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Infant feeding

How much alcohol when breastfeeding?

11 replies

iloveberries · 09/12/2016 03:44

Been exclusively BF for 3 months and in this time have had a couple of glasses of wine now and then. (In line with NHS guidelines).

I have a few Christmas dos coming up and would like to drink a bit more (in volume and frequency) but don't want to impact baby's health. I only drink wine so it would be drinking a bottle of wine across 5 hours.

I wondered what other people's views were and if anyone had any access to information about how much alcohol gets into breast milk.

With my first DC i abstained throughout pregnancy and BF and this time inansyained through pregnancy but not so sure it's necessary to abstain through BF.

Thank you.

OP posts:
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Eminybob · 09/12/2016 04:25

Really hardly any alcohol gets into breast milk at all. Honestly, after a bottle of wine your milk will be less alcoholic than orange juice. So crack on! Enjoy yourself.

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876TaylorMade · 09/12/2016 05:33

I've read for each drink...wait 2 hours before breastfeeding.

I'm in Australia...so different guidelines.

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tiktok · 09/12/2016 16:15

It's really a personal choice - some people don't want the merest trace of alcohol in their breastmilk and so avoid it completely. This is not clinically necessary though. It takes a large amount of alcohol, consumed over a very short period of time, to actually affect the milk and the baby. You can get evidence-based information here:

www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/wp-content/dibm/alcohol.pdf

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ImYourMama · 09/12/2016 16:50

I'd maybe pump and dump one feed after a whole bottle, but I wouldn't wait hours and hours. If I'm going on a proper night out, I wait 12 hours from my last drink

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talkshowhost97 · 09/12/2016 16:55

In terms of the alcohol content of your milk I came on to say the same as previous poster about orange juice, you could drink a bottle of vodka and still not have a high % alcohol in your milk, so pumping and dumping is madness (IMO)

Just make sure you have someone else to look after the baby if you're a bit drunk and do not co-sleep. That's the only real danger.

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HeteronormativeHaybales · 09/12/2016 16:59

Agree with tiktok (it's good to see you, tiktok - you helped save my bf (I was under another name) over a decade ago now Thanks ). I'd never manage to drink a bottle of wine in an evening, so i think i would probably be concerned going back to feed after that amount, but I have certainly had reasonably regular glasses of wine with all 3 of my dc - dc1 and 2 bf for 4.5 and 3 years respectively, incl 2 years of tandem feeding, and now 14 months and counting with no. 3.

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JosephineMaynard · 09/12/2016 17:01

The alcohol concentration in breastmilk is the same as the alcohol concentration in your blood - which makes your breastmilk less alcoholic than orange juice, as a pp says.

So basically, as long as you're sober enough to care for your baby when you need to, you're fine. And avoid co-sleeping if you've had any alcohol.

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MrsNuckyThompson · 09/12/2016 17:02

Oh good lord. The scientific evidence shows that the amount of alcohol passed on through breast milk is completely minuscule. I breastfed for two years and had a glass of wine most evenings, often two.

Clearly if you've had a night out with a lot to drink it is a different story but you shouldn't fret over a few glasses spread over several hours!

I will find linkage to some research.

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HubbleBubbles · 09/12/2016 17:52

I wouldn't have breastfed for 2 years (dc1) and 12 months (dc2) if I hadn't resumed my usual drinking habits, i.e. a fair bit of wine whenever I fancied it Smile I've got 2 extremely bright and healthy primary aged children now ..so I don't regret a glass!

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tiktok · 10/12/2016 16:36

(Hi, hay bales. Glad I helped :) )

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ImYourMama · 10/12/2016 18:27

After reading this, I'm ditching the pump and dump!

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