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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Breast feeding and alcohol question

19 replies

spikeycat · 29/04/2004 09:23

Quick question - and maybe a stupid one! I went out for the forst time since DS2's birth last night and he had expressed milk from earlier in the evening while I was out and during the night. I had about a bottle of wine (bad I know!) and was going to express my milk this morning and throw it away. But, having gone to express my bloody pump is broken, how long will it take for my milk to be alcohol free and when will it be safe to feed him again? He's 5 weeks old.

Thanks in advance....

OP posts:
motherinferior · 29/04/2004 09:26

(looks embarrassed) I just feed...

Original poster
spikeycat · 29/04/2004 09:31

well, to be honest I did think I was being rather anal about it all
I'll just go ahead and feed then - Thanks

OP posts:
frogs · 29/04/2004 09:34

I just feed too. No sign of the children turning into alkies just yet

LucyJones · 29/04/2004 09:35

I wasn't sure about this either! I've been having the odd glass of wine and it hasn't affected ds so far - he's 4 weeks old today. It keeps me sane so must be okay

mears · 29/04/2004 09:37

Feed him - he is not at risk of alcohol poisoning. Very little alcohol passes through to the milk at all. I drank and breastfed with no problems at all

Codswallop · 29/04/2004 09:43

I read somewhere that you have to be really bladdered to pass any alcohol

tiktok · 29/04/2004 09:48

Alcohol disappears out of the milk at the same rate it disappears from the rest of your body - at the rate of about 1 and a half to 2 hours per unit of alcohol. If you are unaffected by the alcohol, then the milk will be, in other words.

Yes, you have to be very drunk for it to cause any visible symptoms in the baby.

We've discussed this before, so there's prob loads of info on the archived threads.

Just feed - expressing just isn't necessary

fairyprincess · 29/04/2004 09:49

Hi Spikeycat,
Sounds like you had a good night!
I think that if you were expressing then all milk from your last drink until 8hrs after should be disgarded. Usually mothers have to wait around two hours minimum after having one drink before breastfeeding. I can't remember how much alco is in wine? For the alcohol to be broken down by the body it depends on your weight & alcohol level.
best wishes

fairyprincess · 29/04/2004 09:50

Good help here - hello all!

aloha · 29/04/2004 09:56

Just feed him. Very little passes through.

motherinferior · 29/04/2004 09:58

Also IMO nobody should be expected to survive early parenthood without a sustaining drink from time to time, so it's a stark choice between breastfeeding after boozing or no breastfeeding at all.

Staggers off in Lost Weekend sort of way...

Original poster
spikeycat · 29/04/2004 10:28

thanks everyone, he is now fed and sleeping peacefully - for about 20 mins before he's off again!

OP posts:
Fennel · 29/04/2004 20:02

I'm glad to hear this, I'd always been told you shouldn't really drink while breastfeeding. didn't stick to that but now I don't have to feel bad about it

thanks everyone.

toddlerbob · 29/04/2004 20:11

Realising that I can have a drink and still feed has been the single most useful information I have gleaned from Mumsnet. I have also had a general anaesthtic and still fed which has been the second most useful. My Avent pump has been very underused.

kiwisbird · 29/04/2004 20:33

I'm with mother inferior... Although as I never have an alternative to breastmilk in the house, but then again never really took it to excess until the breasts were liberated...
Ds was conceived on Guinness, fed on Guinness infalted tits for 16 mths and he is a genius wonder child...
Can't be a coincidence

JanZ · 30/04/2004 09:26

Advice from best friend and dh (both GPs) was if you got really blitzed, the breast milk MIGHT make the baby a wee bit more sleepy.... so what was the problem??!!

The one time I did really blow out (celebration meal for ds' birth, with a load of the really good wines that we had been saving for such an occasion), I expressed, and then froze it with a label that said "alcoholic" - ie to be used when appropriate!

In general though, I just drank in moderation - rarely had more than 2 units in a night (unless it was a really good wine !), and not every night in the week.

AlanP · 30/04/2004 14:41

I know that my dw did drink (ocasionally) when breastfeeding and it only had the effect of causing better sleeping in all of ours. We don't have any alcoholics in the family.

Don't get too anal as you could start worrying about caffine, pesticides, herbicides, growth promoters etc....

IMHO - Just live your life and enjoy your baby and yourself as usual - after all we grew up without all the health and safety issues that now seem to pervade our thoughts.

Original poster
spikeycat · 30/04/2004 15:18

True enough alanp, I know my mum used to breast feed me and my brother while she was actually smoking a ciggie at the same time, and it was perfectly normal then - she says she never even got frowned at!!!

OP posts:
AlanP · 30/04/2004 17:16

Still remember the colour after dw ate Beetroot - pink milk!

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