Caffeine and breastfeeding

[Corkle]

I am breastfeeding my 6 week old and so far have stuck to drinking the same amount of caffeine as I did when pregnant - decaf coffee only and no more than 2 cups of tea per day.
I have been wondering this week though about the effect it might have on my LO .. Has anyone noticed babies sleeping less or being fussier because of caffeine? Am I being bad for drinking my tea and should I be avoiding it altogether?

Don't think you are being bad at all. Is your Lo particularly unsettled? If you want to drink more tea, could you try herbal or decaf?

I've not noticed any difference in behaviour after having a small single shot coffee (I have an eight week old), and I'm back to drinking caffeinated tea again. I'd gone off coffee entirely during pregnancy, and I've just started to get a taste for it again. I think I'm lacking on sleep enough to really appreciate it.
Have you noticed any effect? I think what you're doing sounds fine, but if be interested to know whether you perceive a difference in behaviour.

Caffeine had no effect whatsoever on my baby's behaviour. I drink lots of tea and a mix of decaf and caffeinated coffee depending on the time of day. You're not being bad and breastfeeding shouldn't need to be that restrictive. Some people occasionally find caffeine has an effect on babies, but it's not standard.

I drink two cups of really good coffee in the morning, each made with one scoop of caffeinated and one decaf. One I drink whilst expressing his bedtime feed. He sleeps for 8 hours after that feed (5ozs) so it would appear not to affect him.

There were a few threads a while ago about this and the general consensus was to drink coffee/tea, just keep it within reason.

I think there is some evidence that some babies who cry a lot, may be affected by caffeine. So if you are at the 'tearing your hair out, wondering what to try' stage, then trying cutting caffeine may be worth it. (But that being said, beware, as you are likely to get some nasty headaches if you go cold turkey. Painkillers are a good idea.)

Well, we're on day 3 sans tea here and no noticeable differences. Yesterday was horrendous and LO was wide awake from 2-6 (although I did have a glass of red wine with my tea) but I have a very sleepy little girl today. Will keep off the tea for a little longer and report back!

I was a tea (caffeine) addict, but kicked it when ttc. Drank decaff tea through pg and just the occasional coffee. Still off the caffeine and ebf my 6 week old. Really don't know if it's linked or just coincidence but one day I drank a coffee and a few real teas, and another day I had a coke. Baby was really unsettled both times- looked tired but just wouldn't fall asleep. I'm going to continue to avoid caffeine as far as possible just in case there is a connection, but bloody hell could I do with about 5 cups of proper tea after a night with a stuffy nosed, windy 6 week old!

I drink no more than 2 cups of tea a day and have been drinking caffeine free coke ever since dd was a couple of weeks old. I think the caffeine affected her sleep but I am was addicted to the fizzy brown stuff and drink a lot of it and at 8 months down the line still drink it.
The tea I drink now doesn't seem to affect her and I could probably go back to normal coke but I'd rather not.

My ds was 5 weeks old when i realised caffeine was giving him colic. Pretty unusual though, only 2 of us out of a group of 20ish local bf mums.

Fwiw I've been reintroducing it no chocolate was killing me since 9 1/2 months (he's coming up 13m) with no discernible effect

I drink up to 3 cups of tea a day and I have not noticed any difference in DD's behaviour. In all honesty the limit I set myself has nothing to do with caffeine and more to do with her lactose allergy. She's now 7 months and perfectly ok. X

I mostly drink decaff but had 3 cups of real coffee on Saturday and DD slept 7 hours - the longest ever! I saw a useful table on the babycentre website about recommended limits - you can have more than when pregnant, but still in moderation.