Alcohol and breastfeeding

[Jen79]

I was wondering what breastfeeding mums did with regards to having a drink? Do you have the odd one or two and not worry about it or avoid alcohol completely? I dont particularly drink myself but had a really good nights sleep after 2 cans of guinness last night but now wondering whether its not something I should make a habit of?

 

[budge]

i don't dribk a lot but when i do i don't worry about it.
the odd glass or two of wine or glass of beer doesn't hurt. in my opinion anyway

some people prefer to express and give formula after a drink

 

[Hellokitty]

From what I've read, british medical opinion seems to say that unless you are actually drunk, then negligable alcohol will pass into the breast milk.

However In the USA they recommend you wait 2 hours after a drink to get the alcohol out of the system.

 

[Gemma & Jake]

If I was having just the 1 small drink I still breastfed but if I was drinking more then 1 I would either express milk off before I drank or give formula milk and then breastfeed again the next day. I think they say that if you are going to drink don't drink too much and leave it atleast 2-3 hours before you breastfeed again. Personally if I want'd to go out drinking quite a bit I felt safer to give formula or expressed milk for atleast 12 hours after. Jake never had a problem switching from breast to bottle and then back again but if you are going to do this it is best to start young. If you want to breastfeed only then you will just have to limit what you drink or try to express enough milk off for the whole evening which I never could.

 

[skatty]

Apparantley alcohol leaves your breastmilk the same way it leaves your body so your milk isn't "contaminated". I tend to wait until Leorah has had her last feed for the night and then have a glass or two of wine as I don't feed her again until the morning and then any alcohol will have left the milk.

PS I don't drink every night, in fact I hardly bother!

 

[Tasha20]

I havnt had anything yet, and not really botherd if I dont.

Tho me and OH are going out to a club do thingy as one of his friends are djing, so I will be tempted to have a few, but ill express the night before so she doesnt get the alcohol.

 

[Riley's Mommy]

thats answered one of my questions

 

[Jen79]

Well I think I will not worry too much about it then, seems most people are agreed the odd one now and then doesnt hurt. Big sessions are out the question though cos she is 11 weeks old and showing no signs of being interested in taking milk from anywhere but my boob! Gemz is right I think, the earlier they get a bottle the easier they take it, I didnt try till she was a few weeks old and absolutely no joy with it so far.

 

[Urchin]

I had the odd beer, with plenty of water before and after.

 

[Xena]

I used to only drink extremely rarely and not heavily at all whilst breastfeeding. (e.g. I'd have maybe 1 vodka mudshake every week or so).

I'd drink it as soon as I'd JUST fed her, so I'd know that it'd be a couple of hours before she needed feeding again.

Sometimes I'd express after drinking it and throw that milk away.

 

[LauraKC]

ive been wondering about this. i know you shoudl express before drinking but do you need to express after (ie the next day) as well so that baby doesnt end up drinking teh alcohol in your system?

 

[skatty]

ive been wondering about this. i know you shoudl express before drinking but do you need to express after (ie the next day) as well so that baby doesnt end up drinking teh alcohol in your system?

It depends on how much you drank. the alcohol leaves your breastmilk at the same rate as it leaves your body so if you have a few drinks it will be metabolised by the morning so no need to pump and dump. If you get trashed then you'd best not feed until the alcohol has left your body as you would if you needed to drive