Who drinks coffee while breastfeeding? What about alcohol?

[supertabby]

Well, I only had decaf yesterday and the gas pains continued last night and into this morning... I'm not sure what gives anymore. Maybe it's just her system developing??? She's been crying off and on the last 24-48 hours, frequently grunting and straining to pass gas or bowel movements... it's heartbreaking to watch her, I don't know what to do. I'm looking online at how to hold her and walking around with her, frequent burping, etc, but this is frustrating. I don't know how to help!

Just a thought, is she latching on properly when you are feeding? My DS1 had a little tongue tie and had trouble latching on, he seemed to get a lot of air in when feeding because of it.

She's had a terrible latch since day 1, so we've had to feed her from a bottle as well .... it's not ideal, but she can't drain me otherwise and remains hungry. Also my milk took forever to come in, which didn't help.

Do you have access to breastfeeding support groups or a lactation consultant in Germany? They could give you advise on improving her latch - it's also worth getting her checked for tongue tie as this can prevent baby latching properly, leading to inability to drain the breast, gulping in air and being gassy etc. It can affect weight gain too (even if weight gain is good now a tongue tie can lead to supply issues further down the line). At this age it's very simple to fix, my DS had his snipped while we were still in the maternity hospital and didn't cry at all.

 

[Pearls18]

The only thing I prevent myself from having is energy drinks, I'm a bit of an addict but I abstain in pregnancy and BF to be sure because I know there's nothing good i them lol. Otherwise I eat and drink exactly as I normally would.

 

[Pearls18]

And I don't pump and dump.

 

[TCK_Runner]

Pump and dump - would kill me to do that as I'm barely producing enough for normal feeds. I have another thread on here where I explain my full situation, but probably a variety of reasons why I will just never produce as much milk as other women. It sucks, but what matters more to me is that she is fed... and while I have been mostly pumping and feeding her breastmilk, the first few days we had to top off with formula as well. Actually, she sleeps much better with formula anyways...

Truth is I'm getting more and more frustrated each day with breastfeeding and my attempts at it. It's not her fault that she can't latch properly, and no I don't have a lactation consultant and I have no idea if those even exist here. My hospital experience with the midwives/nurses was horrible, basically consisted of them shoving her into my breast constantly hoping she'd "get it" after a while - this caused toe curling pain and bleeding nipples after a while (and when I say pain I mean it, this is coming after a natural childbirth in which I was able to bear through the pain). I lost it on the first day when, after being up constantly for 30+ hours to deliver her with no painkillers/drugs of any sort, they started thrusting her head into my breast and I burst out crying from the pain. But yeah it wasn't until my nipples were bleeding and she was shrieking/unable to sleep from hunger, that they let me give her formula and try a pump the next day. To say I didn't get off on a good foot with all this would be an understatement.

So now, I put creams and gels on the nipples routinely, I let her breastfeed on the breast between 2-3 times per day, but she can't drain them. She barely makes a dent. I have to pump out the rest after handing her to my husband. TBH I care less about EBF than I do about her health and happiness - and I don't want her to be gassy/have gas pains because of my breast milk. If that means giving up bf after the first few weeks, or 3 months, then so be it. I had hoped for it to last 6 months (the recommended guideline) but I'm not going to push it. It will either work out or not.

 

[Pink Petals]

Personally, I don't drink either just to be safe. I know they say it is safe to have certain amounts, etc, but I can't be bothered to worry about those details and I never really drank much before anyway.

Stick to the guidelines and LO will be fine.

 

[lou belle]

I can't drink any coffee, regular or decaff as DD can't tolerate it at all, gets terrible gas pains. I don't drink tea either. I have 1 or 2 drinks 2 nights a week. My DD is really sensitive, no coffee, dairy, gluten or eggs for me but its made breastfeeding so much easier not having her screaming in pain after feeds

 

[hakunamatata]

I drink about 2 cups of coffee a day. I have the occasional glass or two of wine or beer but not very often. No negative effects that I can see on breastfeeding.

 

[AC1987]

I drink both, wine about one glass once a week. Coffee about one cup a day maybe..

 

[maisiemoo]

It's my understanding that alcohol shouldn't be consumed before baby is three months old as their liver is not mature enough to cope if alcohol does pass through the breast milk.

I will have the occasional glass of wine or beer.

Coffee or tea - two cups max per day.

 

[staralfur]

I'm a bit of a caffeine junkie so I continued to drink coffee after LO was born. It never affected her at all.

I didn't consume alcohol before feeding her until she was a few months old as I had read the same thing as the PP. After that I still tried to avoid feeding her right after a drink but wasn't as strict about it. After a year I had no problem feeding her after a drink or two (though I only did in the case of meltdowns).