A pharmacist told me today that I can't drink any alcohol whilst breastfeeding

[kveta]

I wanted some heavy duty cough syrup as have spent the past 3 days not sleeping at all and not keeping any food down due to the violent coughing. She advised me to use lemon and honey as most cough syrups contain a small amount of alcohol and 'you can't drink alcohol whilst you're breastfeeding a baby'

My response, between hacking coughs, was 'of course you can, although I prefer to wait until he's gone to sleep'

then one of the women who worked in the shop said 'ooh, no you can't, that's why I didn't breast feed, needed my wine too much!' ha ha ha.

I went to a different pharmacy in the end. but wtf? I've half a mind to print off some bfn fact sheets for them. I know it's not recommended to get leathered and bf, but ffs, how much cough syrup did they think I was going to get through?!

Idiots!

how annoying! I'd be very tempted to go back with some facts in writing and make them eat their words

it is really annoying when people say stupid things in such a confident way

Was it a chain - can you complain?

Of course you can

My midwives told me to have Guiness!

You should deffo let them know they have it wrong

I was told no by BF MW. Don't plan to listen to her though :)

I've always been told no. I do have the odd slurp of wine though...what is the truth? What/how much is ok?

DD is 3 months and still EBF, I feel guilty having more than a CM of wine so if I could have a whole glass once she was asleep it would be a real treat!

The NHS says yes. I think the general rule of thumb is that if you're safe to drive then you're safe to BF.

OP- Is this any help?

I am a pharmacist and a breastfeeding mum, try this for an NHS approved evidence based resource
toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~h2XeXf:1,
sorry cant do link as no square brackets on my swedish keyboard or semicolons!

I am currently drinking a large glass of wine literally whilst breastfeeding

One or two units will not harm

I was told by a pharmacist that I couldn't take ibuprofen while I was breastfeeding.

I just stood there until she finally looked up her BNF and finally (grudgingly) sold it to me.

Complain.

Idiots.

Re the ibuprofen - because I had an EMCS I was on lots of ibuprofen, paracetamol and tramadol while in hospital and for some time after I was out - if it wasn't possible to Bf while taking it, otherwise why would they prescribe it in the maternity ward??!

one of the sisters on NICU told me wine was fine, so long as I didn't drink the whole bottle. The milk bank will also take the milk if you drink in moderation. I figured they'd know

The alcohol bit's fine but isn't there something else in cough syrup you can't take whilst BFing? I remember spending a good half hour in our chemists going through the cold/cough remedies to see what was ok when BFing. Turned out paracetamol/ibuprofen and Olbas oil was about it.

Fortunately BFing made me superhuman and I never got ill whilst doing it.

Beer is full of vitamins and minerals. I thoroughly enjoy the odd beer while breastfeeding. :-)

I may be wrong here but I thought they stopped putting alchohol in cough medicine years ago.

Look around you in most pharmacists. Most sell homeopathy which should give you a clue about how evidence based their views are.

Cough medicine doesn't work. Hope you're feeling better.

Idiot pharmacist. Idiot woman behind you in queue. Ignore. A small glass of wine relaxes you and really does not harm the baby. The amount of pure alcohol that passes into the breastmilk is pretty insignificant.

I am now sat here drinking a baileys and BF and now have a computer with square brackets so can provide an easier link
[http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~XyXnSQ:1]

oh FFS
toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~XyXnSQ:1

What? Why did no-one tell me this sooner? I thought you couldn't drink when BFing.

Goddamit, I hardly touched a drop while I was BFing both DDs!

[sulks]

Sorry annie
OP - slightly off topic - I found that vicks vaporub was the best thing for getting sleep while heavy cold and bfing as I think they don't recommend most decongestants.

BTW obviously the Pharmacist is a loon and yes you should complain. I didn't complain about a pharmacist who made me cry when pg - wish I had.

Aww what did she make you cry about?

Just for future reference, as far as cold remedies go (no idea about cough syrups), there is evidence that pseudoephedrine, a decongestant, can diminish some people's milk supply so best to avoid. However another decongestant, phenylephrine doesn't have this effect so is ok to use. Most cold remedies I looked at, such as Lemsip, had phenylephrine so were fine.

Kellymom section on cold remedies.

(re: the ibuprofen, it was my midwife who had told me to get it - cut no ice with the pharmacist who had obviously spoken without checking and was reluctant to back down.)