Advice needed please RE: b/feeding, expressing and going out on the town!!!!

[Lizzer]

Hi, my cousin has just decided to carry on b/feeding her 5 week old dd after giving up for a day and realising FF wasn't for her. But she has a few questions about b/feeding and drinking alcohol as she's going out on a hen night soon and wants to know how to go about it, her main concerns are:

when to express before she goes out? (ie in the morning, is this supposed to be better?)
How long does it take for the alcohol to leave your system?

Please help because she is such a star and really is doing so well with her first beautiful baby. Please can we have some first hand advice about getting your life back a bit, and having some FUN!!!!!!

PS I have searched for info on MN but can't find anything specifically to do with this, but any links to info that has been posted before (ie tiktok) would be really great too...

I've read a few threads on here in the past...my impression from the best informed people was that the alcohol won't cause any problems

Start expressing now and build up a bank. It can take a while to get to the stage where you can express a decent amount. I used to express once in the morning and then again in the evening, add it to the previous EBM (kept in fridge) and then freeze the lot.

Your body processes 1 unit of alcohol in an hour. Some people express their milk the morning after drinking, but provided you haven't had a really big bender, I believe that your body will have eliminated the alcohol anyway, so never bothered with ds - can't waste breast milk, imo...

Thanks for that Mumpbump and JC. Its so strange being out of the breastfeeding circle - I used to have so much info for her but its been 6 yrs now since I stopped when dd was one!

I know I didn't feel guilty about drinking and b/f but I didn't have very much at all in that 1st year, my my how things have changed

I'm feel so close to her (actually my dp's cousin) since she had her dd, probably because of similar age and circs to me when dd was born... Plus, she asks me for advice which is uber-flattering!

I have told her that it will get easier and I'm so proud of her for carrying on b/f in the face of adversity

Also I've shown her how helpful mn can be (and my name, which I still keep secret from most of my friends )

Wish I could find that thread where tiktok wrote a load of stuff about alcohol transference and how its ok to let your hair down once in a while and be 'normal' whilst b/feeding! Anyone.....??

She may find that she gets quite engorged when she goes out - especially if she's missing more than one feed.

I've only left ds once so far and only for a few hours but I was veerrry full by the end of it! Someone on here advised hand expressing down the loo to ease the pressure!

Wearing a top that won't immediately show up leaks and decent breastpads are a must.

Tell her to take a spare pair of breastpads with her. I had my first day out last week and missed 2 feeds. Boobs were leaking for England and wished I'd brought a spare pair of pads. And DEFINATELY wear black so no leaks show!