RED BULL AND BREASTFEEDING? Help!

[FernDerwent1989]

So my baby is 4 weeks old, ( I was induced and he was born at 37 weeks) I'm a first time mum and knew I wanted to breastfeed but didn't know much about it and all the classes I was meaning to go to before he was born were cancelled due to covid so was pretty clueless other than some things I had read from googling..

Anyway, when he was born I got him put on my chest and his latch was good so the midwife didn't do anything else or help me again so since then I've just been winging it and it's been going really well until today, I have a high caffeine intake anyway ( drink a lot of coke, and did through my pregnancy, it was a craving)
But today I drank a large redbull Midday and my baby boy has been so unsettled and crying and been so awake since, I didn't even realise that what I ate or drank (other than alcohol and some medications) would affect my baby, that's how clueless I was, I feel terrible and he's been so unsettled since and I've read online caffeine can last In a newborn for 98 hours ???

Anyone know what I can do to flush the caffeine out my babies system he's so tired but waking up after 5 mins of sleep, crying a lot and jerking about a bit and also really fussy on my breast; very windy and keeps trumping and then will cry and whinge afterwards like it's hurting him, and it's horrible seeing him like this , he is 4 weeks old and this is the first day I have had any problems 😩 I feel like a terrible mum, I'm so stupid

First off, congrats on your baby and having a pretty easy run into breastfeeding.

Very little of what we eat or drink actually goes into breastmilk. It's made from our blood and we put the best of us into it. You can drink and have a bit of caffeine while breastfeeding. I'd prob stead clear of the redbull though. I had at least one coffee or Diet Coke a day while breastfeeding and no harm done. You can also have alcohol while feeding. No bed sharing if you do and try not to get drunk,

At around 4 weeks a lot of babies can enter the witching hours. Basically they cry all evening, every evening. It's like clock work. Both mine started at 7pm and conked our at 9/10pm.

Likely this is what you're experiencing now. It's normal and developmental. It will also pass. Mine liked to breastfeed through it and I found it helped if I ate before it started.

Also there is a growth spurt around this age which can trigger some major cluster feeding.

All this is super normal newborn behaviour. You're not a bad mum.

Have a look at kelly mom or the NCT for some great resources on breastfeeding

Don't feel bad, you are doing super! As pp said it is probably a number of other things and not the small amount of caffeine that may have entered their system.
Does he have colic? Struggling to poo? Getting enough sleep during the day and at night? There are so many other, more likely, things it could be.

There are some good breast feeding charities you could call for support and answer questions. Are you in the UK?

In my experience, what you eat and drink can affect them through breast milk more than PPs are suggesting, to be honest. I found this out the hard way with pickled onions and my poor DS at a couple of months old!

If it is the caffeine making him unsettled, it will work through his system, just settle him as best you can for now.

It’s all a learning curve! Congratulations on your baby and having such a great start with the breast feeding.

• You can safely have up to 300 mg of caffeine per day — or the equivalent of two to three cups (470–710 ml) of coffee. Based on current research, consuming caffeine within this limit while breastfeeding does not cause harm to infants (7 Trusted Source , [[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23585600/ 8 Trusted Source]] , [[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8157856 9 Trusted Source]] ). It’s thought that babies of mothers who consume more than 300 mg of caffeine per day may experience difficulty sleeping. Yet, research is limited. One study in 885 infants found an association between maternal caffeine consumption greater than 300 mg a day and an increased prevalence of infant nighttime waking — but the link was insignificant ([[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22473365 10 Trusted Source]] ). When breastfeeding mothers consume significantly more than 300 mg of caffeine per day — such as more than 10 cups of coffee — infants may experience fussiness and jitteriness in addition to sleep disturbances ([[https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/breastfeeding-special-circumstances/diet-and-micronutrients/maternal-diet.html 7 Trusted Source]] ).

I doubt you had enough caffeine to affect him that badly. It's more likely to be a coincidence. But, now you know and you can limit your intake accordingly.

www.laleche.org.uk/fussy-evenings-with-a-newborn/

As PP says, witching hour. Though I'd lay off the caffeine to be sure. NHS has guidelines. I'd stick to those:

www.nhs.uk/start4life/baby/breastfeeding/healthy-diet/food-and-drinks-to-avoid/

My baby had bad wind, latching on and off and crying etc. Then it just stopped one day, around 6-8 weeks. presumably when her digestive system matured.

If you want to read up more on BF, the LLL website (I linked above) is brill. Their book "The Womenly Art of Breastfeeding" is fantastic too. Can't recommend it enough. I dip in and out every few months as we're approaching a new stage.

I did two different NHS antenatal courses and I think that book is better. Neither course taught me much (they covered BF quickly and focused on why it is "best" for baby. Followed by a few demos with knitted boobs and dolls). I learnt far more from the book and YouTube videos.

Good luck!

I did the sane with caffeine when dc2 was about 3 weeks old, we'd moved house only a couple of weeks befor they were born and we'd decided to finish all the organising so I was drinking filter coffee after filter coffee to keep going, let's ust say neither of us slept much from Sunday morning til Monday evening! I certainly moderated my caffeine intake after that!

If it makes you feel better ive been EBF my 6 month old whilst drinking a can on monster on many of the days. she has never been "hyper" or wakeing up.. ive never had any issue like that. Before pregnancy I was addicted to caeffine but did my best and stuck to 1 monster a month.

After haveing my little girl and feeling like I could finalllyy enjoy a nice cold monster, I had this extreme guilt when I found out it could go to my milk, but I don't think much actually goes in to it.
Just try keep ur caffeine intake to around 200-250mg

Just make sure when u do have an energy drink, don't drink it all at once and spread it out 🥰