Pints & breastfeeding

[Bashinthecattick]

Was in the pub and this mum walks in. Really cute tiny baby. Got chatting and she told she me had baby 4 days earlier.
Frankly I was astonished she was in the pub and not comatose but good for her if she's happy and can manage. It wasn't a mad rave, but middle of the day, family pub and she clearly felt able.
Sat down, mum on next table. She then went onto order about a pint (at this point I was just in earshot).
But over the next two hours she ordered three more (all alcohol - I was earwigging) and drank them all while breastfeeding.
Ok, yes, I judged. I said nothing, of course. She seemed pretty steady, not slurring etc. Was I an arsehole? Do people do this?

Hi everyone. We've had a few reports from MNers wondering if there is any official guidance on breastfeeding and alcohol. This guidance from the NHS might be useful, and, as always, we'd advise speaking to a medical professional if you're unsure.

As if some people have reported 🙄

I know 😂😂

Imagine running to tecaher “Please Miss they’re saying silly things please correct them”.

Funnily enough the NHS link doesn’t state alcohol should be avoided and that recommendation levels are exactly the same as non BF women.

I wonder if Mum of the Year is gonna come back and acknowledge this, or if it’s just a case of being able to dish it out but not take it?

I know right. I doubt she'll be back 🤣🤣

I did. The advice in question also says:

"Alcohol can pass into your breastmilk and then into your baby when you feed them.

An occasional drink is unlikely to harm your baby especially if you wait at least 2 hours after having a drink before feeding..

Regularly drinking above the recommended limits can be harmful for you and your baby.

Aside from the known health risks of excessive alcohol to yourself, drinking too much can decrease your milk supply. It may also cause sleep, growth and developmental problems with your baby."

When I have a drink I don't wait 2 hours. I have a couple sometimes 3. Depends when he's due a feed. But sometimes is due after a few drinks. You don't need to pump and dump. He's got no issues with sleep or growth.

This

I went to the pub for a glass of wine (actually had two...large ones!) With my DAY old baby...we had a lovely meal, I breastfed him and all was well...

Ffs what a horrible judgemental thread which will absolutely be picked up by the daily fail and have their readers frothing at at the mouth!

I would judge. 4 is alot for anybody while in charge of a baby. It's a lot for anybody in the middle of the day. I couldn't manage four pints in four hours! It's so much to drink.

I wouldn’t be over worried about the alcohol in breastmilk.

but 4 pints in 2/3 hours? Holy shit I’d be utterly pissed and incapable of making any sensible decisions.

if she was apparently unaffected I’d be wondering how much she does drink to be able to tolerate that, especially factoring in if she’s not been drinking during pregnancy.

are you sure it wasn’t low alcohol beer or shandy?

all these people saying how pissed and incompetent they would be after four pints

totally irrelevant

everyone has different tolerance levels to alcohol

this woman op saw in the pub evidently has higher tolerance levels than you cos op doesn’t say anything about this woman stumbling about or spewing up or talking loudly and slurring her words (and I’m sure would have loved to have relayed such detail to back up her judgemental musings should they have happened)

I suppose it depends how heavily you're weighing the benefits of breastfeeding at all in the calculation of whether or not you want to take this zero risk approach. I wouldn't have breastfed nearly as long as I did if it meant signing up to not having a drink when I fancied one for the duration - I found that annoying enough in pregnancy. Breastfeeding rates are low enough without convincing people that doing it means loads of extra restrictions just in case.

Also for those saying she couldn't look after the baby..her husband and friends were there. If we've established that the alcohol/milk issue is not an issue, then that leaves competency. Why is it only down to the mum? Absolute standard tradition for the dad to go out within a week to wet the baby's head. Probably not with the actual baby in tow, but in this case, the mum is not alone, probably someone was driving and therefore sober, she's likely been 8-9 months with minimal or no alcohol, damn right she deserves a pint of thats what she gets pleasure from.

DP hardly drinks, very rarely bothers with alcohol. He's had one night out in the last 2 years and had 8 pints - I didn't believe him when I picked him up because he seemed sober as a judge, wasn't acting or saying anything out of the ordinary. I honestly think he could have driven himself home safely (although neither of us would even consider it after a drink, no matter how "normal" we felt).
Having a high tolerance doesn't mean you must be a big drinker.

I work within the pub industry and this is absolutely not the case. Our legal duty is not to serve anyone who is obviously intoxicated I.E drunk…. Not to monitor and judge parenting standards.

This is the advice my midwife gave me when I had DS.

V v little transfers into breast milk.

You're incredibly wrong and ignorant to judge this woman. I think good for her.

I would not have judged her. It seemed a bit odd when I thought she was alone just drinking pint after pint, but her husband and friends were there too. Perhaps the agreement was he was going to stay sober ish?

Didn't the OP say that the whole party were drinking? It would have been ok if someone was sober and able to care for the baby, but it doesn't sound like they were. The NHS link above says if you are planning on binge drinking (more than 6 units) then someone else should stay sober, not just soberish. I guess because they would be keeping an eye on the adults who were binge drinking as well as looking after a baby.

Thank you for cheering me up. I've had a rubbish few weeks and felt like an absolute failure at life. I feel loads better now knowing that it could be worse, I could be sat in a pub counting someone's drinks.

This is also why I've had the same two best mates since I was 7 years old and would never ever 'get chatting' to weird women in pubs 🤣

Best post on this thread hands down
well done @notamilf

Don't you ever chat in the loos? God I'm a devil for it. I'm sorry your week has been shit though. Hugs.

I've never devilishly chatted in any loos to anyone, I don't really go out much. I'm a bit of a loner and prefer drinking at home and disposing of my empties in the neighbours brown bins (slightly concerned now that a curtain twitcher may have been keeping count)

@Hardbackwriter I agree, I think further research into benefits, risks etc. would be really interesting. This describes a reasonably recent longitudinal study and although the headline sounds alarming, the linked differences appeared to even out over time.

amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/07/30/health/alcohol-breast-milk-lower-cognition-peds-study/index.html

I think the points you make about restrictions are part of why many bodies have suggested moderating drinking while breastfeeding to within usual recommendations, with suggestions for how to further reduce potential risk, rather than necessarily avoiding altogether. I just feel uneasy about the many posts saying any level of drinking must surely be fine and that science says this, as I think that's misleading and doesn't facilitate informed choices. I've read things like this loads on mumsnet which was why I clicked on the post in the first place, and it's an area I'm particularly interested in from a scientific point of view (not because I have any interest in judging others and their choices).