Baby Sleep and Breastfeeding Series: Part 3
Posted by Nicole on October 14th, 2009
Welcome to part 3 of my Baby Sleep and Breastfeeding Series! If you are just joining us, you might want to start at part 1, where I discuss reasons why breastfeeding moms sometimes struggle with sleep. Today, I’ll go over the way mom’s diet or medication might affect baby’s sleep.
Breastfeeding Mom’s Diet
In general, breastfeeding moms do not need to limit their diet. Most babies will not be sensitive to anything in your diet and some sources even say one glass of wine or alcohol in small quantities is OK. I am a nervous mom, so I really did not drink when I was breastfeeding, but some do say it’s okay. What is okay for one mom to eat may not be right for you and your baby, so there really isn’t a list of regular foods that breastfeeding moms have to stay away from, including “gassy foods.” Breast milk is made up of what is in your blood, not what you eat.
The AAP does recommend to limit caffeine, but you can drink it. Basically, consume anything in moderation. No throwing back shots or drinking five cups of coffee (limit to 1 maybe 2 cups per day). Even if you are drinking caffeine in moderation, if your baby is unusually fussy or difficult to settle for sleep, try cutting back (or out) caffeine to rule it out as a culprit. I gave up caffeine in pregnancy (the first time, not the second) and didn’t start drinking it until I went back to work and just couldn’t keep up with my son’s sleep problems and work (this was around 8-10 weeks). So, caffeine most definitely was not the source of our sleep problems. I do know that! One thing to keep in mind is that newborns *are* fussy for the first 6-8 weeks and just when you think about cutting out dairy and all kinds of things in your diet (like I considered but thankfully didn’t do because I love cheese!), their fussiness starts to go away, so be patient.
All in all, your diet has little influence on your breast milk and your breastfeeding baby will get the nutrition she needs. So, just when you think that spicy food affected your baby’s sleep, keep in mind that there are areas in the world where spicy food is the daily norm and they breastfeed just fine. Please read more about the effect of mom’s diet on breast milk to put your mind at ease. Having said that, it’s important to eat enough calories to keep up your milk supply, so going on a diet while nursing is not advisable and that includes taking diet pills. Breastfeeding usually burns more calories and actually makes it easier to lose weight (though not for everyone) and it may take up to a year to lose all that baby weight, but your baby’s health will be well worth it.
Breastfeeding Mom’s Medication
If you’re a breastfeeding mom, you do have to be careful about some medications you might take. Always talk to your doctor about the medication he wants to prescribe and make sure you remind him that you are breastfeeding. The APP does have a large list of approved drugs for breastfeeding and KellyMom has a more user friendly list of approved medication here.
Some cold medications are not advised when you are breastfeeding. Sudafed and Actifed are okay to take as well as some allergy medications such as Claritin, Zyrtec, Allegra, and Benadryl. Keep in mind any cold or allergy medication can affect your milk supply, so if you notice a dip, once you stop using it, your milk supply should go back up. Advil and Tylenol are both deemed as safe for you to take without an effect on your milk supply. This is different than when you are pregnant and should NOT take Advil. You can also review natural cold remedies that might help without adding to your stress or worry.
Anti-anxiety and anti-depressants have not been proven to cause a problem in a nursing infant, but the AAP puts them on a list of “Unknown, but could be of concern.” You should also make sure you review the list of medication with significant effects on infants, such as aspirin.
Any particular medication may or may not cause any sleep issues (none specifically that I know of — remember, I am not a doctor), and if you need medication for any given problem, I’d recommend working around it rather than trying to stop your medication. If medication is temporary, always keep in mind that you can “pump and dump.” I know of one mom who weaned at around 8 weeks because she had to take a certain unsafe medication for a week or two. She later realized she could have pumped and given her baby formula for a couple of weeks and then gone back to breastfeeding, so I try to remind people that weaning to fix a temporary problem is unnecessary and we can work around it. If you need ongoing medication, don’t assume your sleep struggles are due to the medication and definitely talk to your doctor about it.
Whether it’s diet or medication, there are many things breastfeeding moms have to worry about. When there are so many variables, it’s easy to blame breastfeeding and wonder whether if you stopped breastfeeding if all your sleep troubles would disappear. My mother-in-law was convinced that would have been true for me, but the pros definitely outweighed the cons and given I get just as many bottle-feeding moms to the site, I’m sure that, once again, all babies are different. Don’t wean. I breastfed for a year with both boys and we can work on the sleep troubles!
Share your experience with medication or diet
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October 14th, 2009
I found that my baby would be up for a couple hours during the night when I would eat chocolate, even a little- so I gave it up until I finished nursing.
October 16th, 2009
My baby is 11 weeks old today, and she’ll often go 6-8 hours in between feedings at night, then they gradually narrow down to every three hours during the day. I breastfeed, then my husband gives her a bottle to top her off during the dark hours. During the day, she’s generally breastfed only, but we’ll give her bottles if she’s still hungry. If I’m really exhausted, he’ll do just a bottle feeding at night so I can sleep. It does make a huge difference, and our baby will certainly have quite a bit to eat when she wakes up and I take back over!
October 23rd, 2009
@Cindy Give up chocolate? Nooooo!
I’m glad you figured it out, though! At least it’s temporary and you can go back to eating chocolate when you are/were done breastfeeding. 
October 23rd, 2009
@Sara Sounds like a great arrangement for your family! Woohoo!
October 23rd, 2009
I have given up chocolate and caffeine as well :/.
My son is 8 months old and still wakes 5-6 times a night to nurse, and his sleeping just keeps getting WORSE. I don’t even mind nursing because we co-sleep and I side-lie nurse… But lately, he’s been going down at 7 for bedtime, waking at 8 and staying up until 11! We can’t do ANYTHING to get him back to bed. That, on top of nursing every hour, is killing me. :/. Ugh.
November 6th, 2009
@Mandy Oh no!! How is your son’s napping during the day? I would need to know many other details to make any recommendations, but it sounds like the key is to help your son learn to fall asleep on his own, so he can stay asleep all night. You can do this and continue co-sleeping. Good luck!
January 11th, 2010
Oh Mandy and I have the EXACT same problems. My baby girl is 9 months now and her sleep is getting worse. She use to sleep in her crib so nicely for even 7 hours STRAIGHT back when she was 3 months old and little of that wonderful sleep on up to about 6 months then it started getting bad as I was so tired when I got her out of crib for first night feeding I accidentally would fall asleep with her in the bed every night. I am 39 years old and after 6 months of sleep depravation it was getting to me. Now its even worse as I have to wake up every hour on the hour to pet her head for 10 minutes until she goes back to sleep. Now we are all getting sick from all the many so called sleep training. I am done with it!! I l cut the night time feeding, I cut the picking her up at night, we cut the letting her sleep with us. Now after reading your articles about breastfeeding moms and my daughter’s age I am going to try to breastfeed her once at night to see if that helps.
Her naps during the day are like anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours and I let her do the 3 hours more and more as I don’t want a sleep deprived baby who has a brain still in development. sigh. This IS by far the most frustrating thing I have had to deal with. The pregnancy and delivery was easy compared to this. Sleep has always been a big thing for me as I get sick easily with out it. I can’t imagine what will become of me when I have to go back to work some time in the next few months when I find a job.
Signed,
Dead Tired
January 29th, 2010
@Dana By far, sleep has been THE most difficult part about being a mother, so I completely understand. I hope you’re finding a plan that works for you and your family. Good luck!