Cocaine use whilst breastfeeding

[twistypie]

I'm in a major panic. My son (22 months) has been exclusively breastfed from birth, and then from 6 months obviously solid food as well. I love our feeding relationship, even though I am still up several times every single night with him because he loves the boob.
He's never been an easy boy, and last night was my first ever night out since he was born - he stayed with Nanny and Grandad.
I went a bit crazy at all the freedom and ended up having a few lines of coke. The boy is due home in an hour and now I'm panicking. The first thing he'll want is boob but I can't give it to him as I know it's unsafe. I'll have to pump and dump for a while I guess, but the question is, how long for?
I feel like the worst mum ever, as I'll have to deny him the thing that gives him most comfort. Can't believe I was so stupid and selfish.

And there it is.

I love the illiterate when they come out in force.

Well FUCKING done.

You force your point SO WELL.

Wowsers. I don't even know where to start.

Perhaps with the users saying that I'm 'pushing' extended breastfeeding? Well, I simply stated my child's age and that he was breastfed. Not once did I pass judgement on those who choose to stop breastfeeding earlier, nor on those who choose not to breastfeed at all. But the whole not passing judgement thing is obviously a foreign concept to a lot of you...

Or maybe I should have started with the belief that a lot of you have got into your head that I'm an 'earth mother type'. Why are you assuming that? Not a single thing I posted would suggest that. Is it because of the age that I'm feeding my son at? If so then please check current World Health Organisation guidelines, which state that a child should ideally be breastfed until they are at least two. Following these guidelines does not make me an earth mother.

Or perhaps I should address the calls for Social Services intervention? I messed up. It was a huge mess up, yes. However my child was not with me at the time, and he was never ever fed any of the contaminated breastmilk. He is a well looked after boy, to whom I would (and do) give my everything. My one single night off in nearly two years turned into something it shouldn't have, and I am entirely to blame for that. But social services??? Really? I would be intrigued to see how many of you drink alcohol to excess - I myself do not drink alcohol at all, but you know, far be it from me to pass judgement...

Concerning the illicit substance itself. Yes, I would agree with all of you. You're bang on that it's a terrible thing that affects people all the way along the supply chain. I am well aware of this, and I am not proud that I have helped contribute to that. Again though, I'm curious, how many of you buy Nestlé products? Do you know much about Nestlé as a company? Hmmm, you may wish to read up. They're banned in our house, I don't about any of yours - but again, it's not for me to pass judgement...

Finally, a genuine thank you to those of you who have offered helpful advice and refrained from taking part in the abusive behaviour exhibited by a lot of users xxx

Twistie, fuck em.

You don't need to explain.

ILikeyourHairyHands
Thank you - I appreciate you being a rose amongst the (so many) thorns.

It's the first time I've used mumsnet as I didn't know where to turn. I thought I'd be able to get some informed and impartial advice from mums who understand how tough parenting is and how we all sometimes fuck up. How wrong was I!

Again, thank you x

Twistie
I'm sure the next few days will be a bit rough. Be kind to yourself.

There's nothing like the mirror? Ugh.

So many women with so little self-awareness.

Snorting cocaine while you're still breastfeeding is absolutely NOT the same as buying Nestle products. Are you for real?

Breastfeeding a two year old doesn't make you a better mother than one who bottle fed from birth. Boycotting Nestle doesn't make you a more virtuous human being than people who don't. Especially not when simaltanrouslt creating demand for coke 🙄

Taking coke on a child free night out while you're still breastfeeding does make you a less responsible parent than others.

I absolutely hate cocaine as I have seen the effects it has on friends that used it, all dead now, by the way, and the effects it has on my country Mexico. However, the OP has made a very valid point comparing it to Nestle, that persuades poor women in the third world to formula feed when they cannot afford the formula and do not necessarily have access to clean water, apart from Nestle's stated ambition to privatise all water!!

And thumbs up to you OP for following the WHO guidelines as far as breastfeeding is concerned.

Atenco, all friends dead? 100% mortality rate? Mexico and the results of the Illegality and the border are different issues.

