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STUDY: Mother’s caffeine intake not linked to infant sleep problems

Posted at 10:36 PM, Apr 15, 2012
and last updated 2012-04-15 22:36:18-04

A new study suggests that a mother’s moderate caffeine intake might not affect her infant’s sleep. The Brazilian study was based on 900 new mothers, according to Reuters Health.

Most studies throughout the decades have concentrated on a mother’s caffeine intake during pregnancy, and Reuters reports that recent studies have not shown any heightened risk of miscarriage due to consumption.

This recent study, published in Pediatrics journal, focused on the affects of caffeine absorbed by babies through breastfeeding, and if it affected the sleep of infants’.

The research of Ina Santos and colleagues at Federal University of Pelotas, in Brazil, found that moderate amounts—not heavy caffeine—“may not pose a danger.”

“Caffeine consumption during pregnancy and by nursing mothers seems not to have consequences on sleep of infants at the age of three months,” wrote Santos and her colleagues, reported Reuters.

Experts suggest a moderate intake of one or two cups daily.

Dr. Lauren Hanley, an obstetrician at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston said that it’s generally thought that 300 mg of caffeine or less each day is okay.

Consumption over that amount is related to fussiness and poor sleep in babies

Click over toread the entire study.