How long after drinking alcohol is it safe to breast feed?
January 9, 2010 - 5:33 pm
I’m due Dec. 26th, so (fingers crossed) I’m hoping to be able to drink a little bit on New Years Eve. Just a few glass of champagne, nothing excessive.
I’m planning on breast feeding, but I know alcohol can be transferred through breast milk, so I’m wondering how long after drinking alcohol is it safe to breast feed again?
Thanks in advance for any help!
January 9th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
Girl! Don’t be drinking if you have a child.
lol
January 9th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
The rule of thumb is basically the same as driving
1 drink = 1 hour
they do have test strips you cna buy to test your milk i picked some up from babies r us
although if your strictly bf you might not want to risk it
January 9th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
If you’re sober enough to drive, you’re sober enough to nurse
January 9th, 2010 at 7:57 pm
It is ok to have one alcoholic beverage while breastfeeding. Any more than that…you should “pump and dump”, which means pumping and throwing it away and not giving it to your baby. i think the time limit is 3 hours, but I could be wrong.
January 9th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
They say about 3 hours. So you can breastfeed right before you drink, so your baby will not get hungry for a while.
January 9th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
i had a dr tell me that i should drink “a” beer every once in a while to give my milk supply a boost. but that drinking too much could exhaust your supply totally.
January 9th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
You can safely breastfeed after drinking one drink, though I think they recommend wine rather than other types of alcohol.
If you drink more than that, you should wait 3+ hours until the bulk of the alcohol leaves your system. The problem with that is that with a baby that young, they need to eat more frequently than that. You have the option of pumping ahead of time, but if you introduce a bottle that soon – before the baby has really gotten the knack of breastfeeding – you run a risk of causing nipple confusion and breastfeeding problems later. Until four or five weeks, when it is ok to introduce a bottle, it may not be a good idea to drink so much (i.e., more than a couple drinks in a couple hours) that you can’t feed the baby.
Also, if the baby is born on the 26th, your milk supply is not likely to be stable and well-established by New Year’s Eve, so you might not be able to pump enough ahead of time or pumping ahead of time could lead to oversupply problems, which are really uncomfortable and definitely not worth a couple of drinks.
Also, I have had a glass of wine on a couple of occasions since my baby was born (11/27) and I notice that it seems to make him fussy when I drink. I think it is harder for him to digest. So even though it is a safe amount, I stopped drinking again until I can introduce a bottle just because I don’t like to make him uncomfortable like that.
Good Luck! I hope this helps!
January 9th, 2010 at 10:29 pm
Body weight can play a big role in the time frame. Best thing to do is to pump a couple bottles of milk before you have a drink so the baby will have some milk available while the alcohol is in your system.
January 9th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
I was told by my son’s pedi and my ob/gyn that if I was sober enough to drive, I was sober enough to breast feed. I had my first alcoholic beverage after Ian’s birth when he was about 3 months old. I had 2 and felt tipsy. I’m a light weight to begin with and felt giggly after 1/2 a beer. I think this is partly because I hadn’t had alcohol in 10+ months. But….I waited about 3 hours when I felt 100% normal to nurse. They say if you drink one alcoholic beverage every so often, there is no need to pump and dump. Ian’s pediatrician said, “It’s common sense…don’t hold him while you down a beer, but if you drink one and nurse at the next regular time, you both should be fine.” Best of luck and congrats on your future little one!
January 9th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
First, your milk may or may not be in. You may or may not have even had your baby by then. The average pregnancy is 41w 3d. Let’s say hypothetically you have your baby on your due date. I almost guarantee that you will not have enough milk pumped by NY’s, so you may need to supplement if oyu just have to have a few drinks. If your baby was over 3 months old I would normally say 2 hours per drink. It takes 2 to 3 to get out of your blood/milk. But it really can take anywhere from 1 to 24 hours depending on the alcohol content. Considerig the fact that your baby will be just a few days old, it really does not need to consume any alcohol whatsoever. They really cannot process it well at that age. Their livers are very immature. That is why a lot of babies have jaundice. I think the baby is more important than a “few” glasses of champagne, but if you insist then I would wait a full 24 hours. Once the baby is older and can tolerate small amounts of alcohol better, then 2 hours or so after “a” drink is fine. It is also not recommended to drink more then 1 to 2 drinks er week while breastfeeding. More then this can cause motor and developmental delays. Good luck!
January 9th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
Well, I just had a baby about a month ago and to be honest, i couldn’t breastfeed my baby for the first 6 days and that was when my breast started to produce real milk. So i think u won’t be able to breastfeed during the first 4 days -at least- anyways B/C u won’t be having milk in ur breast.. BUT u will be having colostrum though, So why don’t u pump out some of that colostrum be4 drinking and give it to ur baby along with formula for the rest of the night?
P.S. i had my baby 7 days later than my due date.. so u never know if ur little one will show up on time or not.. just wait and see.
best of luck..