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 drink whatever I feel like, probably a glass of wine 4-5 evenings a week but that will usually last me a couple of hours, I’m a slow drinker nowadays! Maybe 2-3 glasses on a Saturday night.

DC2 was very little over Christmas and I tended to have a few drinks in the day and not bother in the evening because they didn’t sleep at all over night at that stage and I was worried about falling asleep whilst feeding.

Would probably have drank more if I’d been out, but lockdown arrived just as I started to feel ready to go out for a few hours. F ing virus.

I’m more impacted by DC not sleeping through yet than worries about alcohol and BF specifically.

I drank as normal while breastfeeding. As everyone has said already, it doesn't enter the breastmilk. Why be a martyr.

It does enter the breast milk, but after being digested by your body etc.
It’s not like you drink a glass of wine (or 3) and the milk becomes 12% alcohol.

@Sanjii you're missing the point. Alcohol doesnt transfer to breastmilk in the same way as it does to your blood.

You saying you'd have to have a lot not to hold a baby is exactly the message of that phrase. There is no need to go teetotal or only drink tiny amounts of alcohol.

This is why people dont reastfeed, because they think it is going to be an imposition on their lives in ways that it doesnt need to be.

@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.

The point is that your milk is safe even if you drink a lot. The danger to your baby would be you not being sober enough to care for them.

I have been breastfeeding numerous kids for years and I just drink what I want when I want. The only thing I take into consideration is cosleeping and alcohol. So I would never go to bed drunk if I had a baby still cosleeping for example.

I also did NCT and our host (?) said while feeding is perfect as obviously it doesn’t go straight down your throat into the milk. I know that research suggests it’s not a noteworthy amount that goes into milk however I’ve experienced my baby be affected by things I’ve eaten such as garlic, so have made the decision not to drink until weaned too.

This is a good video to watch about alcohol and bf. m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=451302122243648&id=170997133607483

As PPs have said you'd have to drink so much you'd be dead for it to affect your breastmilk. I had a couple of glasses of wine and still bf.
the important thing is obviously that it's safe to feed the baby, you're not at risk of dosing off etc.

A very small glass of wine once or twice a week is what I would drink now. Like less than standard small glass.
What I actually drank I dont remember! Too long ago. Not much though.

I drank while bf but I noticed that baby fed much less after I had a drink. I think it must have changed the taste as he didn't really like it. It was much more noticeable when he was over 6 months - up until then he fed all the time and a drink made no difference. I only ever had a glass of wine in the evening.

Milk is made from your blood not from your stomach content. Is perfectly fine to drink while breastfeeding.

Dr. Jack Newman MD, FRCPC and Thomas W. Hale, R.Ph. Ph.D both believe that a mother can drink some alcohol and continue breastfeeding as she normally does. Dr. Jack Newman says this in his handout More Breastfeeding Myths: “Reasonable alcohol intake should not be discouraged at all. As is the case with most drugs, very little alcohol comes out in the milk. The mother can take some alcohol and continue breastfeeding as she normally does. Prohibiting alcohol is another way we make life unnecessarily restrictive for nursing mothers.”

DS was prescribed anti-thrush meds at 5 weeks which was 1% alcohol straight into him. I calmed down about alcohol after that, having a glass or two when I wanted, but never more as sleeplessness was bad enough.

Once kids were over a year, I sometimes had a bit more than that (fed to around 2 years).

Both the paediatrician and health visitor told me that it's fine to drink in moderation while breastfeeding and, if done 2-3 hours before a feed, the alcohol will be completely metabolised. There is actually a drinking/BFing guide which shows your weight and how many hours it would take to metabolise.

The only concern is bedsharing after having partaken.

I drink 1 glass of wine most nights straight after the evening feed.

There is no safe level at which to drink alcohol (in any circumstance). That's what the science says. If you drink, you are compromising your health. If you drink while BFing, you are compromising your health and your child's. Again, that's science.

FTR, I drink. Probably too much, and too often.

I drank as normal and shared a bottle of red with DH on Friday and Saturday night. Maybe a G and T too. It does affect your breast milk - only your head the next day

DOESN’T affect your breast milk - sorry!

I didn't drink much at all (one glass at a few weddings we went to) when I was breastfeeding and then relaxed a little more when I combi fed. Had a couple of girls nights where I drank so just switched to formula the day after but we were lucky our DD would go from boob to bottle easily. I started drinking 'normally' after I stopped BFing and I drink almost every night a few glasses usually. Already sad I'll have to stop drinking when we go for a sibling 😩

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.

This. Drank normally, with an eye on whether I was likely to have a hangover as that's the worst thing ever with small children. Obviously didn't co-sleep if either of us had been drinking.

There’s also small amounts of alcohol in other foods & drinks - some bread, ripe bananas, orange juice, vinegar, soy sauce, vanilla essence, gravy, casseroles, risotto...

I have max 2 glasses per night as I'm a lightweight. Drink and BF whenever I want. Am careful 're cosleeping

Haven't had a big night yet!

If you drink enough that it’s dangerous level for you as an adult, your milk would contain the same amount as you get in natural fermentation of orange juice. Ie hardly anything.

So yes, if I want to I drink a glass of something. With a small baby to look after and little sleep, I’m not out partying or drinking heavily. A glass of processco at a birthday or a small beer outside in the sun once per week maybe

I didn’t limit alcohol when bf. Obviously, I wasn’t getting completely smashed (but I don’t typically do that when not bf). But I’d happily have a bottle over the course of a lunch/afternoon (so over several hours). I didn’t drink in the evening because we co-slept. But there is really no effect on your breast milk with normal levels of drinking (the not passing out drunk level of drinking).

Yes, my 1st 2 children I rarely drank as was concerned with it getting into the milk.

Newer research says it's absolutely fine and with my 3rd I drink when I like. Even if you were absolutely paralytic to the point of passing out, your breastmilk could still be bottled and labelled as 'alcohol-free'

Enjoy!

I drank plenty when breastfeeding and didn't pump and dump which is absolutely farcical nonsense.

The only time I didn't nurse is when I drank on a night out and was pretty far gone and was more concerned about dropping the baby than I was about alcohol in my milk.

As many others have said, the amount of alcohol you would need in your breastmilk to affect your baby, would have killed you, the parent, first. You can't physically drink enough alcohol for there to be any impact on your milk.

Drink whatever you drank before, just don't co-sleep on nights you've had a few too many!!