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I was just wondering about breastfeeding and having a couple of drinks.... I have got only 4 cruisers and was hoping to drink them and no more new years....has anyone else had a couple of drinks while breastfeeding and how do u go about it?? how long does the alcohol stay in ur milk for? Im not sure if i will yet..i just want to hear from anyone else that has...
Tasha, the blood alcohol in your milk will be the same as in your blood at the same time. It is strongly recommended that you consume no alcohol at all until at bub is at least 3 months, as their livers can't handle even a small quantity. It looks like your bub will be just 2 weeks old so I would not drink anything. Once she turns 3 months you can decide about drinking small amounts, like half a glass of wine, but no way would I drink 4 cruisers in one night while bfing. Sorry for the bad news hun, but there'll be plenty more NYEs.
even if i expressed a few feeds? no thats ok lol i was just wondering thats y i was asking bub comes first :)
Tasha, I know you were mostly joking but down the track you might want to have a night out and express some feeds. It's just that I wouldn't be doing it with a 2 week old. Partly because some alcohol might still get into her system, and also because introducing a bottle so early, especially for a few feeds in a row, is seriously likely to interfere with your bfing. I have been pg and/or bfing for 3 1/2 years straight now, so I can understand, but I can also tell you that NYE can be fun without drinking! I ought to know LOL!! One year (last year I think) I was bfing at midnight and that felt pretty special. Have a good one hun.
Hi,
I see it a little differently. MantaRay is right, alcohol does go into the milk at the same rate as it goes into the blood. But there are risks to everything we do. That includes giving bottles and formula. Crusiers are not high in alcohol, and most mums are surprised to find that, oddly, alcohol doesn't taste as good as it once did when you are breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is not meant to be a penance, to be endured. I'd tend to think, if you really think that having a cruiser would be good for your mental health, feed the baby and then have a drink or two. It should be out of your milk by the time she next wants to feed.
Regards
Barb
i wouldnt do anything to harm my child and drinking isnt that important to me that i would drink then feed my daughter..i have a breast pump i was just thinking i could express a couple of feeds thats all..i have never breast fed before so im new to this..thats y i was asking...:)
I usually have a glass of wine on Friday nights. Not sure whether it is right or wrong but it is a relaxing treat.
They gave my dh and I champagne at our celebration dinner following the birth of Joshua. However I only had a sip as I was unsure of its effects- and also the champagne tasted yuk! Every now and then I have a little bit of wine but I dont seem to enjoy it while I'm breastfeeding. This will be my second New Years without alcohol. To get in the spirit I'm planning on drinking sparkling mineral water in a champagne glass!
I haven't had a drink yet since having Euan (he'll be 5 weeks on Wednesday), and we have a special bottle of wine which we decided to keep to celebrate his birth which is still sitting untouched, even though we've been saving it for a special occasion for 7 years! So far I haven't felt inclined; when he goes for his long sleeps so do I - the last thing I've felt like is having a drink! And I can't be bothered with the whole expressing thing unless I need to to build up my supply - I'd rather not bother and go without the drink!! LOL! But that's just me!
MantaRay is right - you can run the risk of your bub refusing the breast if you introduce bottle feeding too early, whether using expressed milk or formula. But I know women (who found expressing easy and it didn't affect their supply or give their bub nipple confusion) who had a drink or two at dinner from time to time, even from early on.
They had a drink after a feed, then expressed the next feed and chucked it out and gave bubs previously expressed milk, just in case the alcohol hadn't left their system yet. This might be a good thing to do if you want to make sure that no alcohol is getting into bubs but still want to have a drink or two.
thanks all..i have already introduced a bottle as i had REALLY badly cracked nipples and iwas told by midwife to express and it wasnt a problem she takes to it fine..i will probably only have one or 2..i just wanted to see everyones opinion on the topic..ta
Ouch - sorry to hear about the cracked nipples Tasha!
I hope you have a brilliant new years whatever you decide! :-)
Hi,
We have moved on from your original question, Tasha. But I just wanted to say that, while there is no recommended "safe" level for the use of alcohol whilst breastfeeding, neither is there any study which shows damage to the child by moderate use of alcohol whilst breastfeeding.
It is not necessary to pump and dump your milk after you drink. (except where you are leaving your baby for a long time and you need to express for your own comfort) It concerns me that people would recommend using formula as though there were no risk attached to that.
I found this, and thought that this was an interesting way of thinking about the situation.
For a woman to be legally intoxicated: Take 50 ml breastmilk.
Divide it into 100 parts = 0.5mls. Divide one of those parts by 10 = 0.05ml
alcohol in 55 ml breastmilk. How much less would there be for a mother who
drank only one glass of wine?
Having a glass of alcohol is something everyone needs to use their judgement on, but I do find that it is an area where myths abound.
Have a great New Year's eve, everyone
Barb
I am planning on having one glass of champagne tonight, and I am breastfeeding a 4 month old. I have had a couple of drinks since her birth, but not more than one glass at a time. With my first I used to think that it made him sleep well the next day but have found with my daughter she appears a bit unsettled the next day. I do try and have it at night when she has her longest gap between feeding but lately she is feeding every 3-4 hours 24 hours a day!!!
That's good to hear Barb! I wasn't sure whether it was the correct thing to do or not, but I do know people who've done it so thought I'd mention it - luckily we have the expert here to set us straight! :):
Hope you have a fantastic new year's eve too!
If you do want a whole glass of bubbly tonight, I discovered Jewel Yellow or Jewel pink champange by Rosemont (I think) It has 40% less alcohol than normal champers (3.6 standard drinks in the whole bottle), tastes great and only costs about $15 a bottle. Happy New Year!
I haven't touched alcohol for years now LOL. I just haven't had the desire to!
I totally get what Barb is saying, and I've heard too that it's not necessary to pump and dump because the alcohol will leave the breastmilk the same as it leaves the rest of your body. I guess you would only want to express if you're worried about affecting your supply by skipping a breastfeed.
I still wouldn't drink with only a very new bub tho (but that's just me :) ) Mainly becuase they feed so frequently. I would probably consider it if I knew bub had a 5-6hr stretch at night, I might have a drink in that time. But my babies aren't that kind to me, so I avoid alcohol. Plus I prefer to have my wits about me when caring for a baby, especially if co-sleeping you need to be careful with alcohol.
Have a great time tho :) I plan on sleeping tonight! Stuff seeing the new year in LOL.
Thanks for your advice Barb :) I'm BF my 18 month old and plan to have 1 or 2 drinks tonight. I liked the scientific info you posted. I also think that when a baby is so young there might be other things to consider... some babies might be more sensitive to it than others... is the baby premmie, has asthma (some preservatioves in wine bring on asthma I think) but on the whole it should be safe like you mentioned. There are certainly more risky things you can do like take you bub into a smokey venue... that's my biggest concern at that age... but OT.
ETA: Great point Liz! : "Plus I prefer to have my wits about me when caring for a baby, especially if co-sleeping you need to be careful with alcohol".
Thanks for that info Barb. It makes me feel better about having a couple of drinks now and then. Happy NY everyone!
If you feel like you'd like to drink something that tastes like alcohol, Woolworths stocks a range of non-alcoholic drinks (I think they're called Edens Landing or similar) and you can usually find them where the Red Bull and Vs are on the shelves. They've got a sparkling wine, a charddonay, a shiraz and a rose. I've tried the first two and they were ok and tasted almost like the real thing, they've got the same amount of alcohol as fruit juice has.