Alcohol and breastfeeding on holiday

[Amethyst31]

I am going on holiday for a week and am ebf I know the guidelines around alcohol and feeding and to wait 2-3 hours in between. My question is, would I be safe to have a couple of beers most days but spaced out over the day or will this be harmful to little one?

Those aren’t the UK guidelines.

No idea. I'm not a doctor and probably most people posting here aren't either

I'd speak to your GP.

and drinking alcohol - NHS www.nhs.uk/baby/breastfeeding-and-bottle-feeding/breastfeeding-and-lifestyle/alcohol/ Or read the NHS guidance

Personally I wouldn't but it's your baby.

Yes it is NHS says to wait 2 hours after a drink to feed again.

How old is your LO? And how often do they normally feed?

No it won't be harmful, the level of alcohol in your milk is the same as in your bloodstream eg almost nil.

Just remember not to bedshare if you or your partner has been drinking.

She will be nearly 6 months and she tends to feed every few hours usually.

Thank you, I assumed it would be OK if I am following the guidelines but wasn't sure because I will be doing it more often if it will have any impact. I will also try and give her some expressed milk if I can :)

Watch out though, if it's hot it could really hit you. Don't get dehydrated and ideally don't drink in the evening so that you're safe overnight

Go for it! It's not really alcohol levels in breastmilk that are the issue with drinking and breastfeeding (it's teeny amounts) but it's more how capable you are to safely feed / care for a baby (not bed sharing especially!!). Providing you're not getting hammered, you're fine to have a few drinks. Enjoy yourself!

You'll both be absolutely fine. No need to faff about with expressing unless you otherwise want to.

Yeah I am worried about the heat so I will defo be making sure I drink plenty of water and keeping a close eye on the little one.

To be honest she hates the bottle so I don't think she will take it anyway, just hate the guilty feeling of having a drink and wondering if she will be OK but I also want to enjoy myself aswel and have the odd beer.

Thank you that's good to hear was fully expecting to get alot of negative comments saying I'm selfish for having a drink and feeding. I defo won't be getting drunk just a few beers here and there :)

It's fine. Completely different from drinking in pregnancy, the amount baby gets from breastfeeding is negligible. Just follow safe sleep guidelines and keep hydrated.

It's fine. I think lots of the advice is outdated. If you look up actual studies they show that the risk is very very low. The risk is more around not being sober enough to safely care for your baby rather than alcohol getting into your milk which as @legoplaybook says is minimal. The advice should be the same for mothers who formula feed. You have to drink a lot for it to be dangerous. I feed and have a drink. With my first baby I was very cautious, often expressing milk and throwing it away. With my second I've looked into it more, and I often have a few drinks. We need to encourage women to feed and by saying all alcohol is dangerous when breastfeeding it's just another thing that may put women off. Women who formula feed are not told to not drink, the advice should be the same for breast feeding women. Be fairly sensible and if you are able to safely care for your baby then you are fine.

I honestly never gave it a second thought and happily had a couple of drinks while feeding now and again. You're not binging.

The pubs of leafy South London are full of breastfeeding mums having a lunchtime pint 😂.

Even that NHS advice very vaguely says a 2 hour wait might lessen a risk of something that's already a tiny risk.

Don't feel guilty - if you actually research for yourself rather you'll see it's fine, you can't really drink enough to make your breast milk alcoholic enough to do any harm. But yes obviously if you're breastfeeding there are risks around being drunk and feeding in terms of suffocation etc. A few beers will be absolutely fine.

Blood alcohol contents:

• BAC 0.02%: At this percentage, you may experience an altered mood, relaxation and a slight loss of judgment.
• BAC 0.05%: At this percentage, you may feel uninhibited and have lowered alertness and impaired judgment.
• BAC 0.08%: At this percentage, you may have reduced muscle coordination, find it more difficult to detect danger and have impaired judgment and reasoning.
• BAC 0.10%: At this percentage, you may have a reduced reaction time, slurred speech and slowed thinking.
• BAC 0.15%: At this percentage, you may experience an altered mood, nausea and vomiting and loss of balance and some muscle control.
• BAC 0.15% to 0.30%: In this percentage range, you may experience confusion, vomiting and drowsiness.
• BAC 0.30% to 0.40%: In this percentage range, you’ll likely have alcohol poisoning, a potentially life-threatening condition, and experience loss of consciousness.
• BAC Over 0.40%: This is a potentially fatal blood alcohol level. You’re at risk of coma and death from respiratory arrest (absence of breathing).

0.4% blood alcohol content is potentially fatal. However it is a lower alcohol content than this 'alcohol free' beer which is 0.5%: adnams.co.uk/products/8x500ml-adnams-ghost-ship-0-5

Thank you, yes I agree it does put people off because you are told so many things you cannot do. I feel like I have googled it a million times but I still always feel guilty or wonder if some sort of damage is being done but I am always sure to only have one or 2 :)

Well Katherine Ryan posted a photo drinking a glass of wine while breastfeeding her baby. She got some praise for it

Just have alcohol free beer, it doesn't taste any different. No big deal!

Best thing is to drink while you're feeding, then it's out of your system by the next feed. Mother of 2 perfectly fine DS who were brought up this way.

@Millie90 it tastes a lot different and why should she? Would you say the same to a formula feeding mum?

I don't understand this post. BAC and ABV are completely different measures

The point is that when the baby is drinking breastmilk, even if the mum is comatose, the alcohol content of her blood (and therefore milk) is so low that it would be considered suitable to market as "alcohol free."