Coffee and wine: how they affect breastfeeding
Caffeine and alcohol pass into breast milk almost immediately after drinking them and remain there for as long as they circulate in your blood. Therefore, the popular tactic "pump and dump" does not work [1].
What mom needs
After having a baby, sometimes mom may want to resume drinking coffee and wine again. A study in Australia showed that 60 to 70% of breastfeeding mothers regularly indulge in a glass of wine and this does not prevent them from caring for their babies [2].
For women, coffee and wine are not best friends because the polyphenols they contain interfere with the absorption of iron [3]. And those who are breastfeeding are always in short supply of this valuable trace element: all of its reserves go into milk. However, there is a nuance: alcohol promotes the absorption of iron [3], so in this regard, the harm from wine is immediately balanced by the benefits.
You also must consider how drinking will impact your ability to care for baby.
What baby needs
Baby certainly does not need caffeine and alcohol: both can affect the infant's excitability and sleep, and slow down thier development [1, 4]. A high concentration of caffeine can reduce iron levels in breast milk, and this will lead to anemia in the baby [4].
On average, after one serving of alcohol (a glass of wine, a beer), milk becomes safe after three hours. After two servings - after five hours, after three - after eight hours [1].
Caffeine takes longer to take, but in small doses it is not as dangerous as alcohol. It reaches its peak level in milk two hours after ingestion, and then declines [4].
Therefore, the general rule is this: first feed the baby, and then drink coffee or wine. Then, then feed baby 3+ hours after you had your beverage of choice.
It’s recommended that mama doesn’t drink more than 300 mg per day — that's about two or three cups of coffee per day. Caffeinated drinks (cola and energy drinks) should also be considered [4].
For alcohol, drink no more than one serving per day [1].
