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AIBU?

to breastfeed a 6mo after drinking a bottle of wine?

51 replies

evangelinelily · 09/02/2014 08:32

It was over several hours at an all day event. Wouldn't usually drink this much of a Saturday afternoon. I had planned to give DS expressed milk in a bottle for his feeds after I started drinking, which I did. I didn't really feel inebriated at any point but DH had agreed to be the designated carer of DS for the day and he stayed sober. When we got home I still felt fine to give DS his dinner, do some housework etc. at bedtime, DS didn't want a bottle and just screamed. So I gave him boob. DH and another sober friend were also at home. Once DS was sleeping I stayed up a few more hours, had dinner, watched tv etc.

I have read that you should wait 2hrs per unit before breastfeeding but I have also read that the amount of alcohol in breastmilk is negligible and that you'd have to be totally wasted for it to have any affect. A mantra I read "If you're not too drunk to care for your baby, you're not to drunk to breastfeed." True or not?

OP posts:

Report

Hemlock2013 · 09/02/2014 08:37

Sounds fine to me...

Other people more expert can confirm but generally I think you need an awful lot before it's a bad idea... X

PotteringAlong · 09/02/2014 08:37

True.

I was told by the Breastfeeding woman from
LLL that if you had enough alcohol in your breastmilk to affect the baby you would be dead!

One bottle over several hours means it will have started to go through your system. I wouldn't worry!

Monkeyandanimal · 09/02/2014 08:39

Sorry, I don't know, but i'm watching with interest, as I'd like to know what the consensus is on here. A doctor friend thought it was ok to have a few glasses of wine and still feed as normal anyway.

spicegirl13 · 09/02/2014 08:42

I agree with the mantra at at the end your original post. For there to be enough alcohol in your breast milk to affect your baby, you'd be so drunk you wouldn't be able to walk/talk etc.

So I wouldn't worry, on the other hand, I probably wouldn't make it a regular occurrence. But definitely a few glasses of wine here and there is absolutely fine.

Crowler · 09/02/2014 08:46

I think it's fine.

Idocrazythings · 09/02/2014 09:03

Sorry, I disagree. One bottle (750 ml) is actually quite a lot over several hours, I think. The alcohol content in your bloodstream is the same as the content in your milk. No one knows what is a safe level of alcohol for a baby. The fact you are asking the question says a bit.

This. Beware of asking strangers on the internet important medical questions.

Cakesnbeer · 09/02/2014 09:09

Read the bfn leaflet online, google it. You were fine, even my dh is fine and mil gave him slugs of neat whiskey for every incident of bad temper, teething etc.

Iamavapernow · 09/02/2014 09:10

If you can drive, you can breastfeed. That's how I always measured it.

oliviaoctopus · 09/02/2014 09:28

I was told only 1% gets in their system so I did ut after being out on jagerbombs, the lot. Its more to do with you falling asleep and squashing them I think.

motherofallhangovers · 09/02/2014 09:39

The amount of alcohol in your breastmilk is similar to the amount of alcohol in your bloodstream, and you would have to drink an awful lot of someone's blood to feel the effects of the alcohol they drank! (sorry for the gruesome image but I hope it helps to put it into perspective!)

Or to look at it another way, if you are really very drunk, the amount of alcohol you might expect to find in your breastmilk is about 0.01% which is about the same as orange juice (which is mildly alcoholic, but so mild no one bothers to mention it).

I got this info from a blog post by a nurse a could of months back, and was also told the same by a nurse in RL. I'll link to it when I'm back on the computer.

So OP YANBU. the biggest risk from drinking and breastfeeding is dropping the baby, or other accidents, which should not be underestimated. However your breastmilk will be fine :)

motherofallhangovers · 09/02/2014 09:44

Btw pumping and dumping is a waste of time, and the 2hrs thing is also.

Not feeding after you've had a drink is yet another myth which gets in the way of the mother baby breastfeeding relationship IMO, by placing barriers between mother and child (expressing, waiting 2 hours, abstaining from a glass of wine with dinner etc) which are all totally unbessary but make breastfeeding much harder than it need be.

motherofallhangovers · 09/02/2014 09:46

Hee hee just realised my name is apt for this thread! Perhaps i should wislify ... hangovers a rare thing in reality for me, I just don't get the opportunity these days! Nor do I enjoy childcare on a hangover, so, for the most part hangovers are but a distant memory :)

motherofallhangovers · 09/02/2014 09:49

Wislify?! Qualify!

