Most teas are safe to drink while breastfeeding, as long as you keep caffeine in check and avoid a short list of harmful herbs. The CDC recommends staying at or below 300 milligrams of caffeine per day, which leaves plenty of room for both true teas (black, green, white) and many herbal options. Your baby receives roughly 7 to 10 percent of your weight-adjusted caffeine dose through breast milk, so moderate intake is unlikely to cause problems.
How Much Caffeine Is in Common Teas
Not all teas are created equal when it comes to caffeine. Black tea typically contains 40 to 70 mg per cup, green tea runs 20 to 45 mg, and white tea sits around 15 to 30 mg. Compare that to coffee at 95 to 200 mg per cup, and tea looks like a much gentler option. You could comfortably drink three or four cups of green tea a day and stay well within the 300 mg guideline.
Steeping time matters. The longer tea sits in hot water, the more caffeine and tannins it releases. If you want to keep caffeine on the lower end, steep for two to three minutes instead of five. Cold-brewed tea also extracts caffeine more slowly, so that’s another way to dial it down.
Herbal Teas That Are Generally Safe
Herbal teas are naturally caffeine-free, which makes them appealing during breastfeeding. Rooibos, ginger, and chamomile are widely consumed by nursing mothers without reported issues. Hibiscus is classified as “generally recognized as safe” as a food by the FDA, though there’s no specific research on its transfer into breast milk. If you enjoy fruity blends that contain hibiscus, there’s no established reason to avoid them.
Fennel, anise, caraway, and dill are all common culinary herbs considered compatible with breastfeeding. They show up frequently in nursing tea blends and have a long history of traditional use. Garlic tea, while not everyone’s favorite, also carries a “compatible with breastfeeding” safety rating.
Teas Marketed for Milk Supply
Lactation teas are a booming category, and most contain some combination of fenugreek, blessed thistle, milk thistle, fennel, and goat’s rue. These herbs are classified as galactagogues, meaning they’re traditionally believed to increase milk production. The evidence behind them is mixed but worth understanding.
Fenugreek is the most studied. One trial found that mothers who drank fenugreek tea three times daily produced significantly more milk than those who didn’t. But a separate study using fenugreek capsules found no difference compared to a placebo. The proposed mechanism is interesting: fenugreek may stimulate sweat production, and mammary glands are technically modified sweat glands. Fenugreek carries a “compatible with breastfeeding” safety rating, though it can cause a maple syrup smell in your sweat and urine, which is harmless but surprising.
Milk thistle has somewhat stronger data. In one study, mothers taking milk thistle saw an 86 percent increase in milk production from baseline after 63 days, compared to a 32 percent increase in the placebo group. That said, this was studied as a supplement rather than a tea, and the dose in a cup of tea may be much lower than what was used in the trial.
If you want to try a lactation tea, it’s unlikely to cause harm. Just keep your expectations realistic. The evidence suggests some benefit is possible, but results vary.
Teas to Limit or Avoid
Peppermint tea is the one that gets the most attention. It has been traditionally used to suppress lactation, and lab studies show that menthol (peppermint’s active compound) can reduce milk production in cell cultures and in animal models. No clinical trials have confirmed this effect in humans, and an occasional cup is unlikely to tank your supply. But if you’re already struggling with low production, it’s reasonable to skip peppermint or keep it to rare occasions. Sage carries a similar reputation for reducing milk supply through traditional use.
Some herbs are genuinely dangerous during breastfeeding. Comfrey and borage both contain compounds called pyrrolizidine alkaloids that can damage the liver and do cross into breast milk. Avoid teas containing either of these. Other herbs to steer clear of entirely include:
- Kava-kava: associated with severe liver damage
- Ephedra (ma huang): can cause heart rate irregularities
- Dong quai (angelica root): potential hormonal effects
- Ginseng (Panax ginseng): insufficient safety data
- Star anise: risk of contamination with toxic Japanese star anise
- Wormwood: contains a potentially neurotoxic compound
If you’re buying loose-leaf herbal blends or teas from smaller brands, check the ingredient list carefully. Some blends mix safe herbs with ones on this list.
Watch for Signs in Your Baby
Newborns process caffeine much more slowly than adults. A premature or very young infant may take over three days to clear caffeine from their system, while older babies handle it faster. If your baby seems unusually fussy, jittery, or is having trouble sleeping after you’ve had caffeinated tea, that’s worth paying attention to. Try cutting back and see if the pattern changes over a few days.
The same applies to herbal teas. While allergic reactions through breast milk are rare, any new and persistent fussiness, rash, or change in feeding behavior after you introduce a new tea is a signal to stop drinking it and observe whether things improve.
Timing Your Tea Around Meals
One detail that often gets overlooked: tea can interfere with iron absorption. The tannins and catechins in both true teas and some herbal teas bind to iron in your digestive tract, making it harder for your body to absorb. This matters postpartum, when many women are already rebuilding iron stores. A study of women of childbearing age found that the number of cups consumed per day was strongly associated with iron deficiency, with heavy tea drinkers facing more than seven times the odds of depleted iron stores.
The fix is simple. Drink your tea at least an hour before or after meals rather than with them. Shorter steeping times and weaker brews also reduce tannin content. If you’re taking an iron supplement, the same spacing rule applies.