Caffeine is not only contained in coffee but also in other beverages such as tea and chocolate. Actually consume caffeine for breastfeeding mothers is relatively safe as long as the boundary that is not excessive considering that everything that is consumed by breastfeeding mothers will affect the baby through breast milk. A study revealed that the safe limit of caffeine for nursing mothers is 95 milligrams per day, equivalent to one cup of coffee beverages. Some literature states that consuming caffeine in large amounts will affect the breast milk.The effect of caffeine is bad for the baby would be more apt to occur in infants under the age of 6 months of age, because they have not been able to digest the caffeine. Also in infants who are born preterm and infants born with heart disease. Effect of caffeine directly on milk production is still debated by many groups. A study showed that the caffeine contained in milk will accumulate in the digestive tract while the little baby not yet able to digest it properly, resulting in a fussy baby because of irritation to the digestive and because of difficulty sleeping.
Other researchers expressed similar things that the influence of caffeine contained in breast milk. As explained above the baby becomes fussy and rarely suckle. One of the factors that influence the production of breast milk is often a baby sucking mother's breast, the baby is a lot of sucking the milk glands will be more stimulated to produce milk. So if the baby will suckle infrequently result in a decrease in the amount of breast milk produced by the breast glands.
Levels of caffeine in breast milk reaches its highest level at 60 minutes after the mother consume them. And if the mother breast-feeding a baby at that time the baby will absorb the milk with more caffeine. In 1994 Sebuat research found a decrease in calcium in the breast milk of mothers who consumed three cups of coffee per day, equivalent to 285 milligrams of caffeine. The composition of calcium in their breast milk 3 times lower than breastfeeding mothers who do not consume caffeine. This event happens because caffeine is inhibiting the absorption of calcium by the body, so that mothers who breastfeed have less supply of calcium that can be transmitted to infants through breast milk.
Observations have also been carried out by researchers who suspect the influence of caffeine on the decrease in hemoglobin and hematocrit levels in the blood of infants who suckle at the mother's coffee drinkers. This decrease of hemoglobin and hematocrit levels in blood was the cause of a baby suffering from anemia. This is reinforced by the number of cases of anemia in countries whose inhabitants consume lots of coffee. In addition, a counseling agency for nursing mothers in America released data that mothers who breastfeed infants coffee drinkers often complain about poor conditions such as infant colic, restlessness and difficulty sleeping.
Based on a lot of influence of caffeine on breast milk then you should always avoid taking it for the health of your child. Do not feel safe when breast-feeding mothers drank only one cup of coffee in one day, because it could be the content of caffeine in the body will be doubled if the mother also drank the tea, eating chocolate, drinking soda, and eating ice cream on the same day.