How Did I not Know This?

Kombucha has caffeine! Did you know that? I just found out last night!

My sister is big on brewing her own kombucha and Kefir and drinking raw milk and over Christmas she convinced me to give kombucha a try. I started slowly with just a few ounces, drinking about 16 ounces over a 4 day span. I liked the taste and the natural carbonation and it did make me feel better. I had good energy even though my 6 month old was having trouble transitioning to her crib.

At the same time that I started drinking kombucha we had just gotten home from vacation and we had just transitioned the baby to her crib and she was teething. The baby wasn't sleeping well but I just assumed it was all of the changes that were going on that were keeping her awake. My father in law came to visit for a few weeks in January and the baby's sleep continued to get worse. Everything I read about baby sleep indicated that it was my fault for nursing her to sleep and not teaching her to self soothe so after my father in law left and we were sure she was done teething for a bit and she was healthy we commenced sleep training and it was terrible. It didn't work, she would cry and fall asleep for 30-60 minutes and then wake up screaming again. We tried lots of different things but all she really wanted was to be held. I found myself bringing her into my bed early in the morning just to get a few hours of sleep.

As her sleep was deteriorating I was increasing my kombucha consumption and enjoying it so much that I thought I might brew my own so I started searching for recipes and places to buy a starter. That's when I made my discovery that now seems so obvious! kombucha is made with black tea. Black tea has caffeine. The brewing process does not remove the caffeine. Thus, kombucha has caffeine! I had been caffeine free for nearly 2 years and we had discovered when the baby was 2 months old that even the small amount of caffeine in decaf coffee was too much for her. So, I did an experiment, I cut out kombucha. Within a day she was sleeping so much better! We went from 5-6 wake ups at night to 1-2.

It looks like I'll be waiting until someone is weaned to try making my own kombucha!