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Parenting

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Original poster

Breastfeeding and drinking

23 replies

Simian0 · 01/06/2013 08:35

Just wondering...If you do drink alcohol whilst breastfeeding what's your rule with it? I had my first night out the other night (DD is 4 and a half weeks) and I had a glass of bubbles and 2 glasses of red wine over dinner. When I got home 2 hours later I expressed and dumped it down the sink. It felt criminal as it was a good 200ml haul.

I read on NHS website you should wait 2 hours per 1 unit of alcohol for it to work out of your system. Do you do that if its been combined with food?

I think I'll relax about it a bit more when she's a wee bit older, but at the moment I guess I just have to express a couple of feeds worth before having any more than 1 glass of wine. Given she's feeding every 3hrs, that's tough. Hardly seems worth drinking at all.

OP posts:

Babieseverywhere · 01/06/2013 08:49

Alcohol does not build up in your breast milk, it only contains a tiny reflection of your current blood alcohol level at the time of nursing. So there is never a need to remove 'spoilt milk' from your breasts...it doesn't work that way.

i.e. If you are drunk, you should not nurse your baby.

If you are tipsy with a small amount of alcohol, no need to pump or dump just feed baby directly as normal.

If it is the day after a night before, no need to pump or dump, just feed baby as normal.

I did read a research paper which outlined the amount of alcohol needed to be consumed before it would affect a baby after breastfeeding and whilst I can't remember the amount it was a hell of a lot. We are talking couple bottle of gin, not a few glasses of wine.

Babieseverywhere · 01/06/2013 08:51

To add my baby is 10 months old and therefore I would happily nurse her after a couple of glasses of wine or during ;)

I don't tend to drink at all, when I am pregnant or have a very young baby but that is mainly due to me overworrying in pregnancy and overtiredness in the early days of a baby in the house. YMMV.

JiltedJohnsJulie · 01/06/2013 09:40

Agree, no need to pump and dump at all.

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adogforme · 01/06/2013 10:21

Yes I was told to think of it like drinking and driving. If you wouldn't drive don't feed. There is no need to pump and dump but you might need to express a little off for comfort.

Original poster

Simian0 · 01/06/2013 10:38

Thanks guys, that's reassuring. I've always had quite a high tolerance so a couple of glasses of wine tends not to effect me much, especially when eating.

The drinking/driving rule is a good one though. I'd never do that so it's prob good for me to adopt that principle.

Don't think I'll worry over a glass or two of wine over dinner from now on then. Ta.

OP posts:

Thesebootsweremadeforwalking · 01/06/2013 10:42

I thought current advice was like pregnancy - one or two units, once or twice a week while BF. Is that still right?

honeytea · 01/06/2013 12:45

I drink week beer (3.5%) once or twice a week, I tend to wait till ds is asleep but he sometimes wakes up. The most I have drunk is 4 cans of week beer and then fed him.

I don't worry about it as I have read that your milk can't have more alcohol in than your blood and after a couple of drinks your blood alcohol% (so also your milk %) is still very low. I think ds gets more alcohol from bonjela than from my milk.

I do worry about co-sleeping with ds if I have been drinking, I tend to not bring him into bed with us whenhe wakes in the night.

forevergreek · 01/06/2013 12:51

Also if at home you can always feed baby. Then have glass of wine, as will have a few hours before feeding baby again

DoodleAlley · 01/06/2013 12:59

You got a night out at four weeks! I'm so jealous!

catlady1 · 01/06/2013 13:13

I would also like to know more about this. I've seen from various sources that it takes approx. 2 hours for each unit of alcohol to leave your body, but what if you drank a lot? Like if you were to go out for a night of drinking and had say 15 units or more, would it really be 30+ hours before you could bf again?

I don't drink often, my DD is 11 weeks and I think I've had half a Strongbow with a meal since she was born (and didn't think anything if it, but she didn't feed for a good few hours after anyway). But when I do drink, I do like to get quite drunk :D. I have a night out planned in a couple of weeks and DD will be staying with grandparents until the following afternoon, and I'm not sure whether it would be really bad to resume nursing then, or whether I should express enough to carry on bottle-feeding her for an extra day or so. I'm also worried about how it will affect my supply if I have to do the latter.

