The other day something unexpected happened that completely changed the pace of the day. Normally, it would have created stress and frustration. Instead, it led to something surprisingly meaningful.
It reminded me why connection matters so much in pediatrics… and why sometimes the slower days leave the biggest impact.
Fever 101 Tips – Mommy BasicsHow to Find a Pediatrician for Your Baby: Top 5 Questions!Mindful Moms 101 – Mommy Basics30 Fun Family Activities When You’re Bored at HomePediatrician Fever FixRestore Baby Sleep
Fever 101 Tips – Mommy BasicsHow to Find a Pediatrician for Your Baby: Top 5 Questions!Mindful Moms 101 – Mommy Basics30 Fun Family Activities When You’re Bored at HomePediatrician Fever FixRestore Baby Sleep
How Much Caffeine You Can Have Depends On Your Baby
Babies may be sensitive to caffeine and breastfeeding or whatever their breastfeeding mothers drink or eat. Drinking a low to moderate amount of caffeine shouldn’t affect your baby. But every baby is different. And some can’t handle any caffeine at all. In this post, you’ll discover the average amount of caffeine your baby might be able to handle. But first, let’s review some details about caffeine.
Yes it can. Caffeine is a natural diuretic; it increases urine production. This can cause dehydration which decreases breast milk production. Make sure to drink lots of water if you consume caffeine.
How Long Does Caffeine Stay in Our Bodies?
When you ingest caffeine, it gets processed in your stomach, then into your blood. Next, the liver processes it and breaks it down. In a healthy adult, caffeine stays in the body for 3-7 hours.
Will My Baby Clear Caffeine as Quickly as I Do?
No; not at all. Although 1% may seem like a tiny amount gets passed onto your baby through breastmilk. But babies process caffeine differently because their liver and kidneys are immature. Babies can hold onto it for 65–130 hours! Preterm and newborn babies take even longer to break down caffeine. Mothers of these infants might consider having even less caffeine or no caffeine. Ask your doctor for specific advice regarding your baby.
Some Signs of Your Baby’s Negative Reaction to Caffeine:
Irritability
Fussy
Jittery
Increased crying
Poor sleeping patterns
Feeding problems, including feeding refusal
Reflux/Hartburn that doesn’t go away or that worsens
My Baby Has a Negative Reaction, But I Didn’t Have a Lot of Caffeine!
These reactions have typically been reported in infants of breastfeeding mothers with high intake of caffeine. However, some babies might have these symptoms with a breastfeeding mother who has only one (1) cup of caffeine. If your baby appears to have one of these symptoms after you’ve breastfed and you’ve had caffeine, then consider decreasing your caffeine intake or stopping it altogether.
Want to Know More?
Breastfeeding & Alcohol | Pump & Dump – Truths & Myths? Read more about it here.
What’s Next?
Stay tuned for my blog post, “Absence Seizures in Children Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment.” Don’t forget to check out the video for more in-depth information on today’s topic! Watch the full video on my YouTube channel!
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Alcohol & Breastfeeding: You Might Not Need to Pump & Dump
While breastfeeding & alcohol are generally not recommended, there are some workarounds. If you would like to have a drink and not affect your baby, it involves limiting how much you drink. It also involves waiting about 3 hours before you can breastfeed, if you’ve only had one (1) drink. This means if you decide to drink, you’ll need to think carefully about your baby’s feedings. But first, let’s review a few facts about alcohol in general.
Drinking While Pregnant is a NO!
When a pregnant mother drinks, alcohol is directly passed on to the unborn baby through the placenta. Basically, if mom drinks, baby drinks. And with a developing body, this is dangerous for baby. Fetal alcohol syndrome is caused by a mother drinking while pregnant. It leads to physical, behavioral, and cognitive problems to varying degrees depending upon the amount of alcohol the mother consumed while pregnant. Basically, don’t do it. It’s not worth the risk.
Once you drink alcohol, it gets broken down in your stomach, then it is quickly absorbed into your bloodstream. Next, alcohol spreads from your blood into your brain, lungs, and liver. The liver acts as the greatest filter to remove alcohol from your body. Your body also removes alcohol through urination and breathing.
