To ask how much you would drink while breastfeeding and when?

[planningtopplan]

My NCT group is vastly different, and looking for what others did.

Some in my group have wine occasionally and others actually have one or two while breastfeeding.

I have one or two every few days at about 7 or 8pm after DD's big feed and if she wakes at 10pm or so I'll feed her. But some of the mums in my group are not touching a drop until after their babies are fully weaned.

AIBU? What did others on MN do while BF?

I had a glass of wine when BF on occasion but it’s really up to the individual.

If you're sober enough to hold your baby safely you're fine. That said, I haven't drank to excess since having my 2 (currently 2 and 4, still breastfeeding the 2 year old) A hangover and small children is not something I can cope with.

I had the occasional glass of red, although not in the early days.

No alcohol at all.

Made that decision after having a dram of whisky one evening, which sent my 3 mo DS to sleep for significantly longer than ever before!

One glass a couple of times a week when breast feeding as takes 30 mins to hit your system so is the best time to drink.

Alcohol doesn’t impact breastfeeding (you can’t drink enough to make your milk alcoholic enough to affect the baby) so I drank as normal. For me that’s usually a few glasses of wine at the weekend.

It has no effect on breast milk, so as long as you're safe to look after your baby you're fine.

I'm never a massive drinker so I don't have more than one, perhaps twice a week at most. But that's not BFing related.

I remember reading somewhere having a glass of wine is like dropping a shot of vodka into an Olympic size swimming pool of water. I'm not a big drinker anyway but will occasionally have one with lunch if we go out somewhere or at an event. I don't drink in the evening as I cosleep but if I didnt I would have a gin or a glass of wine if I fancied.

Happily shared a bottle of wine every week while I was breastfeeding. Like a PP said, I wouldn’t drink to excess as a hangover with small children sounds like hell!

The amount you’d have to drink for your blood alcohol level to be so high alcohol got into your breastmilk, you’d be dead. If you’re safe to look after baby you’re safe to feed them. But obviously common sense should prevail, the risk is greater for things like falling asleep with baby unsafely for example, but that’s just general alcohol safety rather than feeding itself. A couple of drinks and feeding even at the same time is fine.

@RoseyOldCrow that’s called a coincidence. A single whiskey would not get anywhere near your milk.

It never occurred to me to drink alcohol!
I was all Mother Earth though, decaf everything, 7 pieces of fruit & veg, nothing strong flavoured...
But I was fighting for survival on zero sleep EVER so the thought of alcohol didn’t enter my head.
I’m not a drinker though to be fair.

It's best to drink while breastfeeding. I wouldn't have more than a pint of cider or glass of wine while caring for a baby or young child whether or not I was breastfeeding though.

Couple of glasses of wine a week. I never really take much notice of whether it's close too time for a feed or not as it makes no difference. I have drank the odd glass while baby has had a feed in a restaurant and got some interesting looks from fellow diners.

Milk is made from your blood, not your stomach contents.

If you managed to get you blood alcohol as high a percentage as a beer (say 4%) you would be dead

The legal blood alcohol limit for driving is 0.08%. Alcohol-free beer is 0.05%

I sometimes have a glass of wine with Sunday lunch or share a cider with DH while watching tv (and not cosleep if I've had a drink)

DS2 (then 6m) did have a noticeably long nap after I took a antihistamine once, but it was one that was safe for breastfeeding so it was probably just chance.

I didn't drink when I was EBF for the first 6 months as both DC drank frequently on demand. I had the odd glass after 8-9 months and made sure I left at least 3h between drink and feed.

This is part of the reason why breastfeeding rates are so low. Saying no alcohol until they are weaned is madness!

If you can hold your baby you're fine to feed them

I think if they sleep much better after a feed usually it's because mum is more relaxed. At one point when I had supply issues I was advised by the lactation consultant to have a beer and try and relax. She suggested only pumping when i felt relaxed too. Because stress effects the quality of breast milk, whereas alcohol in small amounts doesn't

I didn't drink anything until six months, then I would have one glass on a Friday evening and one on Saturday. To be honest my babies where bad sleepers so the last thing I wanted was an extra groggy head.

Do any of them co sleep? Any alcohol intake is considered a SIDS risk for co sleeping I think.

I drink whenever I want - I'll still breastfeed if I have 2 or 3 drinks. Maybe even more if I've drunk over the space of quite a few hours. If I feel tipsy I'll give DS an expressed bottle and then pump another one a few hours later when my alcohol levels have diminished. I've only ever pumped and dumped once when I got in from a friend's 40th (i was definitely too drunk to breastfeed then!).
Like everyone says, the amount of alcohol that makes it to your milk is miniscule. You'd have to be seriously sozzled for baby to get it. A couple of drinks has been my lifesaver in lockdown!!

If you can hold your baby you're fine to feed them

it's not about being sober enough to hold a baby but alcohol is present in the milk. I would need quite a lot to be unable to hold a baby but that wouldn't be safe did feeding.

@Sanjii I'd be interested in knowing why you say alcohol is present in milk? That's not the advice I've had from professional or the literature but I might be mistaken.

@Sanjii

If you can hold your baby you're fine to feed them

it's not about being sober enough to hold a baby but alcohol is present in the milk. I would need quite a lot to be unable to hold a baby but that wouldn't be safe did feeding.

Alcohol in the milk really isn’t an issue though.

If you have a blood alcohol content (and therefore milk content) of 0.2% you would be vomiting and blacking out - but your milk would still be significantly less alcoholic than what classes as a “non-alcoholic” beer in most countries!