Breast feeding and alcohol...Whats safe?

Question

Am breast feeding my 6 month old but have my work xmas party tomorrow, want to be able to drink but am worried that i wont be able to give my baby his 4 am feed. Am i right to think that you shouldn't breast feed after drinking alcohol?

how dare you say i am not a good mother! I do not want to get drunk just have wine with a meal, is that unreasonable considering i did not touch a drop when pregnant, i did not even partake in a toast at my wedding! And as for me having a wide ***** for your info it is tiny and i did not push my baby out of it due to having a section you tosser.

Thank you for your help to those who didn't assume i was going to get plastered then risk my childs health. I really cant believe some of the insults i have recieved!

Answer 1

As long as it's not too much and you wait three hours. If you're still paranoid, though, you can pump and dump.

Answer 2

There is no need to pump and dump!! Alcohol is not stored in breastmilk, it circulates through your system. If you no longer feel teh effects of alcohol then it is no longer in your milk and will nto affect your baby. Like many other answers foudn on YA! the alcohol adn breastmilk question is commonly answered by decade old information by those that won't even read new research if you give it to them.
Have your drink or two. Just feed baby before you leave. At 6 months there is probably enough time between your usual nursings that the effects of it will be long gone.

"Alcohol passes freely into mother's milk and has been found to peak about 30 to 60 minutes after consumption, 60 to 90 minutes when taken with food. Alcohol also freely passes out of a mother's milk and her system. It takes a 120 pound woman about two to three hours to eliminate from her body the alcohol in one serving of beer or wine...the more alcohol that is consumed, the longer it takes for it to be eliminated. It takes up to 13 hours for a 120 pound woman to eliminate the alcohol from one high-alcohol drink. The effects of alcohol on the breastfeeding baby are directly related to the amount the mother consumes."

http://www.llli.org//FAQ/alcohol.html

Answer 3

You can have 1-2 drinks (I'm assuming you'd be done drinking by 2am at the latest) and then breastfeed at 4am. No problem whatsoever.

http://www.kellymom.com/health/lifestyle/alcohol.html
Guidelines

* Current research says that occasional use of alcohol (1-2 drinks) is not harmful to the nursing baby. The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Drugs classifies alcohol (ethanol) as a “Maternal Medication Usually Compatible With Breastfeeding.”
* Many experts recommend against drinking more than 1-2 drinks per week.
* It is recommended that nursing moms avoid breastfeeding during and for 2-3 hours after drinking (Hale 2002).
* There is no need to pump & dump milk after drinking alcohol, other than for mom's comfort -- pumping & dumping does not speed the elimination of alcohol from the milk.
* Alcohol does not increase milk production, and has been shown to inhibit let-down and decrease milk production (see below).
* If you're away from your baby, try to pump as often as baby usually nurses (this is to maintain milk supply, not because of the alcohol). At the very least, pump or hand express whenever you feel uncomfortably full - this will help you to avoid plugged ducts and mastitis.

In general, if you are sober enough to drive, you are sober enough to breastfeed. Less than 2% of the alcohol consumed by the mother reaches her blood and milk. Alcohol peaks in mom's blood and milk approximately 1/2-1 hour after drinking (but there is considerable variation from person to person, depending upon how much food was eaten in the same time period, mom's body weight and percentage of body fat, etc.). Alcohol does not accumulate in breastmilk, but leaves the milk as it leaves the blood; so when your blood alcohol levels are back down, so are your milk alcohol levels.

Always keep in mind the baby's age when considering the effect of alcohol. A newborn has a very immature liver, so minute amounts of alcohol would be more of a burden. Up until around 3 months of age, infants detoxify alcohol at around half the rate of an adult. An older baby or toddler can metabolize the alcohol more quickly.

Answer 4

After not drinking for a whole nine months, you deserve more than a drink. I drank regularly while breastfeeding my two older children (glass in one hand, baby in the other lol) and now at the age of 10 and 7, they are both top of their class academically and incredibly well-behaved respectful children. Unfortunately, after having baby number 3, so many tragic and heartbreaking things have happened to me that I have turned to drink quite heavily, and I am not proud of this. She is now 6 months, and seems absolutely fine, despite the fact her family has fallen apart around her and her mother is a heavy drinker. I wish you all the best, and just pray that one day I too might be in a situation where a christmas drink at work would be all I had to worry about.

Answer 5

Alcohol will enter your breastmilk, but it won't stay there. It will be metabolized out at the same rate as your blood. The general rule is 1 drink per hour for metabolizing. One drink is defined as 5 oz of wine, 12 oz of beer, or 1 oz of hard liquor. Peak alcohol levels will be reached about 60-90 minutes after drinking. The only reason to pump and dump is to maintain milk supply and avoid engorgement. If you are concerned that alcohol will not be completely metabolized from your milk before the next feeding you can pre-plan the feeding by either pumping and storing breastmilk or substituting formula.

