# BF, alcohol & baby tylenol



## AVeryGoodYear (Mar 31, 2009)

Hi all,

My daughter, 13 weeks, had a really rough evening. After hours of crying hard and refusing to nurse, I gave her .5 ml of baby Tylenol (she's 13+ lbs, so that is less than half the 'recommended' dosage) since I figured she probably had a headache. Finally, at 8:30, she nursed to sleep.

That's her normal bedtime, so at 9pm I poured myself a glass of wine as I didn't anticipate another feeding within the next 4-5 hours. I probably drank 4oz (1/3 of a glass) by 9:30 when my daughter unexpectedly woke up & wanted to nurse. Of course, I nursed her (I don't generally pump unless I expect to be going out w/o her, which has happened only once).

Now, I fear alcohol getting from me to her & reacting negatively with the tylenol. Any thoughts/reassurances out there? Or, if you have words of warning, what should I be looking for as far as symptoms in my baby? I feel HORRIBLE, but I couldn't refuse to nurse her & leave her hungry


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## mommabear207 (Nov 19, 2007)

you could always call poison control or the ER and ask but i have a feeling its fine. i mean you only had 4oz. and dc only had a tiny bit of tylenol and you both had an hour to process less that what your body weights can handle. generally the warning is that people who have 3 or more drinks a day (basically that a road to liver problems anyways) shouldn't take tylenol as your liver also has to process it and could cause damage. i think the tiny bit of alcohol in your bm is not going to do any harm.


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## claddaghmom (May 30, 2008)

Hi I can't give out medical advice.

Just wanted to reassure you that those levels sound really low. I have heard that alcohol does not reach milk at the same levels as normal blood saturation.

Have you thought of getting Bach's remedy? A few drops on the tongue helped DD when she was having a rough time and I think it's better than Tylenol.


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## AFWife (Aug 30, 2008)

To be honest, after 30mins I don't think the alcohol would be in your system enough to get into your breastmilk.

Not only that, but it had been over an hour since you gave her the tiny bit of tylenol...so most of it was probably processed and gone anyway.

I'm comfortable saying that everything is probably fine.


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## MacKinnon (Jun 15, 2004)

I just lost my post!! Anyway, try searching for Dr. Jack Newman's info on Breastfeeding and Alcohol. Moderate consumption is fine. And if you say have a BAC of .04 from your one glass of wine, then your breastmilk is 99.96% milk and .04% alcohol. I can't see that interfering with her tylenol. My vote is your fine mama


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## bl987ue (Mar 14, 2006)

I think you are going to be fine. If it had only been a half-hour since you drank the wine, I really doubt that any of the alcohol would have even made it into the milk. Even then, only a small amount of alcohol goes into the milk. Additionally, 4 ounces of wine isn't even a serving of alcohol, only about 2/3 of a serving.


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## talk de jour (Apr 21, 2005)

the amount of alcohol in your bloodstream (with 1/3 of a glass of wine, maybe .02 BAC) would be the amount in your breastmilk.

It would be like your baby drinking a drink with .02% alcohol. Vodka is like 50%... beer is 6%... apple juice left in the fridge for two weeks would have more alcohol.


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## AFWife (Aug 30, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *talk de jour* 
apple juice left in the fridge for two weeks would have more alcohol.









I like this


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## JayJay (Aug 1, 2008)

Actually, additionally, my midwife gave me some advice: if you do want to have a drink, try drinking a bottle of decent dark beer, as the constituents actually aid the quality of breast milk. Obviously not ten bottles, but one bottle of dark beer can actually be quite good for the milk supply. Just an interesting thought there for you









You will be just absolutely fine, mama


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## AVeryGoodYear (Mar 31, 2009)

Phew, thanks! As a SmartServe certified former bartender I thought we should be okay, but you can never be too safe when it comes to babies.


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## Ironica (Sep 11, 2005)

If you really want to play it on the safe side, there's now some alcohol-content testing strips you can get to test your milk after having a drink. They turn darker based on the alcohol content of your milk.

I've never actually worried about it, as I'd be hard-pressed to get my milk up to .2% alcohol by volume, and many children's medicines have more alcohol than that.


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