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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

What are the rules about drinking and bfing?

24 replies

camera · 15/10/2006 12:22

bit confused about whethe its safe nd if so how much and long to leave feeds or do i just pump it and bin the milk?

OP posts:

Mum2FunkyDude · 15/10/2006 12:30

You can pump and bin or wait about 3-4 hours before breastfeeding again, your body removes the alcohol from your milk. I used to just pump and bin, the thing is, if you bf too soon the taste of the alcohol will still be in your milk.

Mum2FunkyDude · 15/10/2006 12:30

Pump about 1 hour after drink.

Original poster

camera · 15/10/2006 12:31

wow that quickly? so what about guiness am i allowed that?

OP posts:

LucyJones · 15/10/2006 12:31

My midwife said everything in moderation is fine so I've been having a small glass of wine with dinner

mears · 15/10/2006 12:33

If you do a search you will find previous posts. The alcohol transfer to milk is minimal (unless you plan to get guttered). I never pumped and dumped. I breastfed and I drank if I wanted too. I think women worry about this to much.

juuule · 15/10/2006 12:35

I agree with Mears. I also breastfed and drank when I wanted to.

largeginandtonic · 15/10/2006 12:59

Me too i drank and breasfed all of mine, they didnt mind at all. It never made them sleep though like i was always being told

angel01 · 15/10/2006 13:40

did this in college the other day, Found out that is not got drunk)
it takes an hour for each unit to get through the liver so basically if you have one small glass of wine at dinner expect it to be out of your system in one hour.
obviously the more you drink after that it puts more strain on the liver so will take longer.

bluemoo · 15/10/2006 13:48

I'm also drinking and bfing. Not had more than a couple of glasses of wine in on evening though. If you want more than that I'd express first and give the baby expressed milk.

Had 2 glasses of wine last night and my 3 month old slept 9pm-6am and then 7am -10am. Result!

Mum2FunkyDude · 15/10/2006 13:51

The only risk is baby refusing milk because of a bad taste, a GP I once saw said he told his daughter to have 2 glasses of wine at night, it makes the baby sleep better (he did say it tongue in cheek.

welshmum · 15/10/2006 13:51

Completely agree with Mears, I drank a bit and bfd - you'll know yourself how much is too much - basically anything that makes getting up in the night/early morning feel like an impossible task.

tiktok · 15/10/2006 15:58

There is no point in pumping - it is literally pointless, unless, I suppose, you did it immediately. You are not hurrying the process of getting rid of the (minute) amounts of alcohol, which happens perfectly well, physiologically, at the rate of about 1 to 1.5 hours per unit.

Broadie · 15/10/2006 19:20

The rule is if your safe enough to drive your good enough to breastfeed. Breastmilk is essentially your blood - so as the alcohol content of your blood recedes it does so in your milk. In the early days when my lo was taking from the boob every couple of hours - I would limit alcohol to the odd glass - now she only feeds morning and night - I usually only drink after her evening feed.
Since its likely that most babies in the early stages cluster feed early evening and then have their longest nap - 3-5 hours - then after they have had their marathon feed - you's be good for 3-4 units of alcohol!
Hope that helps debs

determination · 15/10/2006 21:13

ITA with mears,

I used to drink 1 or 2 red wine with dinner every now and then, and still BFed.. There was a documentary on it not that long ago.. stating anything in Moderation is fine.

What do the French do? They drink wine with nearly EVERY meal - EVERY day and they still BF!

juuule · 16/10/2006 19:39

Thought this was interesting in the paper tonight.
I know we're not mice but I thought it was interesting that some research suggests small amounts of alcohol in milk could be beneficial. Makes a change if nothing else.
Sorry can't find a link.

"Alcoholic milk might help to prevent food allergies in infants, new research suggests.
Scientists think ingredients in 'kefir' a fermented milk drink may block immune responses which cause allergic reactions.
The slightly alcoholic drink is widely used in eastern Europe, where it is often used to wean babies. It has also been credited with the unusual longevity of Bulgarian peasants.
Researchers in Taiwan, who fed both dairy milk and soya versions of kefir to mice, found the drinks inhibited an antibody associated with a well-known allergic response.
The study found the drink raised levels of 'friendly' bacteria in the guts of mice, while cutting numbers of a harmful bug."

LucyJones · 17/10/2006 19:39

What about coffee and b/feeding? Is a couple of cups a day okay?

MissyBabee · 17/10/2006 19:51

i have been worrying about this! glad to hear i'm not the only who has 1-2 glasses of wine. DD doesn't seem to mind but it's certainly been at the back of my mind!

as for caffeine, same as for alcohol i think - in moderation. i have about 2-3 cups of tea a day (if i can manage to coincide boiling the kettle, actually pouring it into the teapot whilst water still hot and then managing to pour a cup before it's stewed!) and occasionally a cup of coffee when i go meet other mums.

MillyH · 17/10/2006 19:59

I'm another drinker and breastfeeder. A couple of glasses here and there. The only problem that I ever had was having 2 or 3 glasses of champagne on an empty stomach at a big family get together. It seemed to make DD much more sicky than usual. But I guess my blood alcohol was quite high and she was only 6 weeks old at that point. I certainly wouldn't worry now she's 5 months.

poppynic · 17/10/2006 20:01

I drank and breastfed a moderate amount and worried a bit. I found a large study on the internet which found that a moderate amount of alochol while breastfeeding led to some physical delays at about age 2. (I have seen this study quoted in an interesting recent book "Early Intelligence".) However, on further searching I found the follow up study by the same authors failed to replicate their initial results - no negative results were discovered. Hoorayyyy.

MissyBabee · 17/10/2006 20:03

crikey poppy, you had me worried there for a second

poppynic · 17/10/2006 20:04

Sorry, but not as long as I was worried for. It took some serious searching to find that second study.

IamBlossom · 17/10/2006 20:09

glad about this. Thought the other day that DS2 had not had unaldulterated BreastMilk sine his birth 10 weeks ago, starting from the enormous bottle of champagne is father bought me ( had two glasses) to the 2 glasses of red I have pretty much every night since (keep promising a week off alcohol every Sunday and get to Monday and fail miserably, after a day with a newborn and a toddler ) and felt a bit guilty. Doesn't seem to have done him any harm whatsoever, and boy do I need a glass of wine of a night time....

MissyBabee · 17/10/2006 20:44

cheers to that [clinks glass]

MadamePlatypus · 21/10/2006 17:34

My only problem with drinking and breastfeeding would be that a necessary part of breastfeeding is also having a young child and this young child will not respect a hungover parent at 6am in the morning. Ever since having DS 1, my alcohol capacity has dropped considerably and the thought of having to cope after more than a glass and a half of wine is just too much for me.

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