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?

To be honest, I'm more interested in how boring OP's company must have been if she spent all her time at the pub "earwigging" on this poor woman and monitoring her alcohol intake.

I genuinely don’t know any parents that would be drinking 4 pints with a newborn.... and some of my family and people I know via them are very rough.

I could have cheerfully drunk 4 pints when my son was a newborn and he's now a free reader at school, so no harm no foul, I reckon.

@TaRaDeBumDeAy

except it won’t affect the baby

Haha. I was "working" from the pub. Good WiFi.

Same. A few mums I know had a glass of wine/champagne but 4 pints of beer?

It may affect her ability to properly care for her baby though. She may sleep heavier and put the baby at risk if she falls asleep whilst feeding for example. I think OP said her partner was drinking too so the baby is more at risk if being looked after by them.

Eugh beer how common.

As if you just described people as "rough". How unbelievably classy of you.

I drink beer, I just don’t know many other women that do. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Maybe one beer then, but 4? Come on, most mums are not drinking 4 pints of beer a few days after birth.

I didn’t describe anyone as rough, that was another poster.

I've read a lot of posts/replies on mumsnet like the ones above about "research/guidelines" which border on misinformation.

Depending on where you live in the world, guidelines are actually that either alcohol should be avoided when breastfeeding or that the occasional drink is probably ok (ideally with a delay of two hours for each drink/unit before the next feed) but regular or heavy drinking is not recommended when breastfeeding, especially for very young infants. It is true that a very small quantity of milk passes into breastmilk, but a newborn especially is growing through a very vulnerable period of brain growth and has a greatly reduced capacity for metabolism. Whether regular or heavy drinking and breastfeeding would have enough impact to be clinically relevant is unknown, which is why guidelines are cautious - it's possible that with more research alcohol may be advised against across guidelines for breastfeeding.

There is a small amount of research showing short term effects of drinking and breastfeeding (sleep, milk intake) and associations with longer term cognition (reduced school age abstract reasoning).

I think it's helpful to know that only a fraction of maternal intake reaches the infant, but that doesn't mean that research and guidelines say any level of drinking is fine and definitely won't have a negative effect. Here are the Australian guidelines, for example:

www.health.gov.au/topics/alcohol/alcohol-throughout-life/alcohol-during-pregnancy-and-breastfeeding

YABU. There are so many myths about breastfeeding but generally alcohol is fine - she just won’t produce as good a quality as milk but it’s still breast milk so still designed optimally for her baby

Why is no one commenting on her pelvic floor muscles?! 4 pints of any liquid in quick succession would have had me walking very gingerly to the loo every 10 mins so soon after having a baby!

Jesus there’s some judgmental cunts on this thread

Just because some women don’t play the part of Burning Martyr the nanosecond they see those 2 blue lines on a pregnancy test it doesn’t make them selfish or a bad parent.

In fact I’d argue the best kind of mum is one who has joys for herself, even if it isn’t 100% Mary Poppins School of Parenting perfect. It not only sets a good example to your children of seeing yourself as important, but it sets a good precedent to remember to take care of yourself and enjoy life.

Well he's he is. I'm his mother and will always keep him safe. You are NOT witness to it so keep your judgey comments to yourself. Yeah loads of people put babies in their own room before 6 months. It's the parents decision no one else's. We've made the right and best judgement on our son.

Haha!

After DD I basically wet myself for 6 months unless I was VERY close to a toilet.

After DS I could have easily can-canned out of the maternity ward.

But this thread is full of selfish people putting their own desires above their own child so there’s little to no point replying anymore.

Seriously, if you think the only way to be a selfless parent is to never do anything that isn’t being a slave to your children, not only will you become resentful but your kids won’t thank you for being an overbearing martyr.

I remember reading an analogy that it’s like pouring a shot of tequila into a swimming pool and the damage is the same as the likelihood of a swimmer getting drunk.

Also OP how do you know it wasn’t alcohol free beer? On the surface it’s very hard to tell the difference! I don’t drink a lot but when I go to the pub I do drink alcohol free beer as I like the taste. Someone pulled me up on getting in my car to drive in the pub car park once saying she’d seen me sink 5 drinks 😂

To put it in context, 4 days earlier she was quite possibly being injected with morphine. She and the baby survived. Let the woman have her 4 pints

I find this absolutely bollocks. The OP said that the woman was clearly drinking alcohol is beer despite people saying it might be alcohol free beer. How on Earth would you know that from an order. You don’t go ordering a pint of alcohol beer. You order it by a name. I’ve been out with my 4 day old baby and had beer. I ordered a pint of Nanny State, a Neck Oil, a Becks, a lime and soda, and a glass of wine, etc. We were buying rounds, two of those are non-alcoholic. I cannot believe someone was so invested in a random persons drinks order they would keep check every time. I call bullshit.

How should new parents behave? Sit silently in their living room not speaking and not seeing friends?

I don’t really get what there is to judge here. You seem personally affronted that she’s bounced back well after giving birth.

Were you following her?! I thought they were being loud? I’m surprised you could hear her order?

What a shame you obsessed over a stranger rather than enjoyed your night

Quite right! Women should look forward to singing nursery rhymes and knitting pities, not infernal activities like <shudders> enjoying themselves