily. Unfortunately, such situations are very common, as coffee is an addictive product. As a result, not only the mother becomes addicted, but also the baby, who constantly receives a considerable dose of caffeine with milk.
However, this substance contains not only coffee. It is present in chocolates, cocoa beans, teas. Moreover, in green its concentration is much higher, in comparison with coffee. However, for some reason such a drink is considered extremely beneficial for health and is recommended to be consumed regularly.
Therefore, drinking coffee while breastfeeding is acceptable, but occasionally - 1 cup in 2 to 3 days. Immediately after birth and in the first 8 to 10 weeks of a child’s life, it is better to refrain from a “refreshment drink”.
How coffee affects lactation
As a rule, a drink does not have a significant effect on the quantity and process of milk production. The use of minimal amounts does not affect its quality and composition.
But excessive consumption of coffee reduces the concentration of iron in milk, and this can provoke anemia in the newborn. The highest concentration of caffeine is observed after 1 - 1.5 hours after consumption. This substance is completely eliminated after 5 to 10 hours.
The negative effects of drinking
Introducing a new product into her menu, the mother should carefully monitor the condition of the baby. It is possible that an unfamiliar food or drink will provoke an allergic reaction. In case of allergies, the product should be discarded at least for a while.
The abuse of coffee can lead to increased nervous irritability and anxiety of the child. The baby begins to sleep badly, constantly crying, exhausting all family members.
Caffeine increases blood pressure and can negatively affect the functioning of the heart and the state of blood vessels, which, of course, no mom needs.
Is there any benefit
The benefits of drinking the drink for the mother are still there. With a small child it is difficult to get enough sleep and rest, and in some cases only coffee helps to increase working capacity. After drinking a cup, a nursing mother feels a surge of vigor, strength and energy, so necessary for caring for the child and other household chores.
For many, the fact that caffeine speeds up the metabolism and helps to lose excess body fat that appeared during pregnancy is also an advantage.
Coffee with milk for HS - whether or not
Coffee with milk is much healthier compared to a regular drink. One cup a day is unlikely to affect a small person badly, but it will bring a lot of pleasure to mom.
In supermarkets and online stores you can find decaffeinated coffee. Drinking it while feeding is also not worth it, since there is still caffeine there, although to a lesser extent. The product itself undergoes serious processing, the dangerous effect of which on the body is not yet fully understood. However, US cardiologists believe that such treatment does a lot of damage to the cardiovascular system.
It is better to opt for natural substitutes - chicory or barley.
They are much cheaper and have many useful properties:
- favorably affect the work of the nervous system, heart and blood vessels;
- improve blood circulation;
- normalize the functioning of the digestive tract;
- normalize hormonal balance.
To taste, they are almost identical to coffee, but do not cause any harm to the crumbs. To chicory and barley coffee add milk, spices and dried fruits to taste. But with honey you need to be careful, because it is a strong allergen.
What does Dr. Komarovsky say about this issue
Komarovsky believes that if the drink is not displayed in a negative way on the condition of the baby, then the mother can safely use this drink, but in reasonable quantities.
Sometimes the baby has problems:
- moodiness;
- bad sleep;
- skin rash;
- nervous agitation;
- failures in the digestive tract.
In such cases, the mother needs to check whether the cause of this condition is actually coffee. If so, it’s best not to drink it.
Another contraindication is the treatment of the baby with some medicines, which contain substances similar in effect to caffeine. This is fraught with an overdose and the occurrence of side effects.
Rules for drinking a nursing mother
It is better to buy a high-quality product in grains and grind them yourself. Then the woman will know exactly what she is drinking.
A soluble drink is almost of no use, because it is made from low-grade raw materials.
In addition, it is subjected to treatment with “chemistry” and various third-party ingredients are added to the composition to reduce the cost of production.In this case, the allergy occurs not so much on coffee beans as on additional components of the composition.
Rules for drinking coffee:
- It is better to drink it before noon and immediately after feeding. So, by the next application, the harm from caffeine will be minimized. It is best to drink coffee when the baby is already eating complementary foods. So the interval between feedings will be increased, and the concentration of caffeine will decrease to a minimum.
- Do not drink chocolate with a drink.
- It is recommended that coffee is simply poured with boiling water and left for 3 to 4 minutes, but not boiled.
- You need to include more cottage cheese in the diet. Coffee removes calcium from the mother’s body, and during lactation many people are so catastrophically lacking.
- After each cup of drink, it is advisable to drink at least 1 cup of pure water. Caffeine promotes dehydration, and a nursing mother needs to drink a lot to produce enough milk.
If life does not seem so joyful without coffee, then it is not necessary to completely abandon it during the period of GV. From time to time, a nursing mother can enjoy her favorite product without any harm to her baby. Nevertheless, in this wonderful period it is better to switch to more wholesome drinks - fresh juices, compotes, smoothies. And tasty, and healthy, and tones!
