Is it safe to have 3 beers and still breastfeed?

Question

does anyone know when it is safe to breastfeed again, if you have had 3 beers?

Answer 1

Your body processes one ounce of alcohol an hour. So one beer an hour. If you've had 3 beers, you need to wait 3 hours before you breastfeed your baby. Alcohol will be transferred via breastmilk, so it's not really recommended that you drink if you need to breastfeed your baby. That's not to say that you can't drink for the next year, just pump before hand so that you have enough supply to last your baby for a few hours while you have a couple of libations. If that's not possible, you might consider formula. Good luck.

Answer 2

No, it is not safe. Everything you ingest will end up in your breast milk. You will look at some sites that will say ingesting beer and alcohol in certain quantity amounts will not harm the baby, but why take the chance?

If you want to drink, then wean your baby on to formula. When you breastfeed, you cannot take chances like that. I can speak from experience because I breast fed my daughter. I made many sacrifices in order to make sure I did not make her sick or gassy. I would for go many favorite foods and drinking because although my foods were my favorite, they may not have been a favorite to her delicate system. It is trial and error with breastfeeding. I dont regret one bit of it because I made the choice to breast feed and I wanted my daughter to be healthy by all means.

Think about what you are about to do and make the best decision for your child.

Stay blessed!

Answer 3

I have always heard and recently read that if you do indulge with a drink the wait is two hours until you can breastfeed again. So with 3 beers, you have to wait 6 hours total. If you can't wait that long, you would have to pump and discard the milk. It is of course safer and better to not drink at all. It is a small price to pay for a heathly baby!

Medela.com states:

Breastfeeding mothers often want to know if it is safe to drink alcohol. Someone may even have suggested that drinking beer will help her relax or increase milk supply. Actually, the research shows that alcohol can interfere with the letdown reflex (milk release) and reduce the milk production by 23% in the next few hours after the drink. This is not a big problem for the mom who only drinks occasionally.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, excessive or regular drinking is discouraged during breastfeeding. Mild to moderate drinking is OK. Alcohol is rapidly absorbed into milk, but it is not considered harmful to the infant so long as the amount is limited.

1 Alcohol is not stored in the milk in a mother’s breasts.
2 The bottom line is that one beer, one glass of wine, or one mixed drink is probably safe for most nursing moms.

If a mother drinks enough to feel ‘high’, some experts advise waiting several hours before nursing the baby. The woman can pump during this time if her breasts feel uncomfortably. When a big celebration is planned, it is always important to arrange for someone sober to help care for the baby. Heavy alcohol use can impair a mother’s ability to care for her baby.

Tips:

Breastfeed your baby before taking alcoholic beverages

Consult your doctor about the need for discarding milk for 2 hours after alcohol ingestion. It may not be necessary.

Avoid excessive alcohol use. Seek help from your doctor if you are concerned about your alcohol use.

Avoid using alcohol if you are using barbiturates, benzodiazepines, chloral hydrate, and other central nervous system depressants. Other medications may also interact with alcohol. Check with your doctor.

Answer 4

2-3 hours is a good general rule. The recommendation is usually to nurse your baby before you drink, so as to maximize the time your body has to get rid of the alcohol before you nurse again.

Those saying you have to pump and dump are wrong. Alcohol leaves your milk as it leaves your bloodstream; it doesn't linger.

Those saying that you will hurt your baby are also wrong. There's no evidence that that's the case unless you're drinking lots of alcohol on a regular basis.

Anyway, your milk has the same amount of alcohol as your blood. If you were drunk, that'd probably still only be .1% (at .2% you'd be in the hospital, most like, and .08% is the legal limit).

A non-alcoholic beer has about .5% alcohol. So, your baby, even at your most trashed, is still not getting as much alcohol as in an O'Douls. So, as long as you don't make an every-day habit of drinking that much, and you give it the 2 or 3 hours to be processed by your body, your baby will be FINE.

Answer 5

What goes into you the baby has. 3 beers in a short space of time means that your baby will get a small amount of alcohol in there system if you breast feed too soon after drinking.

Kevin whoever he is is an idiot. Im sorry but I have to say that.
Alcohol through breastfeeding does have dangers. The baby can become alcoholic early or it can slow down there reactions times and mental maturing.

It doesnt take much for a baby to get drunk...so whoever hopeless is apperances arent always what they seem to be. After all just because an infant is fairly quiet doesnt mean its ok.

NO..drinking and breastfeeding are not compatable. If you drink dont feed again until your sober and your body is clean.

Use your head and comman sense.

I have 3 children myself.

Answer 6

NO!
Pump the milk a couple of times and Wait for at least 4-5 hours and then breastfeed.
Why in the world are you drinking while breastfeeding?

I had a beer while breastfeeding my 4 week old, I had heard it helps with milk, but I didnt realise you are supposed to have one with no alcohol.
My baby through up 3 times after I breastfed, she was fine the other day and when on formula.
It is very hard for babies to break alcohol since it passes in milk.
It can damage their liver if you do it often.

DONT DRINK!

Answer 7

its not safe to breastfeed if you've had beer. Try afer 6-8 hours...

Answer 8

i honestly don,t know i can,t see it doing any harm but check with a profssional first or maybe exprees you milk before hand just because your a mum you should still be abel to have a drink from time to time so don,t let negative comments put you off i bottle fed my chilcren but i had the odd drink while pregnant

Answer 9

My personal feelings on this is : Would you put the beer in a bottle and give it to the baby?"

Answer 10

I'd caution you to stay away from drinking at all until you are done breastfeeding. Everything you eat affects your child. I'm sure you don't want your child to become predisposed to becoming an alcoholic, which I have heard is a possibility of doing so.