feeling really miserable about another chriistmas without alcohol

[curlygirl]

Last christmas I couldn't drink because we had been trying to concieve and I thought I may be pregnant. This time I am breastfeeding and I am feeling really fed up about it. I know this sounds really selfish, and of course I am going to carry on breastfeeding, but I was wondering if I would be able to have a few drinks then express the milk . The trouble is I am not sure when to express, ie how long after the drinks would I need to do it and how long it takes for the alcohol to no longer be in my breastmilk. Anyone any advice?

The alcohol stays in your milk as long as it stays in your bloodstream, IIRC. So if you just wait, it will go on it's own. No point expressing unless you want to.

How old is your little on? You may find that by the time baby wants a feed after the last one at night, you wi8ll be sober enough to give it anyway.

Of course you can drink, just don't get drunk. I did with no ill effects, red wine was my tipple.
If you do a search on this topic, there are a few threads about the best time/ way to express. I will have a look and get back to you.

Sorry for gate crashing but i was wondering about drinking alcahol while bfing aswell, after all it wouldn't be xmas without a glass or 2 of Baileys.

Im not talking about getting rolling drunk here i do literally mean 1-2 small glasses, would that effect DS2 say if i had one at lunch then another at dinner time, could i carry on feeding during the day as normal or do i have to express before i have any alcahol? Im confused!

He is 3 months old, so he will be 4 months at christmas. He is pretty good at night though, he has a feed at about 8pm then he sleepsm til about 3 am, but I was thinking more about having drinks with christmas dinner, and he tends to feed quite frequently during the day, so I would need to express. I am not talking about getting drunk, I would just like to have some wine or champagne with dinner and perhaps a small brandy after pudding.

I've recently discovered this non alcoholic wine website. I'm pg so not really drinking other than the odd glass of wine and this stuff has been really useful. The red wine is nice, Carl jung champagne really nice, dry white is OK but stay away from the Chardonnay.

i've had a couple of special occasions where I've had a few glasses of non alcoholic wine followed by one real one, helps me feel I'm not missing out.

I'm in the same boat curlygirl, only I didn't drink Christmas 2004 either, as I'd just had a m/c and was obsessively ttc again, and I also can't have dairy products as DD is milk intolerant!

I had a thread about drinking whilst bf a while ago, and TikTok did give some info on there about how alcohol passes through to milk. I've since been informed by my father (a police officer for 30 years), however, that alcohol levels peak in your bloodstream 6 hours after consumption, so now I don't know what to believe any more!

thanks gingerbear, i should have done that myself shouldn't I?

You need Tiktok!
The amount of alcohol that actually gets into your breastmilk is negligible!
You can have a few by all means!
What I did when I wanted to go out proper and get drunk was to express a little milk for a few weeks until I had enough for a couple of bottles (frozen). Then I went out, I expressed halfway through the night, then again when I got back. Dh fed the baby with my previously expressed milk. I fed as normal in the morning.

Really, with the amount that gets into the milk anyway I wouldn't worry about it!

oh yippee, you just made my day!

Alcohol into the bloodstream and alcohol in breastmilk is different anyway.

I hoped someone would say that Rhubarb (about blood vs alcohol).

Am buggered on the expressing front myself, as DD won't drink more than 1 sip from bottle/cup, but ho-hum, have managed this long, a bit longer won't kill me!

Err, I meant blood vs milk, obviously!

Oh yes I always prefer a bit of blood myself!

does that mean I could have a glass of wine with dinner every day without causing any harm to DS?

Yup.
Don't go mad obviously and drinking every day might not be such a good idea.

Blood would be better!

A couple of alcoholic drinks while bfeeding is fine. I would think 1-2 drinks a few times a week would be OK.

sorry I never got back this afternoon - try here for tiktok's expert knowledge

thanks gingerbear

FGS you can drink!
I would have gone mad without booze for this long.
Not rolling no,but certainly a good few glasses.

Blimey,don't make life harder than it is.

I've always continued to drink while breastfeeding

You can't get ROLLING drunk when in charge of a baby anyway, but a few glasses of wine or whatever are fine

Our mothers happily shovelled alcoholic GRIPE WATER into us when we were babies, and the amount of alcohol in your bloody stream is going to be MUCH MUCH MUCH less than this

I drink every day while breastfeeding

I think it's ESSENTIAL - fgs I've got to look after a BABY, I need something to take the edge off

Yes,I drank every day in those first few months.
Was essential

The bf counsellor at my hospital said a glass of wine a day whlie bf was fine.

Its so sad that this myth that you can't drink is perpetuated; it must put some people off bf.

By the way red wine is quite hard to get out of white babygroes.

My midwife said anything less than a bottle in one sitting is fine

what a fab midwife.