Need a straight answer!

[hopefulmummy]

Drinking whilst breastfeeding - how much is ok? How much is too much? Is it ok to have say 3 glasses of champagne in the evening if your baby doesn't wake up till 4-5 am? Or is cold turkey the best way?

 

[Smithy1980]

Hey Hun....do u mind if I thread stalk as would be interested to see the responses to this one as i could murder a vodka lol

Sorry to not be of much use lol xxx


Sent from my nearly buggared iPhone!!

 

[Sam's Mum]

Generally if you're sober enough to drive you're ok to breastfeed, so if you work out how many units you're drinking and allow an hour per unit it should be totally out of your bloodstream and milk (and feeding slighty earlier would be fine if it's not something you're doing all the time). If you're at all worried and your LO will take a bottle you could always pump first so you've got some ready just in case x

 

[Sam's Mum]

And I would think nothing of having an occasional glass of wine and feeding straight away once my two were a few months old - only at special occasions etc but having not drunk for so long a glass was more than enough

 

[NinjaKitty]

This what a friend of mine did. Express the night before (obviously before you have a drink) so you have it for morning (if your LO will take a bottle). Have a couple of drinkies. Express in the morning and discard so as to get rid of any potential alcohol etc.

 

[Sam's Mum]

You don't need to express afterwards and get rid of it - alcohol in milk is similar to alcohol in your bloodstream and will not be stored there but broken down over time, so as long as enough time has passed you're fine x

 

[hopefulmummy]

That's he prob - he won't take a bottle and is so unreliable at night. So he'll sleep through from 7-5/6 for a few nights in a row, so I'll indulge an have a few glasses and then hell wake up at 12 Wanting a feed! It's so hard. But I guess that's a good way to look at it - don't breastfeed if you couldn't drive. But what happens when it's unavoidable because you're baby has woken up randomly? What harm does it do them? How much milk goes into breastmilk?? X

 

[hopefulmummy]

I meant how much alcohol goes in, not how much milk!

 

[Sam's Mum]

I'm not sure exactly how much goes in. Toby would never take a bottle either so I could never have much but if you haven't drunk much since before you were pregnant it's likely that you won't need much before you start feeling drunk I love my wine and could easily have got through a bottle on a night in with friends before I had the boys but afterwards it would take me so long to get through a glass that it would be warm by the time I'd finished

My friend's midwife suggested she had a couple of drinks in the evening to relax when she was really struggling with feeding at first and that was when her son was only a few weeks old x

 

[Sarah13]

I think a couple are ok, I've only had one drink on my birthday though, got all paranoid about how much would go through! I plan to express when I decide to have a night out esp with Xmas comming up, don't want to miss out on all the fun! I've been giving Kynon a bottle of expressed milk every few days just so he will take a bottle, my hubby has to give it to him though as he refuses from me.

 

[hopefulmummy]

Yeah Arthur used to take a bottle fine - he just decided when he e was about 12 weeks old that he wasn't havin any more of it!!! X

 

[Sarah13]

I just read something interesting/strange, that women who have an alcohol problem it is still better to breast feed than formula feed! Not sure how true that is!

 

[Sam's Mum]

I'd be more worried about someone with an alcohol problem being in charge of a little baby than the amount of alcohol in the milk What if they fall or pass out?!

 

[Sarah13]

I know! Was an American article I read! I don't let my hubby pick baby up when he's had a drink, that's what I would hate if I have a few, prob why I won't bother just now!

 

[Iriki]

My midwife told me that the best time to have a drink was actuall WHILE feeding as that guaranteed the longest time between feeds couldn't quite bring myself to do it though !

 

[hopefulmummy]

My midwife told me that the best time to have a drink was actuall WHILE feeding as that guaranteed the longest time between feeds couldn't quite bring myself to do it though !

Haha! I haveto admit this thought did cross
My
Mind as well!!

Well if an alcoholic can breastfeed I can stop worrying....although by the way this thread reads it seems as though I am desperate for a drink!! X

 

[Rayoflight]

My midwife told me that the best time to have a drink was actuall WHILE feeding as that guaranteed the longest time between feeds couldn't quite bring myself to do it though !

This is what I do! I look like such a lush but it takes about 30 mins to hit your bloodstream so I have a small glass whilst feeding. Doesn't matter of he wakes up a couple hours later as it will be out my system.