# Alcohol and breastfeeding



## jodie84 (Sep 30, 2007)

Hi, I was hoping to find some advice on how long you have to wait after drinking alcohol before breastfeeding. I've read that you need to wait an hour for each drink, but my mother tells me that the amount of alcohol in the breast milk is so tiny that it's not important. Any definitive answer?


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Your mother is right. A couple of drinks is fine. The amount of alcohol in your milk is equal to your blood alcohol level.

-Angela


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## theatermom (Jun 5, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alegna* 
Your mother is right. A couple of drinks is fine. The amount of alcohol in your milk is equal to your blood alcohol level.

-Angela









:

I remember reading somewhere that if you're okay to drive, then you're okay to nurse. That's the rule I follow at least, and it's never been a problem for me.


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## jodie84 (Sep 30, 2007)

Excellent, I'll get started on that bottle of vodka then (just kidding!)


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## laneysprout (Aug 5, 2006)

laughup


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## tbone_kneegrabber (Oct 16, 2007)

I have been seen, in public no less, with a beer in my hand and a baby on my boob!


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## GooeyRN (Apr 24, 2006)

As long as you aren't drunk you are fine to bf. I don't co-sleep if anymore than 1/2 drink, though.


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## veganone (May 10, 2007)

I drink rarely (new year's and superbowl party so far), but I see no difference in DD when I do. I do co-sleep still, but I drink long enough before bedtime that I know it's completely out of my system before I do...


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## Pippi L. (Jan 25, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *tbone_kneegrabber* 
I have been seen, in public no less, with a beer in my hand and a baby on my boob!

Me, too! I'm surprised no one's commented yet!


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## jazzybaby9 (Feb 27, 2007)

I'm not much of a drinker, but when I do drink, I still BF. I don't drink much though.


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## marlyninla (Nov 27, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *tbone_kneegrabber* 
I have been seen, in public no less, with a beer in my hand and a baby on my boob!

Me too, except it was wine instead of beer! I actually went to a belly dancing recital on Sunday and sat with two other mamas and we all were sipping wine and nursing our girls (18 months, 15 months, and 12 months). The littlest one ran up on the stage and started dancing at one point -- maybe she lost her inihibiitions.


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## Code Name Mama (Oct 5, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *tbone_kneegrabber* 
I have been seen, in public no less, with a beer in my hand and a baby on my boob!









: i was guilty of this at home the last time we had people over for dinner


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## merry-mary (Aug 9, 2007)

Agreed. It's fine.

Just be mindful that alcohol can dehydrate you, so you should increase your water intake. When I was nursing my DS if I had a beer or a glass of wine, I would be so thirsty afterward.


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## phreedom (Apr 19, 2007)

I usually stop when I start to feel a little sleepy, right before I feel tipsy. Unfortunately that is often after half a drink (of wine or beer...or a margarita). It seems like my tolerance for alcohol has went way down.

Now that DD is older I'm not as weird about it though. Now that she goes long periods between nursing, I usually try to nurse her before I drink. That way I can drink and it will be a few hours before she nurses again. Usually by then that drink has worn off.


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## Samjm (Mar 12, 2005)

I agree with everyone else - if you're too drunk to drive, you're too drunk to nurse. Otherwise go wild.


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## jodie84 (Sep 30, 2007)

Does anyone know how it works for drugs instead of alcohol?


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## PatioGardener (Aug 11, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *jodie84* 
Does anyone know how it works for drugs instead of alcohol?

For medications, many are compatible with breastfeeding and can be checked out on Hale's book.

For street drugs, I am pretty sure that it is not like alcohol and many are passed through breastmilk in amounts that can harm the baby. But it will depend on the drug. I think Hale's has street drugs in it too - if you give the one you are curious about maybe someone can look it up for you.


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## mkmoro311 (Oct 23, 2006)

I probably drank a total of 6 glasses of wine while pregnant and never thought twice about someone judging me for it. However, now that I am breast feeding i am terrified what people will thing if they see me drinking one minute and breast feeding the next!


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## mamatoni (Aug 2, 2007)

I agree with all PP, but want to add that DD doesn't seem to like the taste of my BM after I have had a glass of wine. She doesn't mind the taste after a beer, I think the wine flavor is stronger?


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## TeaLeaf (Jun 19, 2007)

I like the humor in the answer by dr sears

http://www.askdrsears.com/faq/bf17.asp

tomorrow i am going to have our valentine's dinner; i'd love a drink, but still hesitating.







this is the only time and place i ever have one drink. i'm paranoid, but 'been dry for 3 year w/ttc and all. argh! i don't care what people think; it's what's best for ds.

i'll pack frozen ebf milk; the chef can defrost it for us. he is a friend.

1ht


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## jwpsgurl (Apr 28, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mkmoro311* 
I probably drank a total of 6 glasses of wine while pregnant and never thought twice about someone judging me for it. However, now that I am breast feeding i am terrified what people will thing if they see me drinking one minute and breast feeding the next!

I was worried about this at first, then I realized that most people probably wouldn't even pay attention.

I was really anal about the drinking/bf'ing thing in the beginning. I even had test strips to make sure the alcohol was out of my bm. But, then I started to be able to judge just by how I felt.

