Honesty time... alcohol while breastfeeding

[toomuchteaandcake]

Non FTMs, please share your views / experience?

Views and experience? Have BF 2 children. Maybe had the odd sip of wine at a special occasion or something ? But wouldn’t actually drink... I would then not be able to look after the child 100% and does the alcohol go over into breast milk? I don’t really know tbh! But not being a drinker it’s never really cropped up as an issue.

Are you expecting a non FTM to tell you it's fine to get hammered? I'd tell you my knowledge, based on a fuck ton of research but you don't care because I have one kid.

Yes you can have a drink.
Breast milk has same alcohol content as blood- for it to contain enough alcohol to harm a baby you would be dead from alcohol poisoning.
Best time to drink is as you feed/ straight after as it won’t be in milk at all.
Be aware of safe sleeping, and enjoy a glass fizz/ gin etc. I certainly did!!

What's wrong with FTM's opinions?

No, I'm asking for your views and experience as someone who has breastfed. Ie advice ranges from you can absolutely not do this to having a glass of wine while actually feeding the baby is fine. But thanks for the helpful comment 👍🏻

Currently sat feeding dd to sleep with a lovely cold rosé to keep me company.

@Cantchooseaname thanks that's helpful!

Of course you can have a drink, unless you are feeding a very tiny and poorly baby. It's in your milk in absolutely negligible quantities. Getting shit faced is inadvisable though, but mostly because you won't be fit to look after the baby (banging hangover + baby = unfun combination) rather than because your milk poses any threat.

Have a glass of wine or a G&T if you feel like one.

As this is the pregnancy board I'm guessing the reference to non FTMs meant people who have at least one child i.e. are not pregnant for the first time?

I'm still feeding DS2 who turns two in a couple of weeks. I've drink throughout that time. Not pass out, black out drunk. But I've never drunk too much that I wouldn't be able to look after my children if something happened.

I drank after putting to bed-never did dream feed. A couple of weddings I pumped and dumped but generally just got on with it.

A couple of glasses of wine is fine, a bottle of vodka -probably not.

I don't know any mother who breastfed and got more than just a little merry, how would we safely manage to look after the baby when properly drunk?

I’m breastfeeding 8 month old DC2. At the weekend I’ll have a glass or two or prosecco once baby is in bed. I wouldn’t drink more- mainly because the next morning would not be great!! And obviously if baby wakes I don’t want to be rat arsed.

I didn’t drink at all while feeding DC1, but when I did start drinking again I went a bit overboard. Trying to avoid that this time!

I've bf four dc, two of them at the same time (Twins). Not a massive drinker (well until lockdown) I had a drink when I was bf the first two, not when they were tiny I think I waited till about 12 weeks. Just a glass or two of wine it didn't seem to have any effect. I think they say to wait a couple of hours so have a glass during a bf or just after and then your fine for the next feed.

I wouldn't get smashed or anything but the odd couple was fine for me my Aunt used to be a midwife and she would always encourage bf mothers to have a drink to help the baby sleep. Old midwives tip she'd say suspect that is not what midwives of today would tell you.

DT I didn't drink at all because I was too tired.

I drank and breastfed. I usually just kept it to a glass of wine but occasionally I had two .

I did a breastfeeding class with my hospital and they had no issues with drinking alcohol and breastfeeding. Obviously don’t get hammered.

Drank in tiny amounts when pregnant and in moderation when breastfeeding. It's not a big deal.

I’ve drunk plenty when breastfeeding. This is another of those weird things breastfeeding related where science seems to go out the window. It’s not the same as alcohol in pregnancy. We can, shock, horror, actually MEASURE alcohol content of breastmilk. If you were dead from alcohol poisoning your breastmilk would be about as alcoholic as a ripe banana. Really nothing to worry about. Getting hammered and being in charge of a baby is the risk, not breastmilk. I despise this peculiar myth that what a mum eats and drinks causes any significant changes in her b/m. It’s the same with caffeine, and it’s actually completely unproven that allergens go through breastmilk in enough quantities to cause reactions. Although I accept there’s lots of anecdotal evidence. It’s all another thing to make breastfeeding more of a chore than it needs to be.

I breastfed my 3 for 2 years +. I drank alcohol in that time for all the reasons outlined above!

Drank as much as I wanted when breastfeeding. Just don't bedshare after drinking.

Definitely have a drink if you feel like it. The main thing that put me off drinking much was the fact that there’s no sleep in the next day! As others have said, the baby will be in more danger if you’re drunk and can’t look after it (eg have heard stories of cot deaths in this situation where the mother has fallen asleep w baby in bed/chair with her). Pretty minimal danger from milk alcohol content.

I’m guessing you are talking about a couple of glasses rather than “getting hammered”. I read research - will try and find it - that said alcohol can be in your milk while it is in your bloodstream, but is not stored in your milk. So as long as there is a good window between drink & breastfeeding it’s fine. I followed this for both of mine (breastfed for 1-2 years with each). It only becomes feasible as the feeds space out, obv.!

There’s no need to pump and dump. You don’t undergo a bloodletting ceremony after a big night out, do you?

I often had a small g&t or a glass of wine in the evenings after dinner when breastfeeding. I didn't have an urge to drink more than this as feeling heavy headed with a baby would have been awful but one glass I enjoyed very frequently... Usually in the bath!

What @Peapod29 said. You'd need to be absolutely twatted for your milk to have the same alcohol content as orange juice.