Thesebootsweremadeforwalking · 01/06/2013 18:57

Link to NHS Choices website on alcohol and BF

PipPipPip · 07/06/2013 22:46

I just went for it. Everyone turned out fine :)

Droflove · 08/06/2013 08:00

Best time to have that glass of wine is while feeding. Gives it the longest amountg of time to get out of your system but hasn't hit your milk yet. I wouldn't have more than a few units while bf'ing to be honest.

Stripedmum · 09/06/2013 19:16

I have a small glass every night. That's just me though. Did I with DS too. Feels 'wrong' when I veer towards two glasses.

Queen0fFeckingEverything · 09/06/2013 19:28

Not so sure about whether you'd drive being a good indicator tbh.

I won't drink at all if I'm driving. Not even a half. I feel that I need every wit about me to control half a tonne of metal and keep my passengers and every other road user safe!

But I will BF after a few drinks without a second thought. Its not the same level of risk at all.

Having said that, when DS was still EBF (he's nearly 3 now) I never had more than a couple of glasses of wine spread over an evening as we were bedsharing.

Stripedmum · 09/06/2013 19:33

I'd love the occasional two glasses. Is feeling drunk okay too or a 'no no'?

IsThatTrue · 09/06/2013 19:37

Why oh why is my DS horrible the next day after I've had a glass of wine. It makes me very jealous of you lot feeding while drinking!

Smicha · 10/06/2013 20:10

Babieseverywhere can you recall where you read the research paper as I'd like to have a look at that? DH is a scientist and has worked out that I would have to be almost too drunk to even manage to hold DS for him to be affected by me having a drink, but I'm still cautious and will have no more than one glass of wine at any one time... even though sometimes I'd love a second one!

Tailtwister · 10/06/2013 20:37

I would often have a glass of wine with our evening meal when nursing both DS1 and 2. I never had enough to be drunk though, not so much because I was breastfeeding, but since I knew how hideous I would feel when I was up in the night/early morning.

The most I probably had was at a wedding where DS1 was being cared for by a nanny for the evening. I'm guessing I had around 4 glasses of wine over the course of 5 hours. He was about 18 months, but still feeding occasionally during the night.

FantasticMax · 11/06/2013 11:40

I was fairly cautious with the drinking at first, but then DD would go from about 8pm till 3/4am in the morning without needing a feed fairly early on (6 weeks or so?) so I figured that having a few glasses in the evening would do no harm. To me it's about how much will be in your system by the time you next feed, which becomes easier to predict the older they get. If you're really worried though, try and build up a supply of frozen expressed milk for these types of occasions.

Only pump and dump to relieve any discomfort, I've stopped BF now but I can still remember the agony of engorgement!

curryeater · 11/06/2013 11:57

The actual concentration in bm (as in all your bodily fluids) is very very low. It is not at all like drinking while pregnant. The milk that the baby is drinking is nowhere near beer or any alcoholic drink itself.

To be a bit tipsy the alcohol in your blood (and therefore your milk) will be around 0.03%. To be completely horrifically shit-faced (well beyond social acceptability), it would be about 0.2%. A beer is probably 4% or so. So to all intents and purposes, if you are pleasantly socially tipsy, your milk is just not an alcoholic drink.

Of course babies are very very tiny and very very delicate and are completely dependent on you for food and drink so it is all a bit different, but it is still worth bearing in mind that there is likely to be less than a hundredth of the alcohol in your blood as there is in beer.

There were baby tonics on sale in the 80s that contained more alcohol by orders of magnitude (although admittedly these are now not legal)
This is one of those things where nobody knows (because proper experiments would be unethical) so they just say "fuck it we'll just look moody and threatening and tell them not to, just in case"

BeCool · 11/06/2013 12:10

I never pumped and dumped with my 2 (on average I BF for 15 months each) and I drank what I felt like - I guess a glass or 2 a week (on average), though at a party/dinner I would have more.

It wasn't something I felt worried or concerned about for reasons explained upthread. I trusted myself and my body.

dubstarr73 · 11/06/2013 19:40

The best way of thinking is if you are alright to drive you are alright to feed.I always had a couple glasses of wine never did my kids any harm.Dont get drunk and dont drink on an empty stomach but apart form that you are good to go.Enjoy your glass of red.

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