What is Blood Alcohol Content (BAC)?
BAC is the measurement of alcohol in your body.
BAC of 0% means there is no alcohol in your body.
BAC of 0.03% is roughly equal to one (1) drink in an hour.
BAC of 0.08% is roughly equal to three (3) drinks in an hour. It is the legal limit for driving. However, no one should drive with any alcohol in their body; it impairs your brain’s ability to function safely while driving.
BAC of 0.35% is roughly equal to ten (10) drinks in an hour. This is the level of alcohol poisoning and dangerous on many levels.
What is a Standard Drink?
A standard drink (commonly known as “a drink”) refers to the same amount of pure alcohol in each type of drink. Each drink has a different Alcohol By Volume (ABV). The stronger the ABV, the smaller the size of a standard drink. For example, drinking 3 ounces of liquor (e.g. rum) is equal to 2 drinks, but drinking 12 ounces of beer is equal to 1 drink.
The Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) in breast milk is equal to the BAC in a mother’s blood. As the mother’s BAC decreases with time, the alcohol content of her breast milk also decreases. Alcohol content is highest in breast milk 30-60 minutes after a woman drinks. The more alcohol a mother consumes, the longer the alcohol can be detected in her blood and her breast milk.
How Long Can Alcohol Be Found in Breast Milk After Drinking?
1 drink – approximately 2-3 hours
2 drinks – approximately 4-5 hours
3 drinks – approximately 6-8 hours
Why You Might Not Need to Pump & Dump
Your breast milk will not have alcohol in it, if you follow the above waiting time guidelines. That means, if you have a drink, you can wait 3 hours to breastfeed your baby again without worrying that your baby will also be drinking alcohol. Why? Because after 3 hours, the alcohol has left your body. And the alcohol has left your breastmilk.
When Should You Pump & Dump
Keep in mind though, that if you had 3 drinks, you would need to pump and dump because if you don’t, your breasts will have extreme pain from all the breastmilk that your breasts have filled in them. That breastmilk is not fit for your baby’s consumption, so you will have to dump it.
Why Would a Mother Drink if Breastfeeding? Don’t Judge!
Personally, I’m not much of a drinker. So, it was easy for me to not drink while breastfeeding. But I also understand that there are many reasons why a mother might want a drink. Maybe a breastfeeding mother wants to socialize with her friends, feel like she’s more than just food for her baby, or other reasons. I’m not here to judge. I’m here to guide you to be the best breastfeeding mother while still being true to yourself.
Guide to Drinking Alcohol While You’re a Breastfeeding Mother:
Drink responsibly. Your baby needs your best clearest mind.
Be aware that a drink may affect you more than it did before, especially as you haven’t been drinking for a while since you’ve been pregnant and are a breastfeeding mother.
Drink plenty of water. Alcohol is a diuretic; it increases urination. You’ll need water to compensate. And to make sure your milk production doesn’t decrease.
Plan your baby’s next feed ahead of time depending upon how much you plan to drink & depending on how long your baby can go between breastfeedings.
If you want one (1) drink, be prepared to breastfeed no sooner than 3 hours after you have finished your drink.
If your baby is old enough to wait 3 hours until the next feeding, you may want to breastfeed at that time. Or have your previously stored breastmilk available for your baby to feed during those 3 hours. Or give your baby formula, if you are comfortable doing that.
If your baby has fed before you could breastfeed again, then consider pumping and storing your breastmilk as long as it has been 3 hours after you finished your one (1) drink.
Get a good night’s sleep. Every mom needs it!
What’s Next?
Stay tuned for my blog post, “Breastfeeding & Caffeine | Will It Hurt My Baby?” Don’t forget to check out the video for more in-depth information on today’s topic! Watch the full video on my YouTube channel!
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Autism and genetic testing is very important. Before I dive in, let’s review what is Autism Spectrum Disorder? Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with a variety of developmental delays, social and communication delays, and often repetitive behaviors that may first appear during infancy. These delays may include learning delays, speech delays, vocal developmental delays, social skills delays, inability to socialize, non-verbal communication skill delays, and repetitive behavior (also known as self-stimulating behaviors). Autism Spectrum Disorder is a vast spectrum of delays which may be mild and few to severe and numerous. Two other diagnoses considered to be part of the spectrum are Asperger’s Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Delay.
