Am I the only one...?

[HaventSleptForAYear]

who drinks alcohol while bf? DS2 is year now and I can't see that it will really do him any harm, it's not like I'm getting pissed every night.
I figure that giving up bf would do more harm.
But have been a bit alarmed by reading on on-line forums (not here) mums who don't eat peanuts, who wouldn't even have a wine-based sauce for fear of somehow damaging baby.
Please tell me I'm not the only one????

[bobsmum]

I've never seen a problem with having a drink or two whilst breastfeeding. I've never found any evidence that says it's harmful. B/f ds for 18 months and dd for 23 mths.

[StripeyMamaSpanx]

You are not the only one

I drank when bf. In moderation, I might add.

IMO, the benefits of bf, even if the mother has the odd glass of wine, are indisputable.

[carmenelectra]

I did!Like you say its not like you are getting pissed! I often had a couple of glasses of wine. Obviously not loads cos you are too knackered with a baby however you feed. Bad enough going 9 mths when pregnant, without abstaining even longer

[NoBiggy]

I avoided peanuts for ages, because the thought of deadly peanut allergy scares the crap out of me. Now, apparently, that was precisely the wrong thing to do .

Don't mind the odd drink (wouldn't the alcohol be cooked out of a sauce anyway?)

[bero]

I have a small (I do mean small) glass of wine on around half of evenings overall. I wait until ds2 is not likely to wake up for a bit.

[lillee]

I did and my bs is absolutely fine! Sticks in my head what MW told me before birth that is if you are not over the limit to drive you are not over the limit to breastfeed!

[morningglory]

I wouldn't be too concerned. The alchohol content of breastmilk reflects the blood alcohol level of mum. If it is .6 (might be after 1 large glass of wine), your breastmilk would also be .6% alcohol. .6% alcohol is the strength of non-alcoholic beer.

[TrinityRhinosDhWonHerAnIPOD]

I have always had a drink whilst bf
I have alwasy beleived that it wouldn't do that much harm to them
and I dont binge drink like I used to

[Piffle]

I've happily chugged down a bit of booze. More so now ds is ten mths but from 4 mths ok I've been happy to quaff it. Never overdo it per se though.

[francagoestohollywood]

I had the odd glass of wine or beer. And because I like to live dangerously I will confess that I also had the odd puff of cigarette.

[pelafina]

Message withdrawn

[StealthPolarBear]

I drink as much as I want to, which isn't usually much as the thought of getting up in the middle of the night feeling drunk / hungover as well puts me off!
Usually have a small glass of wine before DS's last feed, and a normal one afterwards, about half of nights.
I didn't drink much when he was tiny though, it wasn't a conscious decision I think we both just felt too overwhelmed, plus of course he was feeding pretty much constantly. I think I would choose not to though iyswim.

[CatsPee]

lol - I had a thread on here once asking if I was the only one who didn't drink whilst bf!

I was actually persuaded as a result of that to have a drink if I wanted one, although I'm not a big drinker anyway.

Avoiding wine based sauces is a bit ott though. I give dd meals with wine in directly!

[TheBlonde]

I don't do nuts (DH has nut allergy & I have a retainer.. don't want to kill him with a snog)

happily drink though mostly moderately (I can't do hangovers with small kids)

[choolie]

www.kellymom.com/health/lifestyle/alcohol.html

info on how alcohol affects breastmilk (i.e. ok in small amounts ) on kellymom link above.

I haven't had a drink I must admit, DS now 11mo, but he's not a great sleeper and I couldn't face the night shift after even one drink - am looking forward to catching up one day , but enjoying the co-sleeping for now. (so please all have one for me!)

[moondog]

I did.
Actually drunk more when b/feeding than I do now when not. Probably due to the fact that alcohol now disagrees horribly with me but wasv a real help in those difficult early months. A few glasses of wine with dinner kept me sane.

[cmotdibbler]

I'm not a big drinker anymore, so my natural limit is about 2 glasses of wine - and as we don't drink unless in company that means about once a month. Unless I'm away on business when I have been known to have - gasp - 4 ! But thats with a guaranteed get up time of 7.30 or later.

[juuule]

Midwife advised me to have a drink (guinness)with my first baby and my mil had a bottle of stout most nights on the advice of the midwives in the 1950s to keep her iron levels up The irony is that she doesn't drink alcohol, not before or since. Just when bf-ing as she thought she had to.

[Martha200]

As Juuule mentions it, I am on the odd glass of Guinness since I started 6 days ago! It says in my leaflet on expressing milk that I was given from the hospital that having this really helps when milk starts to reduce and if you don't like Guiness go to the shop and ask for yeast extract!

I have also had the glass of champagne within this first week because I thought I bloody deserved it and how I enjoyed it