Smitff. Please re-read my comment. I absolutely never said it was the same thing. I was addressing a separate point various people made about the fact that end user should be clued up about the supply chain. And I was agreeing

Also, Smitff, not once did I say that breastfeeding a two year old made me a better mother than those choosing to bottle feed. Again, re-read.

I am not sure I understand your comparison to alcohol and nestle products - the key difference is surely that they are both legal and regulated. How did you establish that what you took was cocaine, and cocaine only? It's quite hard to do that with illicit drugs as by definition they come from disreputable sources. I imagine the uncertainty around what you have actually taken is why you've been advised to avoid feeding for 48 hours.

You exposed yourself to both an unknown substance and the risk of arrest. I think your defensive reaction is misplaced.

I BF my daughter until the age of three, and I am ostensibly the worst mother in the world, it means nothing.

Behave yourselves.

There's no confluence.

"Atenco, all friends dead? 100% mortality rate?"

Yes, the friends from my youth who ended up using cocaine. Not from Mexico, I might add.

If you are planning more nights out I suggest you practice self control I'm a single parent at one point I hadn't been out for years way more than two I managed not to make an idiot of my self and take class A drugs

Hi OP, looks like you are getting mixed feedback here, I may be able to help as I'm a detox nurse.

Breast milk is a blood product, the levels fall in breast milk at the same rate as they do in your blood. Most people clear all traces of cocaine from the blood within 48 hours.

The main consideration is if you mixed alcohol with cocaine. If so, it can take 5 days for all traces to be removed from your blood.

The point is, it stays in your blood stream - and therefore breast milk - for longer than expected. If you want to avoid breastfeeding during this time you will need to pump to maintain your supply.

X

@twistypie
Hope you've got the advice you need. Hot seem like a sensible grounded person who obviously knows you made a mistake and has done all you can after that to make sure it didn't affect your child. Well done, and I hope you're not taking in any of the mud slinging.

Also as a Social Worker (and I know someone had already been on to shoot down the idea SS would be interested) it makes me really quite angry that people would think that. What exactly do people think we do all day of we'd have the time and stupidity to put an intervention in where there's clearly been no harm to the child at all. We're stretched to the limit with families in crisis and children at risk of serious harm and people think we'd busy ourselves with this? Blimey.

class A is the sameclass as heroin. junkie material. hardly the same s getting pissed bit pissed.

Oh please. Stop pearl clutching. Ecstasy is one of the safest illegal drugs there is and it's a class A!

So no-one ever died from taking a single E? Er yes I think they did. Quite a few. Safe my arse.

There are around 4 deaths in the uk each year. Most deaths from ecstasy tend to be caused by combining large amounts of alcohol/other drugs and overheating eg people raving in jumpers.

In terms of the number of deaths each year and societal cost, yes it is one of the safest. My patients do not need my services because they are addicted to ecstasy. I have never had to detox anyone from that yet!

OP - just wanted to offer you some support, which is what you came here for.

You fucked up and you've acknowledged that. Do the 48 hour period not bf and pump in meantime to keep your supply. Well done for getting this far bf, it's bloody hard work!

Don't do the coke again. I know it's tempting when you've got a night off but you have a wee boy now who needs his mum. That stuff is addictive and can lead to so many health problems, plus you have the risk of a bad batch more so nowadays. Stick to booze and dancing if you want to let off some steam.

You've made one mistake, don't beat yourself up.

Just as a point, you might find you won't be able to get anything out with a pump any more. If that's the case don't worry because at almost 2 your supply will manage 48 hours without feeding. Also, the drug will leave your milk as it leaves your body meaning it's not essential to remove the 'bad' milk. You may be making it on demand by now. Pump if you can but don't worry if you can't.

Btw, the reason this is different to alcohol is that alcohol metabolises dfferently and is less fat soluble than most drugs. Drugs are not all the same (news flash?) and some can be quite serious in milk. It's important to be aware. For example weed which a lot of people seem to think is perfectly harmless is a problem with bfing because it is so fat soluble the thc will appear in much higher propotions in milk.

Not for OP particularly but other posters who hinted at advice to breastfeed after alcohol being irresponsible or were surprised that the BFN would recommend caution. You can't treat all drugs the same and it's important to understand that if you're planning on taking any kind of mind altering substance.