Breastfeeding and Decaf

[CurlyOrchid]

Asking for experiences because this just doesn’t seem to add up to me…

my 8 month old is breastfed, I figured out a while ago that she’s pretty caffeine sensitive and 1 cup of coffee will result in her waking every 10 minutes at night and being awake for hours in the early hours of the morning. But she also seems to be sensitive to decaf too, if I have one cup of decaf coffee or tea she’s wide awake for about 3hrs somewhere between the hours of 12am - 5am.
it seems to be the cause as if I don’t have caf or decaf she sleeps through til 2am, feeds and sleeps until 5/6am and feeds to get her to sleep until 7am. She’s not the best sleeper but this is a million times better than where we’ve been.

obviously I’ll just stop having hot drinks but I wondered about others experiences because why on earth would she react this way to decaf, the amount of caffeine is so low that it surely wouldn’t make it into my breast milk at all? I’ve heard from so many mums who drank way over the caffeine limit with no affect on their babies at all. I don’t have anything else with caffeine either such as fizzy drinks, energy drinks etc. I’d love to just be able to enjoy a hot drink when I pop out or at home during her morning nap and I’ve never heard of any other baby like this??

I think there’s still some caffeine in decaf, just less than in regular which might be why you’re still noticing a reaction.

I haven’t had this myself but if you want a replacement for tea/coffee then hot blackcurrant is nice this time of year or sometimes I’d just have a hot water (sounds mad I know but apparently quite common in some parts of the world)

There is some, it’s just such a small amount I’m surprised to see such a reaction.
unfortunately for me im a coffee person 😂 just wondered if anyone else’s baby was like this.

I have recently had experience of this and had been meaning to start a thread about it myself.

I’m not breastfeeding but had given up caffeinated coffee because of insomnia. It took me ages and ages to realise that decaf affects me in the same way as caffeinated. It hardly makes a difference. I don’t think there are regulations as to what constitutes decaf and anyway if you are sensitive to it then you will react to any tiny amount. I drink chicory coffee now and actually really like it. Also it seems to have a psychosomatic perking up affect just like alcohol free drinks do for some people.

I really don't think any caffeine is passing through to your breast milk.

I think it's just that your baby is waking for other reasons. They do that.

I have at least two coffee and my baby is never effected, even if I drink more.....

Why do babies react so much more to caffeine than they would to alcohol? You maybe need to switch to a glass of wine, OP!

This is very interesting.

Well sure babies wake for all kinds of reasons but there’s a clear difference I’ve found.

Have you tried rooibos tea? I put milk in it so it looks a proper cuppa.
I don't think it's got caffeine in is as I drink it before bed.

Newsflash. Different babies are different.

This has made me curious! I’ve been on decaf since baby was born (8 months) as caffeine and postpartum hormones were not a good mix for me. She’s always been a terrible sleeper but this week I’ve switched to caffeinated as I ran out of decaf and not been shopping yet. She’s slept worse than normal and I’ve been blaming teething!

Maybe I will try cutting both out and see what happens. Hot chocolate for me this afternoon!

Maybe it’s not the caffeine but the plant itself or some other chemical in it?

if it were caffeine and they were super sensitive then yea, chocolate etc would have the same effect.

Maybe I will try cutting both out and see what happens. Hot chocolate for me this afternoon!

chocolate contains caffeine.

No you’re right. Rooibis is caffeine free. Bird and Blend do a ‘breakfast cuppa‘ thats caffeine free and it’s so good I’ll sometimes choose it over a regular caffeinated tea even if I don’t need a decaf drink.

My baby was like this. I didn't realise at first so I was enjoying coffee after having none in pregnancy. I switched to decaf/cut down, cut things out my diet too but I never solved it.

I'm sure it was my breast milk as she was mixed fed, when on formula she was a dream and my milk she was hell baby.

Women in my family all breast fed and ate anything so we're no help and dismissive.

Sorry it's no real help, just that my baby was similar and well done for doing 8 months!

Mine is now 1yo with no food allergies.

That’s a good point 🙈