I think a drink or 2 is ok, but I haven't really read anything conclusive either way.


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## veganone (May 10, 2007)

Thanks for the Sears link. I still don't quite understand how the alcohol level in the milk goes down with the blood level - I guess it's reabsorbed back into the blood stream?


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## nmoss (Jan 26, 2007)

I've had wine, beer and champagne (as well as small sips of my DH's margaritas) since DS was born. Been hesitant about truly consuming the "hard stuff"...which is funny since I was the biggest martini drinker pre-baby LOL.


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *veganone* 
Thanks for the Sears link. I still don't quite understand how the alcohol level in the milk goes down with the blood level - I guess it's reabsorbed back into the blood stream?











-Angela


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## PatioGardener (Aug 11, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *veganone* 
Thanks for the Sears link. I still don't quite understand how the alcohol level in the milk goes down with the blood level - I guess it's reabsorbed back into the blood stream?

Exactly - reabsorbed into the blood and procesed through the liver.

I don't agree with Dr. Sears that even if you have drunk enough alcohol to be dancing naked on the bearskin rug - or however he put it - that your breastmilk will have 'a lot' of alcohol in it. It won't have anymore than your blood - which will be, what 0.1%? I'd be worried about being able to care for baby in that state, rather than the alcohol in the breastmilk!


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## cancat (Jun 15, 2004)

This was the kind of thing I would worry about before dd2 was born and on _morphine_ for a week at three months (after her surgery). I think it would take alot of alcohol on a daily basis to adversely affect a BF baby (not that I'm recommending that...).


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## Jacksmum8 (Mar 7, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *theatermom* 







:

I remember reading somewhere that if you're okay to drive, then you're okay to nurse. That's the rule I follow at least, and it's never been a problem for me.

I would agree with this.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *GooeyRN* 
As long as you aren't drunk you are fine to bf. I don't co-sleep if anymore than 1/2 drink, though.

I felt more uncomfortable co-sleeping than breastfeeding if I had a few glasses of wine.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *merry-mary* 
Agreed. It's fine.

Just be mindful that alcohol can dehydrate you, so you should increase your water intake. When I was nursing my DS if I had a beer or a glass of wine, I would be so thirsty afterward.

Again i agree, up your water intake. I find that I would drink an extra galss of water in between alcoholic beverages.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mkmoro311* 
I probably drank a total of 6 glasses of wine while pregnant and never thought twice about someone judging me for it. However, now that I am breast feeding i am terrified what people will thing if they see me drinking one minute and breast feeding the next!

Consuming alcohol while pregnant is very different from drinking while breastfeeding. There is no safe amount of alcohol while pregnant.


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## Jade's Mom (Aug 8, 2007)

I read, maybe it was in Dr. Sears book, that you can tell how much alcohol is in your milk by how you feel. If you are feeling buzzed, there's too much in your milk. Pump & dump, or wait until you feel normal again. By then the alcohol has left your milk. It enters and leaves your milk in the same rate that it does your bloodstream. How fast/long this takes is different for everyone and is affected by the type of drink, your weight, how much you ate, etc.


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## Lily Eve (Feb 15, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jade's Mom* 
I read, maybe it was in Dr. Sears book, that you can tell how much alcohol is in your milk by how you feel. If you are feeling buzzed, there's too much in your milk. Pump & dump, or wait until you feel normal again. By then the alcohol has left your milk. It enters and leaves your milk in the same rate that it does your bloodstream. How fast/long this takes is different for everyone and is affected by the type of drink, your weight, how much you ate, etc.

This is what I've read too. Personally, I feel the same way that I did when I was pregnant about this. I can live without drinking alcohol and don't absolutely need it like I need water, so I don't drink it at all. I haven't had a sip of alcohol since, well, probably a couple of months before I was pregnant. It was so long ago that I still remember what I drank: absinthe.


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## jodie84 (Sep 30, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *PatioGardener* 
For medications, many are compatible with breastfeeding and can be checked out on Hale's book.

For street drugs, I am pretty sure that it is not like alcohol and many are passed through breastmilk in amounts that can harm the baby. But it will depend on the drug. I think Hale's has street drugs in it too - if you give the one you are curious about maybe someone can look it up for you.

Is it different for different drugs then? I was wondering about magic mushrooms.


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## mkmoro311 (Oct 23, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *merry-mary* 
Agreed. It's fine.

Just be mindful that alcohol can dehydrate you, so you should increase your water intake. When I was nursing my DS if I had a beer or a glass of wine, I would be so thirsty afterward.

I had my first glass of wine @ 8 weeks and i woke up in the middle of the night soooo thirsty and with an extreme hang-over headache!


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## ZARAMAMA (Jan 10, 2008)

i just worry about co-sleeping if i get drunk.. but i've never been too drunk to nurse


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## ZARAMAMA (Jan 10, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *jodie84* 
Is it different for different drugs then? I was wondering about magic mushrooms.

that sounds like fun! I'd never do it while nursing though. just wait until they've weaned


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## jodie84 (Sep 30, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ZARAMAMA* 
that sounds like fun! I'd never do it while nursing though. just wait until they've weaned









I think you're right - I don't get enough time between feeds to trip at the moment anyway, and I think nursing WHILE hallucinating might freak me out


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