Drinking wine and breastfeeding

[NoTeaForMe]

Hi,

I have been out tonight (to a friends house!)!for the first time since having my baby. I breastfeed once a day now, first thing in the morning. After 3 glasses of wine tonight can I still breastfeed in the morning?

Thanks

I would. The amount of alcohol that gets into breastmilk is tiny, and it leaves your milk at the same rate that it leaves your blood. By morning, you will be completely sober, surely, meaning it won't be present in your milk.

Bump

The rule I'm used to is, if you're sober enough to hold the baby, you're sober enough to breastfeed.

Assuming here that the glasses weren't the size of bottles, you should be absolutely fine.

Yes of course you can, it's fine to have a few drinks and bf, I don't know anyone who hasn't tbh and I know some who've bf for up to 2 years.

If you're okay to drive, you're definitely sober enough to bf!

I work off "ok to drive = ok to feed" too.

Here's a link to the NHS site, it says:

"Alcohol clears from the mother's blood at a rate of about one unit every two hours."

But I have seen different rates quoted, some say one unit per hour.

HTH

I have a couple of glasses of wine and still breastfeed my DD.

Alcohol can slow your letdown reflex so it's not just a question of it getting into your milk. I did not discover this until I attempted to feed ds1 after a couple of glasses and he sank his fangs into me through sheer frustration at not being able to get any milk. Bloody hurt!

Of course it is fine.

Breastfeeding Network leaflet on alcohol:

www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/pdfs/Alcohol_and_Breastfeeding_March_2009.pdf

The effect of maternal consumption of alcohol is insignificant except at high or regular consumption levels.

Meant to finish that post with:

Enjoy!

Yes of course.

I used to have a couple of glasses of wine and BF DS.

Hope you enjoyed :)

I'm EBFing my 18wk DD at the moment and wasn't drinking at all until a doctor friend of mine told me that she had researched drinking and BFing extensively when she had the first of her three kids, all EBF.

She said the amount of alcohol that actually goes into breast milk is negligible - you would have to drink something like the equivalent of 19 units in one sitting for there to be a problem.

Also, they don't ban drinking for nursing mothers in America where they are much more prohibitive and cautious with medical guidelines.

I think the main reason it's not encouraged is because telling mothers they can get drunk isn't in the best interests of the baby.

I've been quite happily back on the booze since she told me that although my tolerance is now so low I've never managed more than two units on a night out!