Drinking and BFeeding?

[empen]

I am looking forward to cracking open a bottle of wine once DS is born but intend to BF. Am I allowed a glass of wine or nothing - in light of nrecent recommendations not to drink at all whilst pregnant? If I wanted more than a glass and expressed some milk how long would it take to get out of my system so i could feed again.

[TheYoungVisiter]

There are lots of old threads about this with the medical chapter and verse but personally I drink (in moderation) while bfing.

My NCT antenatal teacher said she didn't think it woudl be an issue but said if we were concerned then the best thing was to feed, then have a glass of wine straight after, it takes about an hour to metabolise 1 unit of alcohol so you would theoretically be sober by the time the next feed came around.

HTH!

[SharpMolarBear]

I drink a tiny glass before DS in bed and a normal glass when he's in bed.
(That makes it sound like it's every night - it's not )
I only do it now he regularly sleeps till 5am, when he was waking more frequently I had small amounts, or none.
I think the risk of it affecting your baby is small (unless you go mad!) but I think it can affect your supply. Could be wrong though, someone will correct me. TBH I think you can drink what you like - you're not going to want more than a glass or 2 anyway, as you'll feel dreadful for the next early morning

[twelveyeargap]

I drink a bit of wine a few evenings a week. I think I heard somewhere that the alcohol peaks in your milk about two hours after drinking. Anyway, DD2 never seems to suffer any ill effects from it. I however had my first night "out" last night (first time in well over a year) and suffered greatly this morning for my 4 gins.

[TheYoungVisiter]

Can't speak for anyone else but personally I found it didn't affect my supply at all - in fact when my mum was bfing they used to tell them to drink beer to help boost their supply...

[twelveyeargap]

Kellymom Alcohol Advice (Very balanced view - not judge-y).

[empen]

I genuinely appreciate the honest opinions and advice. I was half expecting to get slagged for even considering opening a bottle of wine whilst having new baby.
Will wait and see how it goes with feeding and then see if I can work a glass of wine into my routine! - with help of DP. All I need to do now is find a good electric pump - I would actually rather I express and feed solely from the bottle cause I am not too comfy with the idea of 'breast' feeding but I want him to have all the goodness!

[spookthief]

Alcohol is present in breastmilk in similar concentrations to blood iirc. It also leaves milk in the same way and speed so absolutely no point nor need in "pumping and dumping".

Personally, everything that I have read makes me happy to drink moderately and bf without troubling myself particularly with timings. I would be more concerned I think with a big night out and night feeds, or if it was a really big night out the first feed of the morning. Tbh, the prospect of looking after a baby is far more likely to put you off drinking enough to get a hangover the next day..

I suppose a rule of thumb might be, if you're under the drink-driving limit you certainly don't have to worry about bf, but I would say that's actually erring quite heavily on the side of caution.

[katwith3kittens]

I'd recommend the medula electric pump, but tbh pumping exclusively is a pain in the bum for very little reward, its far far easier to put LO straight to the breast.

Good luck with the birth and whatever method of feeding you choose, but dont forget there's always someone here to help with any feeding issues you may have.

[spookthief]

empen - totally up to you obv, but expressing exclusively is very hard. You might be interested in starting a new thread about that. Feel free to tell me to butt right out though

[TheYoungVisiter]

Anne Enright wrote a very good article about this, and also pointed out that if your blood alcohol reaches 4% you DIE, and that even 1-2% blood alcohol makes you feel very, very drunk.

[Piffle]

Empen in my experience of babies (and that's 3 to date) the thought of not having a drink after their birth is more worrying...
tongue in cheek of course
I do have a few drinks - drink lower alcohol products, such as wine and soda or low alcohol lager...
Also when babies slepe that bit longer it makes it less of a worry

[twelveyeargap]

Medela Pump in Style for very regular expressing, Medela Swing for occasional/ fairly frequent expressing.

I have the Swing. Really excellent.

[MegBusset]

Empen, I regularly have a glass of wine with dinner, not every day but, erm, often every other day . No ill effects on DS so far... sadly doesn't even make him more drowsy .

Haven't got drunk, though, as I just couldn't cope with the hangover!

Also, of course it's your choice if you wish to express, but just wanted to say that babies are much more efficient at getting milk out of you than a pump, so if you felt you wanted to try it, it's definitely a lot less hassle once established! And you will get lots of support here. But, of course, it's got to be what you're comfortable with

[lemonaid]

I drink moderately when bf, but don't get drunk.

I do agree, though, that you will find it very difficult to establish a supply if you are exclusively pumping right from the start (some women do manage it, but it is difficult). You are likely to have more success in breastfeeding for the first six weeks or so and then transitioning to expressed milk, if that's the way you want to end up.

[foxensteinscreature]

Empen I have glass of Vino every night with my dinner and BF - am on my third child now and the DCs have never had any ill effects.

Expressing is fine but you are doubling the work for yourself i.e. expressing often takes longer than BF and you have to concentrate more, plus you have to sterilise all the equipment etc (I am still BF and expressing 3 days a week at work) which, to be frank, is a pain in the butt!

If its under 2 units of alcohol a night I really wouldn't worry about it - think of all the positive benefits of that breast milk. Its much easier and far, far quicker to put the baby to the breast than to express. Try it - I can almost guaruntee you will love BFing - it's ever so rewarding

Enjoy!!

[BlueChampagne]

Booze is supposed to metabolise approx 1 unit per hour. If NICE say you can drink 1.5 units per day during pregnancy, when baby's lots smaller, why not the odd glass while breastfeeding? Likewise couldn't face a hangover, nor being less than competent to handle night time changes etc. I also drink only with a meal, and not every night.