Answer 6

I would say that a glass or two of wine with your meal would do no harm at all. If you're really worried, you could always express the feed beforehand and keep the bottle in the fridge. Might be more comfortable as well. Leaky boobs at the Christmas party's the last thing you want!
And ignore all the horrible posts.

Answer 7

just ignore the a**holes who post horrible answers. I am not totally sure how much alcohol is secreted into breast milk but, on one of my work nights out,I had a few drinks and breast fed my baby when I came home.I think if you take it in moderation, it will be fine. I was like you and was completely paranoid etc. but my son is two now and hasn't developed two heads or five toes??give yourself a break?you are a new mum so relax for 1 night out. If you are really worried, invest in a beast pump. They are horrible and you kinda feel like a prize heffer expressing your milk but, if it will make you feel a bit more relaxed about your night out then maybe give it a thought. anyway, I hope you can relax and enjoy your night and have a vino(or two!or five!) and as a new mum, god only knows you deserve it! have fun.x

Answer 8

Hope this helps!

Current research says that occasional use of alcohol (1-2 drinks) is not harmful to the nursing baby. The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Drugs classifies alcohol (ethanol) as a “Maternal Medication Usually Compatible With Breastfeeding.”
Many experts recommend against drinking more than 1-2 drinks per week.
It is recommended that nursing moms avoid breastfeeding during and for 2-3 hours after drinking (Hale 2002).
There is no need to pump & dump milk after drinking alcohol, other than for mom's comfort -- pumping & dumping does not speed the elimination of alcohol from the milk.
Alcohol does not increase milk production, and has been shown to inhibit let-down and decrease milk production (see below).
If you're away from your baby, try to pump as often as baby usually nurses (this is to maintain milk supply, not because of the alcohol). At the very least, pump or hand express whenever you feel uncomfortably full - this will help you to avoid plugged ducts and mastitis.
In general, if you are sober enough to drive, you are sober enough to breastfeed. Less than 2% of the alcohol consumed by the mother reaches her blood and milk. Alcohol peaks in mom's blood and milk approximately 1/2-1 hour after drinking (but there is considerable variation from person to person, depending upon how much food was eaten in the same time period, mom's body weight and percentage of body fat, etc.). Alcohol does not accumulate in breastmilk, but leaves the milk as it leaves the blood; so when your blood alcohol levels are back down, so are your milk alcohol levels.

Always keep in mind the baby's age when considering the effect of alcohol. A newborn has a very immature liver, so minute amounts of alcohol would be more of a burden. Up until around 3 months of age, infants detoxify alcohol at around half the rate of an adult. An older baby or toddler can metabolize the alcohol more quickly.

Answer 9

Im surprised at some of the answers you have had on here. People really should not comment if they have not got 100% info. You can have a glass of wine or 2, thats fine. My sisters midwife told her to use her own judgement. She said to stop when she felt 'affected'. For you that may be 1 glass, it may be more, but with not drinking in pregnancy its oprobably not much. Have a glass or 2 but in my personal opinion Id say not to have more but thats my opinion only. You know your own body and clearly love your baby so wont but him at risk but just be mindful of pressure to drink more with it being a works do. Other than that have a good night!

Answer 10

I agree with you about the insults, there is no need for them. I went out for my friends birthday and had a couple of drinks, while i was still breatfeeding. I started expressing a few days before i went out, and stored it in the freezer. i expressed enough to last til the following evening and the following afternoon i expressed what i had and threw it away as the alcohol will be in the milk until you get rid of it. Just because your breastfeeding doesn't mean you can never go out and drink. I sure if we told our partners they could't go out either they wouldn't be too happy.

Answer 11

Drinking moderately is safe.

"Current research says that occasional use of alcohol (1-2 drinks) is not harmful to the nursing baby. The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Drugs classifies alcohol (ethanol) as a “Maternal Medication Usually Compatible With Breastfeeding.”"

& more at: http://www.kellymom.com/health/lifestyle/alcohol.html

If you want to be extremely cautious, there is a "an algorithm to estimate how long it takes to eliminate alcohol from breast milk" here:

http://www.cfpc.ca/cfp/2002/Jan/vol48-jan-clinical-1.asp

"MYTH: A mother should not drink alcohol while breastfeeding. Not true! Reasonable alcohol intake should not be discouraged at all. As is the case with most drugs, very little alcohol comes out in the milk. The mother can take some alcohol and continue breastfeeding as she normally does. Prohibiting alcohol is another way we make life unnecessarily restrictive for nursing mothers."

http://www.drjacknewman.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=79

edit: Wow, these are some _horrible_ answers you're getting. For heavens' sakes, people, if you haven't done the research, STFU! And I have no idea what on earth might be wrong with knocking back a couple at a Christmas party... Are parents not allowed to do that, period, or does that sort of idiotic chastisement only apply to nursing mothers?