What Causes Autism?
A specific cause for each case of Autism is unknown. Autism is thought to be due to genetic and environmental effects. However, current data reveals that 70-80% of Autism is due to genetic mutations (deletions, or duplications). Of those, approximately 70-80% are known genetic mutations while 20-30% are unknown.
The answer is complicated. In some cases, it helps. And in some cases, it doesn’t. In some cases, it will help now. And in some cases, it will help in the future. Another possible benefit is that genetic testing may help with family planning.
Can Genetic Testing Diagnose Autism in Pregnancy?
Genetic testing in utero does not reveal a diagnosis of Autism. To date, there is no formal genetic test that can diagnose Autism in utero and otherwise. There are many genetic mutations that have been associated with Autism. And many more are being discovered all the time. And if you had a genetic test of the embryonic fluid, you may discover that your child has one of those mutations. But having one of the genetic mutations associated with Autism doesn’t mean that your child will have Autism. A genetic association is not the same as a diagnosis for Autism.
Why is Genetic Testing Helpful for Autism?
Genetic testing can be helpful if you have a child diagnosed with Autism. Typically, your child’s pediatrician will refer your child to a Geneticist. Genetic testing in the form of Chromosomal Microsomal Analysis (CMA) may reveal a genetic cause for your child’s Autism. It has the highest detection rate among all genetic tests for Autism. Additional testing may include Fragile X testing and G-banded karyotype. A Geneticist may recommend testing for your other children and mother and father. Why? Other children may not have been diagnosed yet. Not all Autism is easily diagnosed as there is a wide range of symptoms on the spectrum. In addition, either parent may be a genetic carrier for Autism.
When is Genetic Testing for Autism Helpful?
Autism and genetic testing is helpful when a specific genetic mutation is known to be associated with specific delays with Autism. A specific treatment plan can occur when this is discovered. And the younger this is discovered, the sooner the therapies can begin. And the more effective they are.
In general Speech Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Occupational Therapy, and Applied Behavioral Analysis therapy are common therapies that children with Autism may need. For example, memory problems are associated with specific genetic mutations while they are not associated with others. If you knew that a specific genetic mutation had memory delays associated with it, you’d be able to tailor that therapy for your child. Tailoring additional therapies and/or increasing the frequency of a specific therapy to help with memory delays would be extremely helpful in this example.
When is Genetic Testing for Autism Not Helpful?
In general, there are over 250 genetic mutations associated with Autism. And more genetic mutations are being discovered. If your child has a genetic mutation that is new or uncommon, unusual, or rare there may not be a known genetic association with Autism yet.
What to do next? The answer is you must wait. As more testing is done and more associations are made, it is possible to eventually have a genetic diagnosis of Autism. As more testing occurs, more data is collected and analyzed. With time, you may learn about specific delays and treatments that apply to your child’s Autism. However, if there are genetic mutations that are found in your child, then it is beneficial to test your other children for the same mutations. It may aid in the diagnosis of Autism. It also may be a benefit as your child becomes an adult with Autism. Future therapeutic options may exist.
How Will You React if Your Child Has a Genetic Mutation?
This is extremely important. Some people need to know. And some don’t want to know. And others just aren’t sure if they should know. Emotions can’t be ignored. Will it bring you peace of mind? Will you be satisfied if you know there is a genetic mutation, and you can get specific tailored therapies for your child? Would you be willing to have your other children tested? What if the genetic mutation is present, but nothing is known about it yet? Will this cause you more anxiety? All this needs to be considered. Knowing yourself and how you might react is helpful to determine your child’s path.
Table 1. Most Significant Terms Enriched Using the GOBP Database (Rodriguez-gomex, et al., 2021
Stay tuned the nest blog post, “Breastfeeding & Alcohol Pump & Dump Truths & Myths?” Don’t forget to check out the video for more in-depth information on today’s topic! Watch the full video on my YouTube channel!
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Leave a comment below.Your input helps me create content that truly supports you! How this was helpful to you? What other topics would you like me to review?