MyNameIsSuz · 09/02/2014 09:50

I agree with the posters who said the amount of alcohol in your bloodstream won't affect the baby. The issue with drinking and breastfeeding is the safety of the baby, so if you're drunk enough to be at risk of dropping the baby or falling asleep and smothering them, and you becoming dehydrated. It doesn't sound like that was the case!

PinkHardHat · 09/02/2014 09:56

I disagree. When dd was two, I was still bf at bedtime but she then she slept through. Dh and I went out and I had 5/6 drinks and we were meant to be staying out but grandparent fell ill and we had to go home. Dd was woken by this and I bf her back to sleep. I was tipsy but definitely not hammered. A little while later she woke again and was violently sick, and was sick again during the night and groggy the next day. I personally think it was from the alcohol and now wouldn't even have one drink.

motherofallhangovers · 09/02/2014 10:12

How could 0.01% abv affect anyone? Pinkhardhat I'm very sorry your baby was sick, it must have been distressing, but very unlikely to be anything more than a coincidence.

Are you familiar with the term "small beer"?

Everyone, adults and children included, used to drink very low volume alcohol rather than water in Britian, as water was generally unsafe to drink. Some other countries purified water by turning it into tea, but we did it by turning it into alcohol. If 0.01% abv made children sick, they would have had little to drink once weaned! also you'd be seeing children today getting drunk on orange juice, which just doesn't happen.

It's natural to question whether it's something you've done if your baby gets sick, but this time, honestly, it was not your fault.

motherofallhangovers · 09/02/2014 10:13

(not saying small beer was 0.01% abv btw, it was stronger than that! But breastmilk is about that if you're very drunk).

PinkHardHat · 09/02/2014 10:17

It was green sick like she'd never had before and smelt like the alcohol I'd been drinking. I'm not an over-thinker or worrier but do believe it was the alcohol.

Cockadoodledooo · 09/02/2014 10:17

The only issue I ever had was that any amount of alcohol slowed down my letdown massively and made ds very frustrated and more liable to bite.

justalilmummy · 09/02/2014 10:32

I think if it's a one off then it's fine, just dont do it everyday!
Fwiw my dm used to drink a large glass everynight and she breastfed me and my 4 brothers and sisters, and we are all ok
Relax ur baby will be fine, and like I said as long as u dont make a habit of it it's ok

paxtecum · 09/02/2014 11:54

I'm surprised that everyone thinks it is fine for a breastfeeding woman to drink a bottle of wine in a day.
When I had morphine injections after a CS, my baby slept for 10 hours and had to be woken to be fed.
The nurse insisted that the morphine didn't go into the breast milk.
I refused further painkillers.

Eating broccoli, cabbage & sprouts can give babies bad wind via breastmilk.

Cakesnbeer · 09/02/2014 12:07

Nothing you eat gives your baby wind, honestly it doesn't work that way.

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ScarlettMantleplume · 09/02/2014 12:14

Can't link on my phone but if you go to kellymom.com you'll find all the facts and figures about alcohol and BF. And the proof that it's fine.

Shallishanti · 09/02/2014 12:19

On the contrary, many people find there are things they eat that can upset the baby. For my DTs, it was cabbage etc as paxetcum found. It was an unmistakable effect. However, my two ds's were not affected at all. The whole point is some things affect some babies, so all the 'don't touch X or Y' is nonsense.
Regarding alcohol, I know that if I had drunk a whole bottle of wine, even over a few hours, my judgement would be impaired. I think if you are solely responsible for someone who is as helpless as a baby, you should be sure you are fit to do so. I wouldn't consider driving, for example. And under no circs take your baby to bed if you've drunk that much.
If you can drink that much and not feel the effects, that is not a good sign either.

ScarlettMantleplume · 09/02/2014 12:20

"I'm surprised that everyone thinks that it is fine for a breastfeeding woman to drink a bottle of wine in a day".

Yes, of course. Because if you are breastfeeding you are there only to serve the baby. You are an android with no life or feelings of your own. You are not allowed to go out to dinner or to weddings because you will cause your baby everlasting damage and extreme trauma.

No wonder bf rates are so low in this country when new mothers have to contend with this shit all the time.

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