Cocktail whilst brestfeeding,...how much worse is it than a glass or 2 of wine?

[princessmel]

I am supposed to be going on a mums night out soon. It's sort of for my birthday too. Not been properly out since Jan 2009. Not that I'm counting...

Anyway the mum organising it has suggested a cocktail bar.

I am thinking drinking a cocktail then bf my ds2 ( if he wakes in the night) is much worse than a glass of wine, or 2. Or are the alcohol value/units about the same??? I have drunk a few galsses of wine and bf. Also had the odd beer.

Anyone know the answer?

Ds2 will be 8 months when I go out.

OMG bad typo in the thread title. SORRY!!!

bump

Hi Princessmel

I was told by my local breastfeeding counsellor and my NCT bfc that you could drink as much as you like when breastfeeding (within reason!) the exact words were "if you are sober enough to hold the baby and not crawling to the toilet to be sick..." apparently the amount of alcohol that makes it into breastmilk is very minimal.

So go for the cocktail and have fun! Quite jealous - not been out since LO has been born!

Really??? I am almost giddy with excitment!!!

Have a look at KellyMom

It would seem a couple of cocktails will be fine. How often does your DS feed at nights at the moment?

Oh, and I am sure the cocktail bar will serve wine as well as cocktails. If I were you, I'd stick to the champagne cocktails

Have fun

v

Alcohol seems to have 10x the effect on me when I'm breastfeeding so 1 glass of wine = headache

I doubt that one night would make the difference - Tis the advice I got given about drinking and the possibility of BFing.

I have been (shamefully) quite drunk and BF DD once, and it had no ill effect on her.

Ok thanks all of you.
I'll have a look at kellymom.

Really don't want to hurt him. But would really like a cocktail! That's sooo shallow sounding I know

I think it's the fact that they have spirits in , and they seem so much more scary than just wine.

In terms of alcohol units, a single measure of spirit is the same as a small (175 ml) glass of wine and I'm pretty sure (but I'm sure Kellymom will confirm) that it takes one hour for one unit to leave your system (for the average person). So one or two cocktails earlier on in the evening aren't going to do any harm.

Enjoy

A single measure of spirits is the same as a 125ml glass of 9% wine, which you are very unlikely to find anywhere (remember the units were made up a loooong time ago).

A 175ml (pub regular) glass of 12-14% wine (most white wine is about 12%, red wine about 14%) is 2 units, so the same as a double G&T

A large glass of wine (250ml) is 3 units or more, so the same as a cocktail with 3 shots in.

If you want to do the maths, a single measure is 10ml of alcohol. So 25ml of 40% spirit. And if you can do the maths you're definitely sober enough to BF

A cocktail contains 2 measures of alcohol (even if 4 different spirirts it will still only be a double measure) unless you have a bad barman/maid free pouring incorrectly.
Any more than 2 measures ruins the taste!!

A 25ml measure of 40% spirit is 1 unit
A 125ml (small) glass of 8.9% wine is 1.2 units
An average cocktail would be 2 units (maybe very slightly more if champagne as a 125ml glass of champers is 1.5 units - hence why it tastes so nice

You can work out the units yourself if you really want to keep an eye on it
alcohol percent x volume of alcohol

1 glass of 125ml 12% wine = 12 x 125 = 1500 (1.5 units)

So I would say that not really that much difference between a cocktail and a couple of glasses of wine. Enjoy your cocktail....oh and i recommend a Mai Tai if you like fruity ones and a caiparhinia if you like the Mojito types....

Just as a thought if you are really worried - could you express a couple of feeds? (one for the middle of the night feed and one to replace the next morning feed, then you could express your actual morning feed and throw it away meaning the baby gets no alcohol??) Not an expert on that bit though so sorry if thats a rubbish suggestion...

Just make sure you book a taxi home!!

Actually a 150ml glass of wine (and that is pretty small) generally contains 2 units of alcohol - the same as a double spirit for most types. So having a cocktail is likely to be the same as having a smallish glass of wine. But why not check with the barman as to how much booze goes into the cocktail you fancy? 25ml is a single although some bars will try to sell 35ml as standard.

You'll be fine.

Munchkin - there's no need to throw any milk away - if you are worried that there is too much alcohol in your milk to feed then you can just wait (unless your boobs are going to explode) as the alcohol in milk will go down as the alcohol in your blood does.

shots in your cocktail really does depend on the bar you're going to

Thanks all of you
I wont express , he hasn't had a bottle before.
I will have a cocktail (or 2) and enjoy myself and hope he stays asleep long enough for me to have a good time! I will def get a taxi or a lift home.

Only problem now is my friend who's being funny with me for wondering about the alcohol content. I was thinking out loud about all this and she said 'look just make your mind up if you're coming or not'. And before that when I said I was worrying/wondering about it she said 'well don't come then'

Doesn't sound like a very nice friend!

i think i read on kellymom that it can take between 30 and 90 minutes for a unit to leave your system. so if you had a small galss of wine (2 units roughly) at say 10pm then by 1 am it would be gone from your system.