The conclusion is based on an analysis of sleeping patterns among more than 4,200 infants until the age of 3 months, in light of the caffeine-consumption habits of their mothers both before and after delivery.

Researchers looked at two beverages: coffee and mate, a hot tea-like beverage popular in their area.

The team, led by study author Dr. Ina Santos of the postgraduate program in epidemiology at the Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil, reports its observations online and in the May print issue of Pediatrics.

The authors note that it is very common for newborns to experience nighttime awakenings, and that caffeine consumption has long been linked to sleep disruption and insomnia among adult drinkers.

To see whether caffeine consumption among pregnant women and nursing mothers affects their child's sleep, Santos' team tracked more than 4,200 infants who were born in 2004 in the city of Pelotas, with a specific focus on 885 infants within that group.

All the new mothers were interviewed at the hospital immediately after delivery and then three months later to gauge their caffeine-drinking habits. Heavy coffee drinkers were defined as those who consumed 300mg or more of caffeine per day, either via coffee or some other caffeinated beverage.

According to the Mayo Clinic, two to four cups of brewed coffee contain between 200-300mg of caffeine.

All the newborns were examined at birth, with follow-up exams conducted at three months. At that point, the mothers provided details on their child's sleep habits during the prior 15 days, including total day and night sleep hours and bed-sharing practices.

Defining night awakenings as being any time parents were awakened by a child's arousal, the researchers also asked parents to tally the frequency of their child's nighttime waking episodes and indicate any apparent causes for such awakenings. Frequent awakening was defined as a child waking up three or more times per night.

Mothers also made an overall assessment of the quality of their baby's sleep habits.

All but one of the mothers regularly consumed some caffeine. About one in five was considered a heavy caffeine drinker during pregnancy, and more than 14% continued to drink caffeine heavily as their newborns reached 3 months of age.

As for the babies, nearly 14% were frequent nighttime wakers.

Although there was some indication that nighttime wakening was more prevalent among babies whose mothers were heavy caffeine consumers during pregnancy and nursing, the connection was not statistically significant.

The researchers concluded that there was no evidence that caffeine consumption, at any particular level, could be linked to sleep-pattern disruptions among the infants.

 From the April 3, 2012, Prepared Foods’ Daily News