to think the current NHS guidelines for alcohol and breastfeeding are batshit and not conducive to long term breastfeeding

[lemonadey]

I was at a wedding on Saturday, I took 6m old dd but me and dh decided he would be the one "on shift" and I would have a few drinks as its been a while (dd is a bottle refuser) over the course of the day I drank quite a few glasses of prosecco (I didn't count but by the end of the day it probably amounted to about a bottle) but obviously still bf dd at points and I got pretty fed up of the amount of people quite openly shocked at me breastfeeding and drinking. I do get it, the nhs guidelines are basically the same as if you're pregnant even though the way alcohol transfers to the baby is completely different and the amount of alcohol that enters your breastmilk is negligible.

I just feel it is another way for women to feel like their life is "on hold" while breastfeeding, my mum breastfed me and said she never gave a second thought to what she ate or drank and it was a really enjoyable experience for her, it was part of her life, she never expressed or "pumped and dumped".

I wish more women realised you can still have a social life that includes drinking whilst breastfeeding, the current guidelines are so ridiculously strict and just result in judging from other people and unnecessary guilt for mum.

So tell me, AIBU??

Clandestino- what sort of things do you do socially?

*Today 19:28 Iamnotloobrushphobic

None. No impact. RTFT.

I have RTFT and posted several times. I am still not convinced that alcohol whilst breastfeeding has zero effect. We can't know for sure seeing as it would be unethical to carry out detailed research with control groups on infants whose mothers drink alcohol. knowing that alcohol alters the smell and taste of breastmilk and some babies drink less after the mother has consumed alcohol just leads me to think that more than a teeny tiny amount gets through the breastmilk.
At the end of the day though I will do what I feel comfortable with and other breastfeeding mums can do what suits them.*

Iamnotaloobrush there is plenty of data available from children who Were breastfed by alcoholic mothers though isn't there? Especially in countries or cultures with high levels of dependency.

I don't know buckin, I am interested in those studies though I'm not sure how relevant they might be as those children will likely be subjected to other factors as a result of the parents alcohol use I would imagine.

Baby isn't asleep yet so I will hang on for another half hour during which I will feed baby and he will go down for about 6 hours and I will enjoy my wine

Do ye want a medal? Have your wine, don't have your wine, whatever. But please stop thinking you're somehow doing something better than anyone else.

Why would you pump and dump, rather than simply waiting for the alcohol to dissipate? Do you siphon off your blood after you've had a few?

Analogy: the practice cat at the vets where I work gets used as a blood donor. We sedate him pretty flat...he wouldn't be able to walk if he tried. We collect about 40ml of blood and start transfusing it straight into the recipient cat over the course of 4 hours... (slow rate is to detect transfusion reactions....faster if dire emergency. Nothing to do with sedative content of blood). Once the blood has been collected the donor has his sedation reversed. The recipient receives no reversal- no need as the blood has no sedative effect on them.

Another analogy: getting on a flight increases your exposure to radiation. But the increased exposure is so miniscule that nobody is going to accuse you of risking giving your baby cancer if you take them on a plane with you...even if it's for something selfish and frivolous that you can live perfectly well without, like a holiday. You're risking your baby's safety more by travelling in a car to the airport/wedding than you are by getting on the flight/BFing after prosecco consumed at the wedding.

The only reason I pumped and dumped was because my boobs were about to explode and I was nowhere near my baby to feed.

Otherwise I fed them like normal even after a few drinks.

This must be killing you Penguin, what with all you scientific evidence that others are refusing to read and/or understand. Sometimes there's just no arguing with willfully ignorant 😁

If you weren't going to breastfeed after drinking - so feeding the baby expressed breastmilk instead - then you might need to pump to stop breasts becoming painfully full or to keep up supply, I guess.

Not that it's necessary, given the tiny amount of alcohol that gets into breastmilk, unless you have a baby that hates the taste of breastmilk after you've been drinking.

Both my kids fed like champs after I'd have a few wines. But they're half Scottish so put it down to that! 😄

Alasalas you might want to read the full thread. Plenty of talk about how much alcohol gets in the breastmilk. FYI, it's the same as the blood alcohol level, which is tiny. Even if the mother had drank enough to die from alcohol poisoning, her breastmilk would still be less alcoholic than orange juice.

Thanks MrsJoeyMaynard - I was going to write that out but it was paining me so I'm glad you did it first!!!

I was told at Nct classes that drinking was fine when breastfeeding (obviously not to excess).

Yes but I think the "not to excess" is because of your inability to look after said child after a skinful, not because of the alcohol in your breast milk.

ye want a medal? Have your wine, don't have your wine, whatever. But please stop thinking you're somehow doing something better than anyone else.

So you want a medal for mentioning that you were going for a few pints and would feed on your return?