champagne and breastfeeding - have i hurt my baby?

[samie10]

i gave birth yesterday at 4pm, had friends round a few hours ago, we had a glass of champagne, i ate and then fed her an hour or so later not thinking...have i hurt her?!! She seems ok but only took 15mins to feed and then went to sleep. I am so worried.....please don't judge me..am knackered and have made a stupid mistake, nobody feels worse about this than me....HELP!

Nope, she's fine.

There is the same amount of alcohol in breastmilk as there is in your blood - for there to be enough alcohol in your breastmilk to affect her you'd be dead from alcohol poisoning!

It goes through your body at the same rate - work on about 1 unit an hour but takes at least 45 mins to hit your system. That means the best time to drink alcohol is actually whilst breastfeeding!

Congratulations on your baby and enjoy your champagne :o

Just to add - she's probably gone to sleep because she's knackered from the fact that literally everything is new for her! Feed on demand but don't let her go more than 3 hours without a feed. If you need to keep her awake try tickling her feet or her ears while she's feeding.

You had a glass, not a bottle!

Brand new babies sleep a lot (though sometimes only in the first couple of days) and often feed only for a few minutes at a time.

Everything you posted sound both normal and common.

Congratulations!

A glass of champagne won't have done any harm at all - most of the alcohol will have left your body after an hour and the amount that gets into your milk is too tiny to have an effect anyway.

Agree with the PP that you need to feed as often as possible, 10-12 times in 24 hours. You can't feed too often.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I was feeling terrible, first day and I thought Id hurt her...god there is so much to think about!!!XXXXXXXXX

:o

You'd be amazed what you worry about that you'd never thought possible!

My DS is 9 months old now and a proper milk monster but it took him 4 or 5 days to wake up enough for big feeds. Little and often as a newborn is perfectly ok!

My aunt who has been a MW for about 30 years told my sister that she shouldn't worry about drinking while BFing. She said for the baby to get enough alcohol to be effected then she probably would be so drunk she wouldn't even be able to BF!

Don't worry.

Oh, I AM looking forward to a glass of post-birth champagne Congratulations! Sounds like everything is going well for you - we'll done Mama

Thanks everyone!! I just went into total panic, imagining i would have to return her to the hospital, DRUNK! I live in Dubai so the worrying became more intense in case I had to explain to anyone who didn't drink why I had been drinking....oh the drama.....I should have enjoyed the moment of peace I got when she did feed and then fall asleep, as she went on to scream all night...could do with drinking the bottle, they way I feel this morning! Thank you all so much and Badgerina - ENJOY IT!!!XXXX

Sorry you had a bad night - day and night is topsy turvey for her at the moment but she'll work it out.

Enjoy your new baby snuggles :)