Alcohol

[Kimmyj_b]

I a planing on BFing when baby arrives. Obviously, I don't want to drink initially, but i will want to go out ocassionally. How do experienced Bf ladies deal with going out?

 

[tiggy85]

In the early days I would leave my Hubbie with a bottle of expressed milk and go out for a few hours. This worked fine.

Nowadays he doesn't have a feed after 7pm so I put him to bed and then go out.

If your having a heavy session drinking then your supposed to pump and dump the milk until it's clear of your system. So you would need to leave more expressed bottles to cover those normal feeds.

I don't drink more than a few anyway so I carried on feeding as normal when I got home if it was a few hours after the alcohol.

You also may need to express when your out if you get full or uncomfortable. And to pump whilst out when you have missed a feed as you will want to continue your supply, but missing the odd feed and not pumping won't ruin your supply.

 

[Kimmyj_b]

I don't necessarily want to go out on a bender, it would be nice for me to have a few over the festive period though if the mood takes me. How much would I need to pump
To get it all out if my system? Can I have caffeine? Sorry if these are silly questions. I'm due next week
And have realised how clueless i am!

 

[babybee]

Hey Hun. I found that foods I ate in the early weeks had an effect on my daughter eg gassy veg, spicy food, caffeine would give her bad wind which was heartbreaking to hear as she'd really struggle and cry. After 12 weeks it didn't effect her.

I've never had more than 2 glasses of wine but even in the early weeks it never had an effect on milk supply as it might do on others. Also it can make the baby drowsy (which may seem great ) but it might sleep through a feed despite needing one which could potentially cause dehydration etc (in extreme cases I would imagine). But I didn't find this nor did other breastfeeding mums I know.

Xxx

 

[babybee]

Double post

 

[SpinSugar]

The level of alcohol is the same as what's in your blood, so it's not a case of pumping volume to get rid of it but it's time. You clear about 1 unit an hour. So if you have two glasses of wine say, you will be fine for a feed about 4-5 h later. You only need to pump and dump if you are too engorged.
There was a study published on jack Newman's site and it looks like less alcohol gets in to milk then we thought. Was in interesting paper xx

 

[Kimmyj_b]

I've missed caffeine since being pregnant so i would like to have some coffee and stuff etc. Hoping for a tipple on Xmas day at least, so hoping to be able to express by then!x

 

[Gemsy]

I have a glass now - I just have one as soon as I have fed him (or as I am feeding!). He feeds every three hours, so by the time I come to feed him again it is clear of my milk.

Alcohol is not stored in breastmilk, so it is just the time you have to watch - your body will clear one unit per hour.

I am storing up a bit of milk for Christmas Day so I can have a couple of drinks and not be worrying when I am having them.

Like you say, I don't want to go off on a bender (can't think of anything worse than looking after a baby with a hangover!), but it is nice to indulge a little!

 

[knopk@]

You dont need to pump and dump. BM is similar to blood in relation to alcohol - it disappears after some time. The saturation peaks 2 hours after you had a drink and then it goes away. Unless you are uncomfortable and need to express, no need to pump and duml

 

[madmillie92]

I'm going out tommorrow and plan to have about 3 drinks, I have left LO with my mum and have expressed about 18oz of milk to leave with her, I plan to leave 4 hours after my last drink until I get to my mums then feed him the rest of the milk when I'm there (I'm staying round) so should be at least 6 hours to get it out of my system, I have got formula just incase I don't feel confident the alchohols all gone. Babies r us do testing strips to test your milk for alchohol but I haven't got one near me. I am more worried about my supply decreasing as my pump broke yesterday so going to have to hand express and I've only been bf a month so I'm not sure if supplys fully established... Seem to have an over supply at the moment though so fingers crossed it'll be ok! X

 

[mrswoody]

I must have been a bad mother!
There were 2/3 occasions when I was bfing that I'd had more than just a couple of glasses of wine and still fed LO the next day. Rightly or wrongly that was my choice.
There is very little alcohol in your milk and it's not going to harm baby as such but make them a little more gassy or give you more dirty nappies.
It was a midwife who told me that if you did have more than a few glasses it would be fine to still feed, so I took that and went with it.
If you want to pump and dump then do that if not and your comfortable then still feed LO. x